The Hidden Camera Danger: How High Voltage Fried my Camera - Beware of Dummy Batteries!

[@tarotcaba]

Long story short: "use the dummy battery cables provided and don't ever play with chargers and cables" Thanks for the advice.

[@MrFelatio1]

Yeah :) blabla blablabla blablablabla blablabla blabla........

[@RubyRiotCreatives]

This was exactly what I was looking for after 18 seconds. Thank you

[@WhoKnows0910]

Me - "made diy dummy battery" -We'll be right back

[@quynguyen9867]

Yeah

[@becomegreatatguitar]

I fried my Lumix G70 as well. My biggest take out is to simply don't be a miser and stick to with the original Panasonic parts. there is so much garbage at amazon that you cannot trust if you are a lay person in electronics...

[@3JP]

x2 Speed recommended

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I agree 🌸.

[@Whoiswhitemayne]

Back that up a 3rd time!

[@ChrisSpiegl]

@@Whoiswhitemayne/videos Wheeeeeeeeee 🚗💨.

[@Whoiswhitemayne]

@@ChrisSpiegl thanks bro!!

[@tchekesarecords]

😂 i did it before seen your comment

[@catherinegrimes2308]

When measuring the voltage, may I recommend that you measure the voltage on the battery and measure the voltage on the dummy battery to check that the sign of the voltage as well as the voltage value to ensure that the polarity is correct.

[@jakubjoniec]

Thanks for bringing up an important topic overlooked by many people. However, I want to correct one thing. The standard usb voltage is always 5v no matter if you use the C or A connector on any charger. You will always get 5v when you plug in a cable without electronics. Those cables you showed in the video that give the correct voltage probably take just 5v from the port and boost it to over 8v. But the cable that damaged the camera works differently. It uses Power Delivery technology in which a device such as a laptop or phone sends information to the charger about what voltage it needs, then the charger sets the voltage. The cable you bought is probably designed to charge laptops with such a connector, and these laptops usually need 20V. To provide this voltage, the cable has built-in miniature electronics that ask the charger for 20V. Your phone charger did not set the 20V voltage because it probably does not support it. Each charger has markings on it as to what voltages it supports.

[@LudwickMa]

I think you’re right; the cable he’s using looks like the Winx branded cable (for Acer laptops). I bought one and it worked great with dummy battery on my Sony A74 when using 18w power bank. I just fried the camera by plugging it into a 100w PD wall charger and wish I saw this video before doing so.😢

[@novapks9573]

I use a power bank with 5V/2.4A output standard for the dummy battery and it works very well with my Sony NEX 6, the 5V/2A output option is the best.😃😃😃😃

[@Asturev]

I see that you do have lots of knoledge on this matter and ive been looking for answers for months (bc im scared to fry my camera). i have a camera that uses a 7.2V 875mAh battery. and a dummy that says "PD output needs to have 9V output". I havent connected it yet. will that fry my camera? and if it wont can I connect it to a powerbank? and how many MAH or Volts does it need to have?

[@ПетяНеформал]

@@Asturevit’s not about mah I guess, thing is, u need to have like volt converter in your dummy battery, also here’s new ones dummy’s it’s from Kingma, Andoeer company’s , it’s looks like battery, wire, usb all in one, so no this little box as guy in video shows, cause all is already in all in one battery but staffed. My suggest it’s get voltmeter and test dummy before put into camera

[@DanDan-li4hr]

I just plug my dummy battery to sony np f970 battery plate with 8v output. Is it more safer?

[@SamanthaSchaffer]

This happened to me the first time I tried to use a dummy battery. 😭 Felt like such an idiot, so I feel a lot better knowing I'm not alone. Thanks for this really thorough video!

[@trangiap8884]

Sorry but what's type of dummy battery 're you using? And did you use battery with DP right?

[@ПетяНеформал]

@@trangiap8884I guess he didn’t use DP, he just put usual cable into the wall adapter

[@animeboyzx6403]

That’s good you measure the output now you can never be too safe when it comes to handling electronics. Also it’s a rare but some electronics have a reversed dc jack input where the negative terminal is on the inside of the plug hole and the positive is on the outside. Always check that before you plug it in cause reversing polarity can also damaged if it’s not protected against it.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Great insight. Thank you for sharing that 👍.

[@christopherleubner6633]

Yup a lot of Casio and cannon gear are wired center negative, especially AV stuff.

[@NicholasAndre1]

The USB C cable has to request a particular voltage from the charger. Not all chargers support all voltages, but this works fine if your device requires a certain voltage and you match the controller configuration on the USB C end.

[@paulz8750]

Hi Chris - I am really sorry to hear about your experince which cost you so much money. Having used these kind of power bricks for years, I too never realised that you could get such a high voltage out of them. Will be checking all my power bricks from now on and appreciate you sharing that information, which has definitely saved me a lot of money.

[@TheChopae]

MacBook charger is pd charger which means it's output voltage can vary according to device connected. Pd charger is able to change output voltage from 5V to 20V ( 5, 9, 15, 20 ) Dummy battery doesn't have chip to negotiate with charger that how much voltage it need. So with dummy battery, use with dummy charger which can only output 5v or use cable which has pd converter just like shown in video

[@ChrisSpiegl]

If only the Dummy Battery would have that protective logic build in… that's my criticism… but luckily, with USB-PD coming into almost all new cameras we will not have that problem again.

