RD-1: Non original Batteries Warning

fgianni

fgianni

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My RD-1 shutter froze, and I had to send the camera for repair, I got the camera back yesterday (it does not look the same camera but the s/n is the same which is odd)

However I was contacted by OlivierD (the Epson rep on http://www.epsonrd1.co.uk/forum) that sked me if I used non Epson batteries with my camera, here is his statement

"However, it's really important to use the original EPSON battery. We've already experienced similar shutter errors while using non-EPSON batteries (couldn't investigate so far in deep the reason of this). "

I thought to make the forum aware of this.

Cheers
 
That's gotta be nonsense. How are Epson batteries different from other brands?
 
I have 3 batteries- 1 Epson and 2 non-Epsons. All was well at the beginning, but gradually my camera started to develop shutter problems. At first I thought it was the problem with the camera, but slowly I realized that the shutter problem always occured when I used one of the non-Epson batteries (they were of 2 different brands). When it was freshly charged, there would be no problem whatsoever, but as it slowly discharged, the shutter problem began. So I threw the battery away, and I did not have shutter problem for quite a while until last week, when the problem returned. Now it was the second non-Epson battery.

I don't know the technical reasoning behind this. May be they age faster or built with inferior materials. The shutter problem never happened when I was using the Epson battery.
 
Maybe if people stated the brand names of the non Epson batteries that give problems it would help narrow it down.

I have one non Epson battery a Uniross 1350 Mah which I have used for 10 months so far without problems. This one does not last as long as the Epson though so I was thinking of buying 2 more batteries for the times I need to shoot for longer before recharging. I have seen some unbranded 1450 Mah ones as cheap as 10.70 GBP, but perhaps it is not a good idea to buy ones this cheap as they are probably badly made and unstable?
 
I would think that the discharge curve of the non-Epson batteries might be a factor. I don't have an R-D1 nor am I an electrical engineer, so I am including a grain of salt with my musings. 😉

Trius
 
Any reason not to stick with Epson batteries? A bit more pricey, OK, but we have a $3000 body and (some of us at least) pretty expensive glass, so why skimp on the batteries? Seems like false economy to me.
 
Same goes for memory cards. There's some really crud off-brand stuff out there that causes storage failures in many cameras. Stick with brands that have a good reputation. But even there it pays to watch out for plagiarism and only buy from reputable sources. Somewhat more expensive, but you'll get more use out of it (i.e. cheaper in the long run).

On a related note; saw a quite alarming documentary a while ago about counterfeit replacement parts for airplanes, cars and medical equipment. It's often rebadged stuff that has failed QC in ordinary production and has mysteriously 'disappeared' from the waste bin. Now having an RD-1 go bonkers on a counterfeit battery or memory card when you're snapping for fun is one thing. If you're on an assignment, on a plane, car or in a hospital, you want stuff to be 100% dependable.
 
pfogle said:
Any reason not to stick with Epson batteries? A bit more pricey, OK, but we have a $3000 body and (some of us at least) pretty expensive glass, so why skimp on the batteries? Seems like false economy to me.
Click to expand...

I tried to source Epson batteries here in the UK since I ordered my camera, no one stocked them, after 1 month shooting with only one battery I gave up and bought a non Epson one.

Now I managed to get another Epson Battery only because Epson itself sent it to me with the repaired camera.

So it is not a matter of economy.
 
Also I forgot to mention that at the time I was not aware that non Epson batteries were dangerous for the camera, I had been happily non original batteries first with my 10D and then with my 20D for more almost two years without any problem.
 
pfogle said:
Any reason not to stick with Epson batteries? A bit more pricey, OK, but we have a $3000 body and (some of us at least) pretty expensive glass, so why skimp on the batteries? Seems like false economy to me.
Click to expand...

Good point.
 
It wasn't economy, initially. The Epson batteries simply were not available (at least in the USA) and several of us are still using batteries we bought then. I'd be very curious to hear from anyone who has had a failure about:

1. Brand of battery
2. Voltage
3. Mha rating

I'll consider replacing my non-Epson batts but the ones I use are 3.7 volt, 1500 Mha (just like the stock batts) and, so far, no problems with shutter. Curious to hear what specific batts. have caused problems.

Sean
 
Sean, I have the shutter problems with the following non-Epson batteries, of which I have 2. Both batteries show the same shutter problems and always when the power indicator shows the battery to be 1/4 full or less.

Techstep 3.7V 1600mAh
 
Sounds to me like some design engineers need to have their salary cut.

OK, that's harsh. They need to be confined in a room designing their own clothing and ordered to wear it for a year.
 
Sean Reid said:
It wasn't economy, initially. The Epson batteries simply were not available (at least in the USA) .
Click to expand...

Epson were not available at all in the U.K either when I brought my RD-1 and still do not seem to be that readily available. As my Uniross battery seemed O.K. I assumed any equivalent would be suitable, but it seems this may not be so. It probably is safer to stick with Epson or a well known alternative brand. I have had no problem with the Uniross battery for my 20D either after over a year of use so these would appear to be a reliable alternative.
 
No problem at all with my unbranded 3.7v/1500 mAh as well as Hahnel HL-80 3.7v/1350 mAh so far.
Best,
LCT
 
Well, no criticism intended for those who choose other brands of battery. I bought two when I got my camera, from Robert White here in UK, and it hadn't occured to me that there might be a supply problem. So, sorry if anyone felt offended.

I used Hahnel with my 20D with no problem at all... it seems that, as well as other idiosyncracies, the R-D1 has a circuit with a very tight voltage tolerance - or it's possible that non-Epson batteries have higher internal resistance. It doesn't seem as though it would be harmful for the camera, just plain annoying.

Anyway, good luck to those with shutter problems - I hope a new battery fixes it 🙂
 
I doubt anyone was offended. I went to look for Gen-u-wine Epson batteries today and found that:

B&H seems to sell only NP-80s
Calumet sells a battery but doesn't identify the maker

I imagine I can find them through Epson itself. It's an odd issue though, considering that so many other digital cameras work fine with alternate batteries. I'm not aware of any problems using my generic 3.7 volt/1500 mha batts.

Sean
 
This reminds me of the problems some of us had with electronic-shutter SLRs when those 3v lithium "stack" batteries first came out. A lot of cameras used a pair of S76 batteries stacked together, so the idea of replacing them with a single 3v lithium battery in the same configuration seemed to make a lot of sense.

And it did work fine, in some cameras some of the time, but others would have problems such as the shutter opening and not closing again. The problem turned out to be that while the 3v battery had an acceptable overall power output, it couldn't generate the short high-energy bursts that some cameras needed to get through the firing cycle. Once the battery had started to wear a bit, or if the contacts got slightly cruddy, there would be enough power to start the cycle, but not enough to terminate it.

What made it mystifying was that typically the battery would still test fine -- it just wasn't able to get "over the hump" in the camera's energy requirements.

Eventually users and the photo magazines did enough testing to sort out what was going on, and people learned which cameras could use the 3v batteries and which couldn't.
 
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