Cuddeback external battery and solar run times

[ajtxwi]

Well, got two external batteries deployed, replaced D cell batteries in two existing, set up one new camera (also with D cell) and starting to get some data. See attached report.

Interesting that during the D cell battery swap on two cameras, the "battery days" line in the report kept the old data and thinks they have been running for over 140 days (NOT!). They died about 60 days in. Anyone seen this happen before?

Also, interesting that my 20Ah battery (with no solar) appears to be dipping into the red zone and turning off during temperatures in the teens, then turning back on again. Anyone seen this happen before?

Also, the home camera is the only one with solar panel - the 12Ah battery plus 20-watt solar panel appears to be functioning very well!

Question for the group - a couple of the cameras are popping up with two (2) links each. What does this mean? it might have something to do with one of the cameras turning off during freezing temperatures...?

 

[cheech53]

Well, got two external batteries deployed, replaced D cell batteries in two existing, set up one new camera (also with D cell) and starting to get some data. See attached report.

Interesting that during the D cell battery swap on two cameras, the "battery days" line in the report kept the old data and thinks they have been running for over 140 days (NOT!). They died about 60 days in. Anyone seen this happen before?

Also, interesting that my 20Ah battery (with no solar) appears to be dipping into the red zone and turning off during temperatures in the teens, then turning back on again. Anyone seen this happen before?

Also, the home camera is the only one with solar panel - the 12Ah battery plus 20-watt solar panel appears to be functioning very well!

Question for the group - a couple of the cameras are popping up with two (2) links each. What does this mean? it might have something to do with one of the cameras turning off during freezing temperatures...?

On the battery days you have to let the camera go dead it takes a couple of minutes after all batteries are removed
how many days did you get from the 20AH batteries before this started to happen, ? A SLA battery will start to freeze in real cold weather and lose power if not set up with a solar panel to keep it charged
these cameras will link to any camera it will try to link to home first , if it is showing 2 links that camera is having trouble linking to the home unit , the freezing temperatures are only affecting the alkaline and SLA batteries

 

[ajtxwi]

On the battery days you have to let the camera go dead it takes a couple of minutes after all batteries are removed
how many days did you get from the 20AH batteries before this started to happen, ? A SLA battery will start to freeze in real cold weather and lose power if not set up with a solar panel to keep it charged
these cameras will link to any camera it will try to link to home first , if it is showing 2 links that camera is having trouble linking to the home unit , the freezing temperatures are only affecting the alkaline and SLA batteries

good to know about leaving the batteries out for a couple minutes before replacing. It was about 12 degrees outside, so I guess I was in a hurry! I'll wear warmer clothes next time or pick a warmer day.

the camera with the 20Ah battery days went to zero the day after deployment. I thought I measured a 95% battery state of charge before going out. Interesting though... deployed on 2/3. On 2/4, battery days went to zero when temperature dropped to -5F. Stayed up for a couple of warmer days, then dropped off again when temperature dropped to 3F on 2/7. Stayed up for about four warmer days, then dropped to zero again on 2/13 when temperature dropped to 7F. Stayed at zero battery days on 2/14 with low temperature of 8F. Temperature got up to a low of 26 on 2/15, but still at zero battery days. Battery day counter started again on 2/16 with temperature holding at 26F. I knew cold affected these batteries, but not so dramatically. part of this exercise was to prove to myself that the solar panels are the key to long term / cold deployments. Local temperature graph attached for reference.

My "trail crossing" camera was supposed to be the intermediate position to connect my "meadow" camera, but if that camera is having battery problems, you are probably right that others are picking up the slack with two links.

 

[ajtxwi]

On the battery days you have to let the camera go dead it takes a couple of minutes after all batteries are removed
how many days did you get from the 20AH batteries before this started to happen, ? A SLA battery will start to freeze in real cold weather and lose power if not set up with a solar panel to keep it charged
these cameras will link to any camera it will try to link to home first , if it is showing 2 links that camera is having trouble linking to the home unit , the freezing temperatures are only affecting the alkaline and SLA batteries

one interesting observation... my 20ah external battery (with no solar backup) appears to "die" every night when the temperature drops below about 10F (battery count restarts at zero) and about 6:30am every morning, the camera takes a picture of nothing (and sends it to the home camera). I am guessing that the restart is causing the camera to take a picture. Have you seen this before?