[@myblacklab7]

@@ChrisSpiegl Now the problem is overheating, and while a dummy battery can help with that, Canon is stupid/greedy, so they don't sell a dummy battery that you can plug into anything other than an AC outlet, and so instead you have to use USB-C power and deal with the overheating. Actually, maybe they do, but the dummy batteries canon sells have a DC connector, and I have so far had no luck trying to get Canon support (or anyone else) to tell me whether that DC connector can be used with a DC power outlet. Instead, Canon sells an "adapter" that turns the dummy battery into an AC-only connection.

[@breedabol]

the cord you bought probably came with a trigger board that was set to a higher than acceptable voltage. The electronics in the cable that is required is a "trigger board" that is set or programed so it can communicate and negotiate a 7-8v from a type c brick. The "dangerous cable" actually has the trigger board but it is set to* Highest possible voltage of type c brick.

[@GregorVogel]

This is a USB-PD trigger cable. This has a little chip inside which tells the USB-PD Brick what voltage it wants. (5V, 9V, 15V or 20V). But if you plug it in to a USB Brick without PD standard it will deliver 5V. 5V is basically always the fallback. So your smaller USB Brick is not PD capable, it always puts out 5V. Your bigger brick is USB-PD and can output 5 to 20V. I have a USB-PD brick that shows me the voltage the device is using. One older phone only charges with 5V. One Tablet is using 15V for charging. And now i have a similar cable to your for my HP Laptop that is requesting 20V. Maybe you could use a similar cable that is requesting 9V if 9V is not too much for your camers. So search for a "9V pd trigger cable".

[@r09d98]

Since the first two readings are 8.x volts already, isn't it logical to assume the cable is triggering 9V PD? None of this explains why it would get 20V from the Apple laptop charger though.

[@n.shiina8798]

​@@r09d98 the first charger was a regular 5V2.4A charger and the cable have boost converter to provide output he needed. the second charger was 18W charger and it only supports up to 9V2A as per USB PD spec. 60W and above supports up to 20V by USB PD spec and here is the problem. his USB PD cable that has no box was meant to trigger 20V. the 18W charger gave 5V because the handshake failed and it defaulted to 5V though some charger give out its maximum voltage possible.

[@volodumurkalunyak4651]

Actually first charger is really PD capable (9V 2A and probably 12V 1.5A), except little chip inside that particular cable does NOT accept those voltages. There are different versions of USB PD trigger cables, those may request highest avaiable voltage, only 5V, only 9V, only 12V, only 15V or only 20V.

[@bufordmaddogtannen]

Let's say that USB-C is a complicated beast and even companies like Nintendo didn't get it right. The safest way is to use dummy batteries IMHO is to use a dedicated power brick that outputs exactly what you need. Even a solution which hooks on 2 usb ports can fail spectacularly.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I agree, and appreciate your input. Let's hope USB-C becomes solid over the years.

[@Korkonakios]

@@ChrisSpiegl exactly what Buford said and that's why I always use dummy batteries with single outlet plug on the end. Usb ports since this is a charger they do send continuous power but there is a fluctuation which may lead to over or under volting.

[@TaylorSoloaiJR]

Moral of the story is, check the output voltage before putting it in your camera. I bought one before and that's what I did before using it. Works great and nothing happened to the camera.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Yes, very important 👍.

[@weeardguy]

Even better: make sure connectors from different voltage sources can NEVER mate. If it uses a different voltage, make sure a plug does not fit.

[@daniel_tenner]

Important question I have coming here is: how did you fix it? I just did this to my ZV-E10, I think, and I am now looking for how to fix it.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Send it in for repairs.

[@shafinahammed5040]

That was a lot helpful, to figure out generally if any dummy battery setup as whole is good for my camera or not. Thanks!

[@jokoivi]

For ones searching for a diy fix (since some of these are getting too old/cheap to be worth professional repairs). I replaced the motherboard with a refurbished one (allegedly better than brand new for diy fix since they have been through calibration already) - 5hat did yhe trick and it works fine. Did the same mistake with my Sony A7iii assumed that the voltage regulator would be inside the battery and since the plug was standard DC plug, I just grabbed a random supply when I couldn't find the original (apparently DC plug does not mean 12v, can be all kinds of values... should have known better seeing as Ive worked quite a bit with Arduino's led's and all kinds of basic electronics)... so major whoops and learning moment.

[@treborikki]

You also did save my camera by giving insight to this topic, thank you!

[@ChrisSpiegl]

That's great. Thanks for letting me know, this helps me to know my videos are useful.

[@cosmonaut1961]

Wow, Chris! Thank you so much for saving my camera! Today I received a cable and was ready to plug a dummy to a camera, but I remembered that I watched your video before. And decided to do measure the voltage. It was 20v.... Wow , I was so close! Thank you a lot!🙏🙏🙏

[@gidiwilliams5413]

Meine Güte. Das war ausgezeichnet, Chris. Ich wollte gerade sechs große Taschenlampenbatterien zusammenstellen, um eine länger anhaltende Stromquelle zu schaffen. Ich glaube, das hat mir Ihre Kopfschmerzen erspart. Danke schon einmal!!

[@spareroomtech]

This is great to know! I just got a Sony A7C and am looking for a solution to provide constant power. Thanks for sharing, Chris.

