The Cape Leopard Trust
We are exploring rechargeable battery options, particularly for Cuddeback XChange Color (C1) models. These cameras use 8x AA batteries, and ideally need a charge of 1.5V for optimal opperatiion. Commercial recharcheable NiMH batteries available in South Africa only has a charge of 1.2V which aparently is not advisiable for peak cam performance.
An alternative to rechargeable AA batteries presented to us is an external Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) 12V batteries connected to the terminals. However, with theft and tampering by baboons we're not too keen on using external battery sources.
Would appreciate any advice or recommendations!
23 February 2021 11:29pm
Hi Anita.
Do you have access to 18650 ltihium-ion batteries there? if that sounds unfamiliar to you, there is a picture below. They are larger than AA batteries and the voltage is higher. We are experimenting with creating lithium ion battery replacements for camera traps since they have so much space in the battery compartments. We are currently testing on the Bushnell Trophycam and a few others. We'll be standardizing on the 18650 lithium ion battery cells since those are widely available. Those are the cells used in laptop battery packs as well as EVs, etc. We'll keep people posted on the effort. Feel free to DM me if you're interested in this.
Akiba
26 February 2021 4:24pm
Hi!
I tested a bunch of different NiMH brands with different passive acoustic devices in the field, and in my very limited experience PowerOwl (top) and EBL (close second) were most efficient (I used the company's charger ports too, fyi). Other brands I tested were Duracell, Energizer, Rayhom, AmazonBasics, Tenergy. If you end up doing it the old-fashioned way! I work in Mdagascar, and there isn't any kind of lithium ion stuff there so we have to haul it all in, which gets dicey with airline limits on lithium-ion batteries in checked and/or carry-on bags.
15 March 2021 8:05pm
Hi Anita,
If the devices truly can't work well at 1.2V AND can't handle the higher voltage of 3.7V li-ion rechargeables, 1.5V li-ion AA batteries have fairly recently come out on the market. How good they are or which brand is best is harder to tell since they haven't been around that long but you can check some out here:
https://www.ign.com/articles/best-rechargeable-batteries
It could be possible to assemble NiMH 1.2V batteries into a 2.4V pack but a) can the device handle even that? b) probably more tinkering than you'd probably really want to do.
Kyler
26 March 2021 3:48pm
I haven't any experience with camera traps so I'm just speculating here.
Camera traps typically take 8 of AA cells, but I believe that these are connected as 4S2P and not all-in-series, so giving 6 volts nominal, and not 12V. !2V would not make sense for a camera trap, but 6V does, as it allows the cells to discharge down to 0.9V and still put out a respectable 3.6V.
So my first guess is to say DON'T connect a 12V battery without being very sure of how the battery tray is wired. You can use a cheap multimeter to test this hypothesis.
My second guess is that NiMH cells may well work ok, despite the fact they are 1.2V instead of 1.5V nominal, because they have a flatter discharge curve than alkalines, meaning they also die at around 0.9V just like alkalines. This would be pretty straightforward and non-destructive to test.
Thanks and good luck,
-harold
Akiba
Freaklabs