Best way to power 350D ?

[rogerg]

What's the best way to power a 350D from a SLA battery?

I have until now used some 1200mAh batteries in the battery grip of the 350D. But those are aging and this winter seems to be dealing them a harsh blow, so they don't last long.

How is it best I connect the 350D to the SLA I have to run the rest of my gear? Anything I can whip together in time for the coming weekend?

Thanks,
Roger.

[RB]

How old is the camera battery Roger?
It should still be giving you a good charge, have you let it run low before charging it up again each time?

[rogerg]

I think the problem with my batteries is:

1) there is 1 or 2 dead ones in the mix, it seems they don't hold their charge or charge properly. I think use of these together with others has perhaps damaged other batteries in the mix too? I have 5. I've been trying to diagnose which ones are alive and which ones are dead, and think I have it sorted. That leaves 3 definitely good ones.

2) 1 degree temperatures don't seem to like lithium ion's.

So... I could buy some new batteries, to make up for the dead ones, but if there's a better way, I'm interested..

Roger.

[gbeal]

Roger,
bit techie for a dunce like me. I had similar problems with my original batteries in the 20D. In the end I bought some later/newer ones from e bay, my Mah ones from memory, and haven't looked back.

[Geoff45]

Hutech http://www.sciencecenter.net/hutech/canon/index.htm sell an adapter that plugs into the 350D at one end with a cigarette lighter plug at the other end, so you can run it off the same battery you use to power your scope. I have one and it works like a dream.
Geoff

[Garyh]

Hi Roger, I was thinking of the adapter that Geoff mentions but would be a problem using it on my tripod.
Like your batteries mine were lasting just half a hour before they would die!
Just bought 2 new 1800ma batteries of ebay for $25 and they work great. I can get well over 2 hours per battery now!! You can buy the battery chargers as well that will run of your cigarette lighter and mains as well rather cheaply! with or without batteries..
cheers Gary

[rogerg]

Gary,

I bought my 4 1200mAh batteries off eBay a while back (a year or so), with a charger - the one that runs from the cigarett lighter. I actually think the cheap charger is what has killed 2 of the batteries completely. That charger seems to have behaved strangely sometimes when the canon charger would not. I think it may have overcharged and burnt out the batteries or something.

I'm not certain of that, but am very suspicious. Something to be cautious of perhaps.

Hae you got a link to the 1800mAh ones? I searched on eBay the other day and couldn't even find the 1200mAh ones....

The adaptor that Geoff recommends does look good, and ultimately better than the batteries, but it is US$129, which is a tad bit costly - that's quite a few batteries.

Thanks,
Roger.

[Garyh]

Hi Roger ,
I think I might stay away from those cheap chargers if thats what they do!!
I had a quick look for some higher capacity ones for the 350d but couldn`t find any..but found some 1200ma ones from the same guy I got mine from. He is very quick at posting them of as well...
cheers Gary
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/2-X-NB-2L-NB-2LH-Canon-400D-350D-G7-S80-S70-Battery-OZ_W0QQitemZ110155020272QQihZ001QQc ategoryZ48516QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ 1QQcmdZViewItem

[rogerg]

On Saturday night my telescope and I endured -0.7 degree temperatures. During that night 2 more of my 4 1200mAh batteries died completely. I'm not sure what about it they didn't like enough to completely pack it in, but they did.

I mean die, as in, they will no longer charged at all. No charge remaining and no charging possible.

The canon 750mAh battery went through the same ordeal and still seems fine, but it has had generally less use over the life of my camera than the 1200mAh ones.

Interesting.