[@kazvinleedeungria7069]

This is for those Canon Camera's with an LP-E6 battery. "The LP-E6 operates at a voltage of 7.2V and has a capacity of 1800mAh. It can be charged from a standard electrical outlet via the Canon LC-E6 charger (that can be purchased separately, for example, at amazon)" I highly recommend to use a powerbank that can generate a 7.2V of electricity than using an indoor outlet because you would never know how much voltage it can produce. Also becareful when using different cable wires and lastly, just use a power bank when using a dummy battery.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Power banks are great for that - but you’d not be protected in the case of a usb-c cable without a transformer. And also, power banks don’t work for live streaming / studios where I want continuous power. And the protection against too much current should be in the dummy battery / it’s cable / the transformer. Generally: just being damn careful is probably best. 😅

[@volodumurkalunyak4651]

@@ChrisSpiegl USB-C cables without a transformer are great. Except when you byu a wrong one. That particular one is probably made to power a laptop (majority of those take 19V and won't be damaged with 20V, mine takes up to 21V from fully charged 5S pack) so it asks Type-C charger to put out 20V (standart USB PD voltage).

[@albey1816]

7.2v is the Nominal Voltage ( Anything less than this and your Camera turns off ) - Not the running Voltage, which is usually around 8.0v

[@houndsmanone4563]

Sorry you had to endure the loss of your camera and your primary means of income. I definitely take away from your video a good lesson learned. I will not hook up mismatched power connectors that could possibly fry my camera. Cameras are not cheap and to have one fried from an improper electrical connection would be devastating. Thank you for your video. It was quite informative and educational. Full-watch. 👍🏽🙂

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I appreciate that and yes, I hope many others will learn what you learned as well and be careful with what they do with their cameras. Especially once you start also looking into V-Mount batteries and the like, this stuff can become quite dangerous for your camera. Again, thanks for the watch and hope you'll find more informative content on the channel.

[@BeeStokesStyling]

So I just fried my camera and I'm sick to my stomach. I wish I would have looked at this video beforehand

[@getitgotitgoulet]

I literally watched this video before buying a dc to usb-c converter and I ALSO JUST FRIED MY CANON RP. I did not comprehend the information in this video until after my mistake lol. My mistake was using a 20v cord instead of a 7.2v power supply- because I didn't think my Anker power delivery bank would be THAT strong. Boy was I wrong smh. Although it was a $1000 mistake, moving forward this was an invaluable learning experience. Thank God I made this mistake on the RP and not my R5!! Still a little bummed tho lol

[@ChrisSpiegl]

That sucks. I was able to get my EOS R repaired for around 300€ so maybe you can get your RP fixed as well.

[@some3ody]

The thing is we tend to overthink things. Im a Sony owner and not sure if Canon can do in body charging..I suppose it can. If it does then.. The safest method really is simple. Use a battery in the cam then usb charge via powerbank or outlet. The battery (even the one that wont charge) provides the right voltage every time. Power going through the inbody charge port is controlled internally. I used dummy battery with single and dual usb also but i dont trust them anymore.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

This is correct for most new cameras. However the canon eos r - as well as the Sony a7 Mark II for example did not have the in body power delivery ability. Those could charge the camera but not while in use. That’s why these dummy batteries are still important but will become less and less important over the next years. ☺️

[@bantertv9332]

That’s a very good point. In my case I could not use the multi USB port on the camera (Sony a7s ii) because I was using it on a gimbal which requires the multi USB port on the camera to control iso etc. also usb on an adapter mains was no good anyway because of camera being on a gimbal. The only option was to use a dummy battery because I did not even have the option of changing my battery because I would have been happy to have 50 charged batteries in my bag, because it would mean I would have to take the camera off and change the battery as the compartment does not open when on the gimbal and then put it back on and have to balance the gimbal again, 15 mins at least!! The only option was to use a dummy battery. If you look at the compartment of the a7s ii you can see it has a small plastic bung in the side of the door which you can push out and still close the door and let the wire out, so Sony did actually anticipate a dummy battery being used. The solution I have is to buy a single 18650 cell usb power bank and I have lots of 18650 charged cells with me which I use in the round power bank mounted on the shoe mount and the dummy battery usb connected to the output. I simply change the cells, which I actually use in the gimbal as well and the thing is light enough for the gimbal as well! I saw this guy connect his dummy battery via 2 usb leads (plugged into 2 separate USB ports at the start of the video and that’s not right!! His getting more voltage then he needs.

[@frankfeng2701]

@@bantertv9332 You just reminded me of the pain of swapping those tiny FW-50 batteries used by old Sony cameras. I would just save myself all the pain and upgrade to a model that does support PD charging.

[@t4t213]

@@frankfeng2701 got rid of them Sony now, just using Blackmagic raw video rocks, no more headache just point and shoot with a robust codec and use a v mount or npf battery

[@myblacklab7]

Probably good advice. The issue is that many cameras overheat when shooting video, and I've heard a dummy battery can help with that, while a USB-C power supply will not help, and may exacerbate the overheating problems. So for Canon camera owners who want to shoot high-quality video, the overheating will stop you from long shoots, if the tiny batteries don't. Canon only sells dummy batteries that connect to an adapter that connects to the wall. I feel like Alice Through the Looking Glass dealing with Canon's bizarre nonsense.

[@Lorofol]

Old video, but to clarify, the block in the middle of the cable is a dc-dc step converter that turns the normal usb 5v 2-3amp into 8.4v (nominal) 2-3a that the camera wants, without that step converter, any voltage will pass through to the camera and possibly damage the electronics. So basically, like you showed in the video, make sure you don't overvolt your device or you risk damaging it. Most electronics won't be damaged by undervolt; but I'm not an electrician so do your own research. Additionally, you learned a really important skill in electronics about volts and amps, so I'd say it was a $400 well spent.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Still hurt at the time - and my argument stands: why woudl the dummy battery not have some type of fuse built in… that'd be the best thing.