 

[cheech53]

one interesting observation... my 20ah external battery (with no solar backup) appears to "die" every night when the temperature drops below about 10F (battery count restarts at zero) and about 6:30am every morning, the camera takes a picture of nothing (and sends it to the home camera). I am guessing that the restart is causing the camera to take a picture. Have you seen this before?

I have read from other posts of people having that issue, I have one starting to do that a G camera with only 4 D cell but my battery day still continues to count at 57 days but the meta data says it is at 4914 mv ( 4.9 volts) so I expect it to go dead soon

 

[ajtxwi]

I have read from other posts of people having that issue, I have one starting to do that a G camera with only 4 D cell but my battery day still continues to count at 57 days but the meta data says it is at 4914 mv ( 4.9 volts) so I expect it to go dead soon

"meta data"??? is that fairly easy to access remotely? I am 1200 miles away.

 

[cheech53]

"meta data"??? is that fairly easy to access remotely? I am 1200 miles away.

You save your Picture from your email bring it up in exifdata in the mata data will be BL that’s your volts in Mv

 

[cheech53]

This is my last photo

 

[john volkman]

i know everyone is trying to get the best performance possible , but i thought i would offer my real world experience this winter with factory solar accessories..
I have ran my G 5109 home cell linked to 10 remotes with 4 d rayovacs as back up and a 3600 solar (which is $59.99 msrp) since June and thru the entire winter until today and its still running without touching it. I live in NE WI and we have had multiple below zero periods and it just keeps going. I have the camera mounted on a post mount and the panel on the back and the panel is not even angled up at all towards the sun, but it is facing south. If this panel has run my cell camera linked with 10 remotes without missing a beat thru a WI winter im very confident our new panel that is designed for ambient light/tree canopy (MSRP for $99) will run any camera year around in almost any situation. Its plug and play and easy to set up. The solar internal batteries are also easy to replace and not expensive if they ever get to the point they wont hold a charge. Anyone considering building a solar system may want to at least try one of the cuddeback panels before doing so to find out if its more cost effective. It will definitely be easier and more portable than also using a SLA battery, case , solar etc. Im willing to bet if anyone was going to buy multiple solar panels i could find a retailer that is willing to work with you on price as well. I run over 100 Cuddelink's on multiple properties and ill be switching 90% of mine to one of the two solar panels for 2022. With the online control and the ability to turn the camera delay on an off ill be able to deploy them early in the year in sensitive areas and not touch them at all unless is need to trim grass or branches at some point.

 

[cheech53]

i know everyone is trying to get the best performance possible , but i thought i would offer my real world experience this winter with factory solar accessories..
I have ran my G 5109 home cell linked to 10 remotes with 4 d rayovacs as back up and a 3600 solar (which is $59.99 msrp) since June and thru the entire winter until today and its still running without touching it. I live in NE WI and we have had multiple below zero periods and it just keeps going. I have the camera mounted on a post mount and the panel on the back and the panel is not even angled up at all towards the sun, but it is facing south. If this panel has run my cell camera linked with 10 remotes without missing a beat thru a WI winter im very confident our new panel that is designed for ambient light/tree canopy (MSRP for $99) will run any camera year around in almost any situation. Its plug and play and easy to set up. The solar internal batteries are also easy to replace and not expensive if they ever get to the point they wont hold a charge. Anyone considering building a solar system may want to at least try one of the cuddeback panels before doing so to find out if its more cost effective. It will definitely be easier and more portable than also using a SLA battery, case , solar etc. Im willing to bet if anyone was going to buy multiple solar panels i could find a retailer that is willing to work with you on price as well. I run over 100 Cuddelink's on multiple properties and ill be switching 90% of mine to one of the two solar panels for 2022. With the online control and the ability to turn the camera delay on an off ill be able to deploy them early in the year in sensitive areas and not touch them at all unless is need to trim grass or branches at some point.

