Howdy All,
I few weeks ago, whilst Dumpster Diving, I came across a Hitachi VM-3100A VHS camcorder. I've never had a camcorder before, and finding one in the trash excited me greatly. I got it home, and I got it recording video just fine, but I now have a problem with power. It came with the AC adaptor, and works fine when tethered to the wall, but it does not have a battery attached.
From what I can find online, the original battery was 12V and 2A. I have two 12V batteries here: one at 1.2A and another at 6.5A. A long time ago, my electronics teacher explained to me that amperes are to batteries as capacity is to a fuel tank: that is, amperes refer to the capacity of the battery. In this case, it would be safe to hook up a 6.5A battery to my camcorder, it'll just last longer between recharges. I've looked into it, however, and realized that amperes are actually Columbs per second, which would make them a rate of flow, and hence I now doubt my original logic. Here's where I hope the experts of AppleFritter can come in.
Does anyone know if it's safe to hook up a battery with a higher ampere rating than the device requires? What about hooking up a battery with a lower ampere rating than required by the device? Or should I just bite the bullet and buy a replacement battery for this sucker if I plan to keep it a while?
Thanks for your help!
Cheers,
The Czar
I would not put the higher amp battery in your camcorder. I have had very bad experiance doing that and ruined electronics to boot. The lower amp would work but not last long
Look on eBay, offbrand (and name-brand too!) camcorder batts can be had dirt cheap. I picked up a pair of new Sony-branded jobbies for my Sony D8 cam for 1/4 of the retail price. Just gotta know the original battery model number . . .
dan k
Yes it's perfectly safe to hook up the higher amperage battery as long as the voltage is the same. It'll just last longer and take longer to charge. You should not attempt to charge the battery with the original charger if it's a different cell chemistry.