[@DanDan-li4hr]

So it is safer to just plug the dummy on a similar voltage source output like a npf970 battery with a plate as the source?

[@CINEAIRVIDEOPRODUCTION]

Its called a barrel plug and the box on the cable that works is called voltage step down or converter.... You always want to make sure the voltage source to the voltage required is correct.

[@DrRussell]

Thank you for this valuable information brother. Are the skin tones slightly overexposed in this video?

[@Quasisaur]

I know there's a scheme on aliexpress that is mostly used for lithium battery chargers and it costs about 3 $ - which main purpose is to set voltage and amperage to constant numbers - probably will fit into battery case. I wonder if they can insert them into dummy batteries?

[@cyriljude3033]

Hi there, First of all thanks for a very important and informative video. I just had two queries. 1) Is Power bank okay with with en-el14a dummy battery adapter for Nikon D5300? 2) Is normal charge okay or QC from the power bank??? Thanking you in an anticipation of speedy reply. Regards,

[@Butterkekskrumel]

Your "dangerous" cable is not just a cable. For USB-C Power Delivery, the components have to negotiate how many volts to output. So there is an active component in your cable.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

My "dangerous" cable - in fact - is just a cable. For propper Power Delivery there would have to be active components (which I learned the hard way). But this "dangerous" cable does not have those components 🙈.

[@Butterkekskrumel]

@@ChrisSpiegl are you sure? The active component could be hidden in the plug (which looks suspiciously long)

[@ChrisSpiegl]

@@Butterkekskrumel Could be, but at the end of the day it did not do what I was expecting it to do… not well enough at least. So it's been marked as "dangerous" in my book.

[@n.shiina8798]

@@ChrisSpiegl it is indeed dangerous since i see no output voltage marking on the cable but by PD spec, it requires a trigger chip to negotiate output more than 5V. so yes, it is an active cable with 20V trigger chip. i personally made my own dummy battery with 9V PD chip with no problem even when i plugged it to 100W PD charger. they do sell pre-made 9V PD cable if you want

[@MomentCapsule]

What a informative video, thanks for sharing this. Sorry to hear dummy battery fried your camera. Wish you have a wonderful New Year. See you on 2021!

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Thank you 🌸. I appreciate you always being here. Have a good 2021 😋.

[@danielmorales9576]

Thank you so much Chris for this very in-depth video. I was on the fence wether to use a dummy battery or not but now I know that I can go for it as long as I use a reliable and previously tested system.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Thank you - that’s good to know this video is helpful for you. 👍

[@davidwatchesyoutube247]

Newer w 8v output for canon is what I picked up and cones with wall plug and adapter.

[@MrBrockley3]

Can't understand why you want to mess around with all those cables. I use a dummy battery plugged into a power bank to power my Canon R6mkii without any problem. I also had a Canon M50mkii with a similar dummy battery and power bank, and I had no problems. A good powerbank will last you days, so I can not understand the need to use the mains supply.

[@KiR_3d]

Hi! There can be an other pit! If a manufacturer is not fair enough it can use an inappropriate chip that converts USB voltage (it's not more than 5v AFAIK and for example Fuji W126 old batteries use 7.4v voltage). I've just read in Instructables the article about creating DIY dummy battery adapter. There was a strong precaution to *not* use XL6009 chip which can deliver up to 40v in an underpower conditions (if batteries in a power bank dries out or your AC adapter is not beafy enough, I suspect)! So I think that here is a need to actually see the inner side of a dummy battery to be sure that it will not fail further. Sounds like paranoya but you can tell this to the owners of fried C64 retro computers which has faulty AC "bricks" from the beginning ))

[@christopherleubner6633]

Yup USB C will autorange from 3.3v on up to 21V. It is selected by a resistor or by active device communication.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Then the Dummy Battery should have that resistor… but alas… now that most cameras do USB-C PD we'll no longer to worry about that.

[@RocZi]

I like your technical analysis. it is great learning and makes you an expert. but of course after your very expensive lesson and sacrifice. You gained more knowledge and by sharing, you helped the community. This 27 min video shows you went through a lot of research and reading to understand the situation. I came to this video because I watched another youtuber fry her camera because of third party (cheaper) dummy batteries that has no warranty, no way of getting the sellers to be accountable. Well yeah, we pay what we get for in the end. Who knows, it could be the cables, or cheaper lower quality components that didn't last and cause power issues, or there is no extensive testing nor QA/QC done, that causes the damage to the youtuber's camera. That youtuber now advocates buying the AC power adapter and dummy battery that comes form the brand of the camera itself. There is just much more confidence and assurance. Although at a higher price. Based on the video comments, it doesnt seem like it happens to everyone, amazon ratings are still high. Just that all it takes is just one frying incident. Risk vs rewards. Unrelated but similarly, when i was building my own PC, i had to learn a bit about voltage and ampere draw of each and every component that I use AND i had to consider about the power draw from my house, and the power supply we get. We are not electricians or engineers in this field but after I learnt all these, i find that it is very important and useful knowledge. I can also fry any of my expensive PC parts but at least one good thing about modern motherboards is that, by now after many years of innovation, there are safety features automatically built-in to prevent damage from sudden huge power increase, especially for the enthusiasts who like to manually control the power setting (overvolting) to find the optimal level for overclocking purpose.

[@User-pq2yn]

Please tell me, were you told which part was damaged. Was only the power controller affected or did it reach the processor?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I am not 100% sure as I got it repaired and I don't fully remember what they stated on the repair report.

