How does Big Ed do it?

[RichardtheSane]

Excuse the gratuitous use of manly names for my camera gear - for those who didn't read it, look back to the threads about DSLR's being P&S for more.... :D :D
Tom, I know you'll understand.

Anyway, my question - How does the BG-ED3 use batteries. I want to know if they are drained equally throughout useage or if it uses one first then switches to the other once the first is dead.
I would assume it uses both equally but I want to be sure :)

[Belmondo]

Richard (the Sane):
I read somewhere (probably on this forum) that the batteries are consumed sequentially. I've never attempted to substantiate that, but it makes sense. It seems like it would be a fairly easy thing to check after using your Big Ed for a little while…see if the batteries are equally discharged, or if one has run down farther than the other. Of course, this presupposes that both batteries are in reasonably similar condition to begin with.

Anyway, Richard, I read it somewhere, and I’ll try to confirm it.

Tom (the Unsteady)

[psk4363]

Hi Richard and Tom,

I've got the BG-ED3 with two batteries attached to my 10D and can confirm that the power is consumed sequentially as I too read somewhere on this forum that they do and tested the batteries after some good use. One was partly exhausted and the other virtually fully charged (I say 'virtually' because whilst in the camera some of its power would have laeked).

Cheers,
Barry

[Belmondo]

Richard (the Sane):

I couldn't find anything about the BG-ED3 and the 10D, but I did find this statement in a review of the D60:

"The optional BG-ED3 battery grip (the same as for the D30) provides the D60 the capacity to take two BP-511 batteries (the camera automatically switches to the second battery when the first is flat). The grip also provides a portrait (vertical) grip, shutter release, command wheel on the front and AE/AF-lock and focus point buttons on the back. It's attached to the D60 by removing the battery compartment door (simple push of a sprung clip on the hinge), insert the connector into the battery compartment and screw the grip into the cameras tripod mount.

I found this at:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneosd60/page5.asp

I assume these folks know what they're talking about.

Hope this helps:
Tom (the Certifiable)

[hervero]

Is there a way to know that first battery is empty and can be refill ?

[RichardtheSane]

Thanks Tom and Barry, I am glad I was wrong. Basically it means that when my battery indicator goes down to the low blip I can whip the 1st battery out and charge it in the car :)
Great stuff!

[psk4363]

There isn't a way to tell when the first battery is exhausted without physically taking it out and checking it in the charger (i.e. how many times the red light blinks, etc). The camera will show on the LED a proportionate amount of charge left, i.e. if both batteries are fully charged the LED symbol will show full power and will only change when one is exhausted and the second partly exhausted.

Hope that made sense. You can, of course, run the BG-ED3 on just one battery!

Cheers,
Barry

[maderito]

How many people kept their Big Ed instruction sheet? The fine print reads (in the paragraph about "Inserting the Battery Packs") --

"If two battery packs are inserted, they are used concurrently in parallel."

My experience usually - but not always - is consistent with that statement. That is, it usually takes the same amount of time to recharge each battery when I take them both out. But, my experience is VERY biased by what I read when I got the product and read the above.

BTW -- as many have noted, the BG-ED3 is a great 10D accessory.

[msnow]

I think the Big Ed manual is wrong and the dpreview article is correct. After pulling out both batteries (used for over a few days) only one needed to be charged, the other was full. They appear to be used one at a time.

[10-75]

I found with mine, the batteries are used sequentially....
I did a lot of shooting and then removed both batteries when I was done. I then inserted one battery at a time and powered up the camera. The one battery read dead and the other indicated fully charged. I then charged each one. The one battery took an hour to charge and the other indicated charged within 30 seconds or so... I repeated this several times with the same result.. I had also looked at my instructions and they said nothing about how the batteries were used(Maybe I'm blind??? or did they change the design ???) Anyway, Big-Ed works for me.... Bill

[RichardtheSane]

I just remembered where my box/instructions for big ed were, so I have them now.
The instructions contradict themselves.
The print below inserting batteries first says:-
'Electricity is supplied firstly from the battery pack with the highest voltage' indicating they are used one after another then the line below says:-
'If two battery packs are inserted, they are used concurrently in parallel' which suggests exactly yhe opposite of the first statement.
I'm confused, I'll mostly be trusting dpreview!

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Canon's Chuck Westfall has answered this on the Rob Galbraith Forums previously. The camera:

"... draws power initially from the battery with the highest voltage when two batteries are used in the BG-ED3 grip. Once the voltages are equalized, the camera draws power from both batteries simultaneously."

Regards,

[robertwgross]

If this is correct, it sounds vaguely like a "diode-OR" gate. It keeps one fresh battery from "back-charging" into another weaker battery.

---Bob Gross---

[CyberDyneSystems]

All i had read was that it was sequential,. but I have found that when the batts need charging.. they both need equal charging. So it seems the switching to a parralel drain is correct from my expeirience

[Longwatcher]

Adding in my experience,
Usually, my two batteries need charging equally, but occasionally, the battery in the first slot has been drained more.

I am thinking that the difference occurs based on
- I am taking lots of pictures (they tend to drain equally)
- The camera is sitting around for a week or two (they tend to drain one at a time.

It could be the difference in the batteries themself.

Please note as a nifty tip, you can operate the camera with only one battery in the BG-ED3 ( I know - blasphemy) but it can be done, so when ever you are unsure of the charge, take one out and start charging it, while you continue with the other.

Off course I keep a second set of batteries, so I just swap the batteries out and charge the next set using my D60 charger.

Just my experience (you results may differ)