Trick to charging extended life batteries for A1s ?? at DVinfo.net

Doug Puckett · April 21st, 2013, 07:44 PM

I bought 4 wasabi power extended batteries for my XH-A1s and none of the will last longer than 2 hours of use after charging. I used the stock charger that came with the cam and charged them til the light on the charger did not flash. Do I need to charge them longer or use another charger or what?

Allan Black · April 21st, 2013, 11:27 PM

Doug, does your original A1S battery run ok? The big Canon battery can run all day.

Usually new video cam batteries do take some time to settle in, they don't achieve full charge until they've been though
at least half a dozen full charges and full discharges.

Wasabi batts are numereous, hard to believe 4 are faulty. Suggest you number them 1-4 and keep rotating them.
And try this, when you see the battery full light on, take it off the charger and put it back again, see if it takes more charge. HTH.

Cheers.

Don Palomaki · April 22nd, 2013, 05:18 AM

Agree that you would do well to number the batteries, and keep track of their performance. My impression is that the Wasabi batteries are low cost and performance varies. A have a couple, and am not overly impressed.

Doug Puckett · April 22nd, 2013, 06:28 PM

thanks much, I will try your suggestions! Wish me luck!

Bruce Foreman · April 24th, 2013, 09:50 AM

I had 4 Wasabi batteries, 2 for the GH2 and 2 for an Olympus Pen.

One for the Oly died completely when put in the camera after the 4th charge cycle, never to take a charge again. The other for the Oly swelled up in the camera. Took 2 hours to carefully priy it out, had it swelled any more the camera would have had to go to Olympus for repair with warranty voided because of aftermarket battery use.

The 2 for the Panasonic GH2 never caused any major problems but also never gave any more than 50% of the run time the Lumix batteries did. So I gave them to a student who could not afford to purchase extra batteries for his GH2.

I guess I'll continue paying the price for OEM batteries, bite my lip and move on.

Don Palomaki · April 25th, 2013, 05:27 AM

On the other hand I've had satisfactory results with Lenmar branded batteries in my XL, XH, and GL series camcorders.

April 21st, 2013, 07:44 PM	#1
Doug Puckett Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Abingdon, Virginia Posts: 44	Trick to charging extended life batteries for A1s ?? I bought 4 wasabi power extended batteries for my XH-A1s and none of the will last longer than 2 hours of use after charging. I used the stock charger that came with the cam and charged them til the light on the charger did not flash. Do I need to charge them longer or use another charger or what?

April 21st, 2013, 11:27 PM	#2
Allan Black Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sydney. Posts: 2,930	Re: Trick to charging extended life batteries for A1s ?? Doug, does your original A1S battery run ok? The big Canon battery can run all day. Usually new video cam batteries do take some time to settle in, they don't achieve full charge until they've been though at least half a dozen full charges and full discharges. Wasabi batts are numereous, hard to believe 4 are faulty. Suggest you number them 1-4 and keep rotating them. And try this, when you see the battery full light on, take it off the charger and put it back again, see if it takes more charge. HTH. Cheers. __________________ Drink more tap water. On admission at Sydney hospitals more than 5% of day patients are de-hydrated.

April 22nd, 2013, 05:18 AM	#3
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,488	Re: Trick to charging extended life batteries for A1s ?? Agree that you would do well to number the batteries, and keep track of their performance. My impression is that the Wasabi batteries are low cost and performance varies. A have a couple, and am not overly impressed. __________________ dpalomaki@dspalomaki.com

April 22nd, 2013, 06:28 PM	#4
Doug Puckett Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Abingdon, Virginia Posts: 44	Re: Trick to charging extended life batteries for A1s ?? thanks much, I will try your suggestions! Wish me luck!

April 24th, 2013, 09:50 AM	#5
Bruce Foreman Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: San Angelo Texas Posts: 1,518	Re: Trick to charging extended life batteries for A1s ?? I had 4 Wasabi batteries, 2 for the GH2 and 2 for an Olympus Pen. One for the Oly died completely when put in the camera after the 4th charge cycle, never to take a charge again. The other for the Oly swelled up in the camera. Took 2 hours to carefully priy it out, had it swelled any more the camera would have had to go to Olympus for repair with warranty voided because of aftermarket battery use. The 2 for the Panasonic GH2 never caused any major problems but also never gave any more than 50% of the run time the Lumix batteries did. So I gave them to a student who could not afford to purchase extra batteries for his GH2. I guess I'll continue paying the price for OEM batteries, bite my lip and move on.

April 25th, 2013, 05:27 AM	#6
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,488	Re: Trick to charging extended life batteries for A1s ?? On the other hand I've had satisfactory results with Lenmar branded batteries in my XL, XH, and GL series camcorders. __________________ dpalomaki@dspalomaki.com