[@turgutunal3663]

very usefull video. Thx alot. I was just going to solve dummy battery problem with saperate and different parts yesterday. Thx Lord, I said to myself there is a compact solution but ten dollars more, just buy it. And today I happened to meet your experience. Thx again.

[@maskocio]

Grazie per il tuo sacrificio e per aver condiviso le soluzioni!

[@daylight5500]

Thank you for pointing out that not all USB power is equal. We have reached a dangerous point of confusion. It was a given that USB power was 5 volts but now with USB C that has gone the way of the Dodo bird. It can be anything from 5 volts to the sky. Apart from metering everything how can one tell the difference? The other thing that may and can fry electronics is polarity, getting the negative and positive mixed around.

[@cr7-w1s5k]

i buy for my camera can u tell me this safe or not ? plz i afraid to used it Syncwire 30w PD charger and F1TP ACPW20 NP-FW50 Newest Gen Tech: Work with All PD supply charger and powerbank, Such as Power Delivery Type C charger, PD powerbanks, PD car charger; More stable, safer and powerful. Built-in safeguards protective IC to make your devices against excessive current, overheating, and overcharging.

[@m3chanist]

It's called a barrel jack. Specifically that one is a 3.5mm barrel jack. Adding any kind of regulator inside the dummy battery as you suggest is not a good idea I'm afraid for the simple reason that unless you have the perfect supply voltage going into it (in which case the regulator is redundant) then it is going to dissipate any mismatch as heat, and a small heater inside your camera body is a great way to introduce drift to the sensor and other electronics, I.E. unstable. USB C PD capable chargers such as your 80 watt supply will provide a range of voltages, 5 , 9, 12, 15, 24 etc and expect a PD reciever on the other end to negotiate what voltage to provide, in short modern USB C is not your old standard USB, assumptions have a way of teaching these harsh lessons.

[@Sabbra]

Thiing is, you need a PD charge, wich will deliver the amount of V that you need... PD chargers has a lot of outputs options

[@michaeltownsend1368]

you experienced my fear when using dummy batteries! I decided to use the canon DRE6 coupler and a UPS when using it. I wish I could have my R6 tethered to Lightroom and charge it at the same time. Very informative video! (Ps my use case is long duration stage photography, 12hr+ days running for a week at a time)

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Wow, that sounds like an insane usecase. 12+ hour days alone are crazy but doing that for a week at a time?! phew. Sadly I have no experience with the R6 and the Power Deliver + Tethering… maybe certain USB-C ports can do both? I'm not sure. But I sure hope in the future that would be a possibility.

[@varimahenry]

How did you get the Fried camera fixed?

[@DeepThinker193]

It was dipped in oil.

[@roman9887]

I bought 2x adapter Dummy batteries Canon LP E17, for Canon RP both for the mains and a second Dummy battery which is functional for Canon RP and works on large Sony batteries Applicable batteries: NP-F970, F750, F550 both dummy flashlights are inoperative and the camera will not fire, although their LEDs light up when plugged in, the Canon RP will not turn on.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I hope you can figure out what may be going on. Possibly contact the seller of the product?

[@roman9887]

Yes, I'm working on it.

[@VicariousxD]

Laptops are generally rated for 65W or more, with chargers generally rated for 18v and 3a+. You should never use a laptop charger for your camera without a dc to dc step down buck converter. Also the dummy battery does have some circuitry inside to fake the battery information to the camera (the other two pins). The 8.2-8.4v reading from the battery is because the battery accounts for the voltage drop while discharge, hence the lower rating. Although I didn't knew that usb c can supply 18v. I was under impression that it can only provide 5v with more ampere to meet the increased power demand. Maybe it has something to do with the type of peripheral connected which usb c understands with the resistance between the different pins of the connector.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Thank you for these insights. I have found out the heard way. Really sucked. But now I know. And it’s one of those things that just shows me that usb-c is confusing and potentially dangerous. Also; the dc to dc stepdown could be put into the dummy battery. That would help protect potential miss use. 🧐 Cheers ☺️

[@dedskin1]

I dont know what Canon R uses , but usually they use 8V battery , USB is 5V , so i dont get how you can run it over usb let alone fry the camera . What may have happened is pole reversal , some cables have internat pin as + and the sheet around as - , but others are reversed , so maybe you used wrong cable where + is on the outside and - is on the inner pin . That is the only way i can think of , but even then i dont think 5V can fry a camera , maybe with 80W it can . Idk.

[@MysticApertureStudios]

The thing with type c is that it can deliver a very wide range of voltages and power upto i guess 150 watts. Thats why the usb 3 front connector cables are so damn thick. Usb 2.0 is 5 volts. I use a boost converter to convert 5 volts from a USB power bank to 9 volts, i power my saramonic dslr pre amp sr pax 2 with it. I havent tried it on my camera but theoretically it should work if i dial in the voltage at around 8.4 volts. I am not so sure about the amps i will get out of it because a 5volt 2 amp charger can deliver upto 10 watts while an 8.4 volts 2 amp cam will need about 17 watts of power to run

[@dennisqueentourblog]

Hinter einem USB-C Netzteil liegen halt immer ca. 5V an... Kameras laufen fast immer mit irgendwas zwischen 6,4 und 15 Volt. Normalerweise sollte bei einem solchen einfachen Stecker-Adapter dann einfach NICHTS passieren und die Kamera aus bleiben. Jedoch kann es sein, dass auch die Steckerpolung des Rundsteckers falsch war (+ und - vertauscht) und schon ist die Kamera beschädigt...

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Interessantes insight. Was auch immer es war… ich stecke so schnell nicht wieder etwas zusammen das ich nicht verstehe 🙈. Danke für die weiteren Infos.

[@gregfisher216]

I don't want to be rude Chris ,but why didn't you use a power grip that holds two batteries ?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Because that does not solve the problem of "continuous power" which I am after. Two batteries also run empty at some point.

[@TerryMurrayTalks]

Nice one Chris, on the same journey but looking at solutions to providing off grid power via NP-F970 battery pack and WY-F01A and WY-F01B mounts to various cameras in the Sony and Canon Range

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it. I am sure there are great solutions for the NP-F970 packs out there as well.

[@cr7-w1s5k]

can u tell me what prodact u used and destroyed u camera ? and how this destroyed u camera plz ? tell me here i not know good english i used translate

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I used a round barrel connetor to USB-C which did not have the necessary transformers and stuff built in. That was the main issue.

[@HeikkiJay]

Heyy, thanks for the video. Same thing happened to me today :( how much were the repairs? I’m scared

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Ohhhh nooooo. That sucks. I was the same way. Definitely scared shitless. My repairs were around 400€ including shipping costs. Hope you can get it fixed as well. Something about my experience: directly going to official canon service worked better than a third party. Third party sent it back without being able to do anything. Good luck and let me know how it goes. 🌸

[@kamalnep]

I have the same issue, but I turn on the camera before putting battery in , it is working, having to do it all the time is so frustrating

[@camibohn1017]

Hey! Any luck? Did you get it repaired? Considering buying a broken camera myself...

[@HeikkiJay]

@@camibohn1017 Heyy! I got it repaired through Canon, I think it cost me like 600€ including VAT but they had to ship it to Sweden so it took like 2 months in total. The camera has worked flawlessly after.

[@frankbrander]

What did they have to replace to fix your camera and how did you find a place repair it? Thanks

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I am not entirely sure what they replaced I just know that it was not as expensive as I expected. The repair shop: I first sent it to a somehow Canon Affiliated shop that is sorta close to where I live and they sent it back saying that they can not fix it. I then sent it to the German official Canon service and they did all the fixing within like 10 days or so.

[@ALJessica]

@@ChrisSpiegl how much did you pay ?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

@@ALJessica The repair cost around 400€.

[@tdmingo]

@@ChrisSpiegl was that while your camera was still under warranty or out of warranty?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

@@tdmingo This would not have mattered since it is user error which is not covered by warranty.

[@kennethgooswit9194]

If you add a voltage of 8.2 volts to the plug of the dummy you cannot damage you camera, make sure that the voltage is not higher than 8.2 or even 8.4 volts than you are safe.

[@projectbirdfeederman5491]

I thought 5v was the limit?

[@Roby0593]

Yes that dump battery should have an internal regulator, the camera unfortunately think that you will use only a regular battery to they don't have put this regulator on the camera...they usually put only to check power that a camera receive using the usb type c where a person can use any charger have on hands

[@dustmicks1]

Also what was the fix? Just bought a new camera? or did canon fix this for you?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Sent it in for repairs and got it fixed. Took about 2 weeks.

[@moraltraveller1166]

You took a very long time to just get to the point. It was painful to watch.

[@oienu]

That is a cheap charger if that is giving 8V when is supposed to be 5V, on cheap models the voltage sensing is bad so the voltage can actually drop when is plunged a high load, that could explain why the camera is working using 2 ports when that not had to use that much currents. USB C is safe because the standard will give only 5V, to increase the voltage you need a PD IC, a chip asking for another voltage. Somes cables have the circuit inside to request the voltage, the possibility depends on the charger, by example, mine is 20W but the limit is 12V, if is not compatible the power will stay on 5V because is the safe voltage unless the wire ask for another compatible level, maybe that is the case for the little one you tested. That cable probably is for a notebook where 19-20V is the standard. Is more probable the another one is using another voltage and a converter to 8.4V because the size, that voltage is weird, normally you will find 9 or 12V as I said, the power depends on the charger, if not support that voltaje then the adapter need ask for another. I will not recomend use one of 9V because that is over the 2-cell lithium battery max voltage and can be harmful.

[@michaelambrose]

30 min video on dummy batteries...that's enough YT for me for the day

[@ChrisSpiegl]

🥵😅

[@JoeCastellon]

I have a dummy battery and it comes with its own power adapter, so there's no guessing. However, I made the stupid mistake of connecting a different adapter which happened to be nearby. I thought I was plugging in the right one, until I see my camera not wanting to turn on. My mistake sent almost 15 extra volts to my Canon SL2. Repair (rough) estimates were at $450 USD. I got a used Canon RP instead. Well, my little brother gifted it to me.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

This hurts every time I hear a story like this. It's so easy to make these mistakes. Choosing the EOS RP is not the “smartest move” I understand it may be in reach in terms of price, but it lacks so much from more modern cameras (USB-C Power Delivery - so you don't need a dummy battery, as well as unlimited video runtime - which the RP still has limited to 30 minutes). If you still can, maybe look into the R8 or any of the other numbered Canon EOS R type cameras. Those may be a more modern and ultimately more convenient camera for you.

[@JoeCastellon]

@@ChrisSpiegl ​​⁠thank you for your empathy and advice! The RP was gifted to me so my only other option was really to say no 😆 I didn’t know about the recording limit so that’s a bummer, but I was already used to that with my SL2 anyway. The primary use will be photography as I’m now using my iPhone 14 Pro Max for talking head videos. My goal is to someday switch to Sony as I’m finding out now that the Canon ecosystem for full frame is far to expensive for non professional use.

[@mattylamb658]

Useful info about continuous power! Danke!

[@dagg497]

Sorry but PD and Quickcharge wall chargers or Powerbanks should never deliver more than 5Volts 500mAmps unless you communicate with the chip inside the charger right??

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Not sure, but it definitely delivered more than what it should have then. 🙈

[@NewerSing]

There are always risks with cheap dummy batteries and AC power. I usually have transformer plates or transformer dummies. More often than not I use Sony NP batteries, which are already 7.4 or 8.4 volts (can’t remember) and pose little risk. D-Taps are usually more dangerous, but still, being DC - they are safer with transforming cables/plates/dummies. Never going to plug anything besides my lighting into AC

[@volodumurkalunyak4651]

Sony NP style are 7.4V nominal, 8.4V (full) to around 6.4V (close to emplty, under load). It is a perfect replacement for camera internal 7.2V or 7.4V batteries with matching plate and dummy battery.

[@gereral1_jackofalltrades]

8.4 volts is standard for cameras and camcorders.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Never said it isn't normal… just not something everybody knows. Electricity is such a vast topic to understand and most photographers / video people don't necessarily fall into that category 🙈 - myself included.

[@RuskiArtem]

Thanks for the video, really wished i watched it prior to pluging in a 19v power adapter into my 8v battery adapter

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Yes, I know that feeling all too well. :( Hope whatever happened can be repaired.

[@seantan552]

This video was extremely long winded. You took so long to get to the point. This whole video could be summed up into one minute. I tried to use usb-c but the voltage was too high and wasn't converted so it broke my camera cause the voltage was too high. It's not that it was a different manufacturer that it broke your camera. You need a converter. Like the iFootage Electric Ray E1

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Sure thing. Maybe next time I'll do better.

[@ooltimu]

The problem is neither dummy batteries or USB C. You need some knowledge of the USB C power standard. It starts off at 5V as any normal USB, but devices can ask up to 21V by using communication with the charger. Your cable (that you repeatedly say it has no electronics) actually has electronics (most likely in the USB C mold) that requests most likely 19V. It looks like it is a cable made for old laptops that do not have USB C charging and it makes it possible to charge your laptop from a 19V capable USB C charger (like your Apple one). Not all chargers support up to 21V, so they will not be able to provide that. That is what you see with the small charger. The larger charger is capable of it (it is a laptop charger after all) and it provides what the cable asks (19V). I am sure the description of the cable where you bought it from stated that it is for charging laptops. Now if you still want to use this system (although I doubt it), you can purchase a small electronic board called a PD trigger (that is what your trouble cable has inside) which can be either fixed voltage or configurable and you can get one that will output the voltage you want, most likely 9V in this case.

[@iconoclast6994]

10 minutes in. Way too long ti describe the issue.

[@dedskin1]

I broke Sony nex3N , a made a dummy battery for it and it was working on the Lab Power Supply , but then i used a brick adapter , one that can run from 3-12V , and set it to 8V , i didnt know it is broken , and sending 15V no matter what you set it to .. and good by Sony nex3n , so i went to repair it , but it was so small , so cramped in that while disassembling it i broke a Flat cable leading to Shutter mechanism , so i gave up . Will never try to open up Nex3 or any other small body camera from anyone . They are just too cramped in , cant disassemble it whiteout prior knowledge .

[@seyilawal36]

Welcome to the electrical engineering section of Camera education.

[@BUSINAMOTO]

Thank you sir for this video really helpful. Watching from Philippines 😊

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Thank you. I appreciate that.

[@adrianzaharia8885]

Hey Chris. Today I used a dummy battery for the first time and my camera fried. I think it got a bigger voltage and fried the camera. It won't start now and inside the battery location it smells like "fried". Your had the same problem I see...did it smell like that also? Thanks.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Mine did not smell much. But your best bet it so send it to Canon Professional Services CPS.

[@samjohn1754]

21:15 till this guy gets to the cable that fried his cam 🥱 .... TLDR, he used a 'USB C to 12v Jack' conversion cable with his dummy battery, without knowing that USB C uses anywhere between 5-19 varying voltage as standard depending upon the connected device. Its very hard to get such a stupid cable (A smart connector (usb c) connecting to a dumb electrical connector (12v jack)), so this guy really tried hard and destroyed his cam 😂 for a 3 min video he made 27 mins 😭

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Thanks for the kind words. Maybe next time, consider that not every single person on this planet has an electrical engineering degree and create your own videos for people to enjoy for free! And if you didn't get it; I started talking about the cable that broke my camera at 5:36.

[@charlielee9800]

How much did it cost to repair ?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

A few hundred EUR.

[@75west]

"a solution that includes the dummy battery" I spent some time working on this. I found a solution from Walmart! $14 Canadian plus $8 shipping.

[@TheMopse]

Thanks for the video. I am searching for a streaming solution for my R6. Canon wants for their official brick and dummy 260€ and found a go nine on amazon for 21€. Also was thinking too power the camera with a powerful 60W USB C Charger directly to the camera but thankly I didnt. Just one thing: the video maybe was a bit long but else 5 stars.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

You already have the possibility to power the EOS R6 camera directly (USB-C Power Delivery like a laptop). Why not use that method?

[@bernyecheverria]

Dang!!! I just had this happen and was going to make a video about it! Super informative and in depth!! How much did getting the EOSr fixed cost?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

That really sucks. I hope you can get yours fixed as well. For me the cost was between 300 and 400€ with shipping.

[@bernyecheverria]

@@ChrisSpiegl It’s not that bad, like you said considering it’s multi thousand dollars. Hopefully it can,! Ha ha

I think you are not correct on reason your camera got fried... USB C should provide 5V, just like USB A unless there are electronics to trigger USB C PD which can get voltage up to 20V, depending on trigger (which is why I assume USB C part of cable is so long) Plug is called barrel jack Important to note is that you definitely should not measure voltage only on barrel jack and you should measure it on dummy battery since there can be voltage boost converter inside of dummy battery casing The reason original cable you got with adapter gives you 8V is there is voltage boost converter inside of it (or QC 3, but that is not likely) The reason why you are getting 5V with cable with PD trigger and smaller PSU is that smaller PSU does not support PD

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Thank you for adding your thoughts to the topic. I appreciate that.

[@Obscurainc]

what happens if u accidentally use a 5V power bank to your 8V NP-FZ100 dummy battery connected to your Sony A74 camera, would it have the chance to fry the camera or not? thank uu

[@christopherleubner6633]

Not entirely sure about the specific device but ine the flash will try to charge up but will hang till it cooks itself if the volts are too low.

[@dustmicks1]

Sorry one more question. How much did this cost you to get fixed?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Around 300€

[@marielencestari5483]

I'm relieved to know that my camera could be fixed! I just made a big mistake and switch the cables...I connect my camera to the vacuum cleaner's cable.

[@AkalyptosUC]

My canon battery m50 mkii have 7.2 v and when i test it i give to my canon 8.5-9 . Is that problem for my camera?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I have seen similar differences in my batteries / adapters. But I don't think that should be a problem. Obviously no guarantee from my side 🙈 try at your own risk..

[@playmakerrek6178]

Any recommendations for a canon 70d? I lot of dummy battery online have reviews about their camera getting fried, I’m a bit scared to try

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Don't have specific recommendations aside from: get the original. Then again, I just try to trust the ones on Amazon with good reviews which are a complete set (dummy + cable + wall plug).

[@HistoryandReviews]

Are E6 and E6N cross compatible? I have an EOS R

[@thankyouand3260]

Vielen Dank nochmal, das ist echt ausführlich und hilfreich alles! Hab grad eine ZV-E10 gekauft und suche nach einer sicheren NP-FW50 Dummy Battery

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Danke, ich hoffe du findest was du brauchst.

[@ZEROMENTEDR]

I'm wondering what would be the best solution for the EOS RP. Like a Dummy battery connected to a powebank but im not sure how to make it.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Hi, you don't really need to "make" anything there? You just need to purchase a USB based Dummy Battery and a Powerbank. Then you can use that setup pretty easy. I would not even try to "make something" just purchase something that should work much more easy.

[@takismail]

they you use step up boost board to take voltage from 5v to 7.5, but if you don't know what you doing, just don't try it. might kill your cam

[@roman9887]

I bought 2x adapter Dummy batteries Canon LP E17, for Canon RP both for the mains and a second Dummy battery which is functional for Canon RP and works on large Sony batteries Applicable batteries: NP-F970, F750, F550 both dummy flashlights are inoperative and the camera will not fire, although their LEDs light up when plugged in, the Canon RP will not turn on

[@AKG58Z]

I already knew what happened when you said I used a usb c PD adapter.theres a chip out there named PD decoy which can switch voltage of a given adapter.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Does not explain why the Dummy Battery would not have a way to limit the current / voltage going into the body. Luckily, this will no longer be a problem, now that almost all cameras are USB-PD ready.

[@AKG58Z]

@@ChrisSpiegl yeah it does not have a regulation system cheapskates stuff.

[@g-dd-were5763]

What about the KingMa dummy battery is this safe?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I have not tested all the dummy batteries.

[@thankyouand3260]

10:25 nice, do you see less audio interference with the USB setup vs. the AC Adapter ?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

No, both work great.

[@albey1816]

So basically, nothing wrong with the "Dummy Battery" - It was your non compliant cables in between that was the problem.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Yup… still something to be aware of.

[@phtung309]

Valuable information. Thanks

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Appreciate it.

[@Taqes]

2 OF MY 1K+$ CAMERAS DIED BECAUSE OF THIS DAMN ISSUE

[@hawktrap]

you know. when stupidity is kick in, you gotta hold that thing down. electronic is not a rocket science. but it's something that you have to put extra care to not to get kill or damage. here is my advise, 1 ) if you want to buy some electronic thingy(multi tap, d tap, dummy battery, battery etc etc...) stay in the sun shine, don't go Rogue. 2 ) if something is suspicious, don't buy it. it's not worth it. 3) if some one buy a suspicious thing and recommend it to you, wait least 3 month. 4 ) have some common sence, what? you want that big ass battery with 14.8v output to run the camera with zero decord dummy battery? what is wrong with you!

[@paulushdk]

NEVER EVER do something based on an assumption. Read datasheets and measure. Or just stop plugging weird things together if you don't know what you're doing.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Some people learn only the hard way.

[@Inatwiztvisuals]

hope they come up with that fuse for the dummy battery hate to fry my camera.

[@moodykhlifa6168]

i use a sony a6100 can i use power adabter fot dummy battery output 8volt ?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

You'll have to check your brands details and make sure you get a good quality dummy battery.

[@dustmicks1]

Did it Fry the camera right away?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

It pretty much was instant.