Does your 3600 solar panel have one or two batteries packs ? I have two J2 cameras with a 3501 solar using diy three battery packs they been working great for over 650 days , from my experience the Cuddeback solar panels will work just fine with AA battery packs. northern lower Michigan

 

[john volkman]

Does your 3600 solar panel have one or two batteries packs ? I have two J2 cameras with a 3501 solar using diy three battery packs they been working great for over 650 days , from my experience the Cuddeback solar panels will work just fine with AA battery packs. northern lower Michigan

just one , although they have the capacity for a second . I dont think the second is needed in the 3600 if it gets sun. The new super solar for in tree canopy will have 2 packs standard.

 

[ajtxwi]

i know everyone is trying to get the best performance possible , but i thought i would offer my real world experience this winter with factory solar accessories..
I have ran my G 5109 home cell linked to 10 remotes with 4 d rayovacs as back up and a 3600 solar (which is $59.99 msrp) since June and thru the entire winter until today and its still running without touching it. I live in NE WI and we have had multiple below zero periods and it just keeps going. I have the camera mounted on a post mount and the panel on the back and the panel is not even angled up at all towards the sun, but it is facing south. If this panel has run my cell camera linked with 10 remotes without missing a beat thru a WI winter im very confident our new panel that is designed for ambient light/tree canopy (MSRP for $99) will run any camera year around in almost any situation. Its plug and play and easy to set up. The solar internal batteries are also easy to replace and not expensive if they ever get to the point they wont hold a charge. Anyone considering building a solar system may want to at least try one of the cuddeback panels before doing so to find out if its more cost effective. It will definitely be easier and more portable than also using a SLA battery, case , solar etc. Im willing to bet if anyone was going to buy multiple solar panels i could find a retailer that is willing to work with you on price as well. I run over 100 Cuddelink's on multiple properties and ill be switching 90% of mine to one of the two solar panels for 2022. With the online control and the ability to turn the camera delay on an off ill be able to deploy them early in the year in sensitive areas and not touch them at all unless is need to trim grass or branches at some point.

I believe you that NiMH batteries do better in the cold than SLA and my DIY assembly is pretty cumbersome compared to the Cuddeback off the shelf products - your experience and my experiments have proven it. I would like to be first in line for the better, stronger, faster ambient lighting solar panel - if you need beta testers or product evaluators, let me know. When is the expected release date for the ambient lighting panel? I am mostly hesitant to pick up a 3600 given the manufacture required lighting conditions vs. my pretty heavy shade.

 

[john volkman]

I believe you that NiMH batteries do better in the cold than SLA and my DIY assembly is pretty cumbersome compared to the Cuddeback off the shelf products - your experience and my experiments have proven it. I would like to be first in line for the better, stronger, faster ambient lighting solar panel - if you need beta testers or product evaluators, let me know. When is the expected release date for the ambient lighting panel? I am mostly hesitant to pick up a 3600 given the manufacture required lighting conditions vs. my pretty heavy shade.

if everything goes well we should have them by June but in todays shipping climate nothing is guaranteed , the new panel has been tested for the last year but not by myself, the engineers at Cuddeback have been running them for over a year now. Very similar design to the 3600, a bit larger and includes the extra battery and also battery condition feature on the panel itself so you know if its fully charged or charging.

 

[ajtxwi]

This is my last photo

Pretty cool stuff! I had no idea that information was imbedded in the photos. So... in my last photo, I had BL=8210 which suggests 8.2V - that is much lower than 12V which is the understood point that the camera records "low", but interesting it still reports that the battery is, "OK". 10.5V is supposed to the point when the battery is dead / 0% state of charge. What do you think BP=75% is?

Also interesting that the last image taken on my home camera (with external 12Ah / 12V battery and solar) included, BL=8525 (8.5V), BP=75%.

 

[ajtxwi]

if everything goes well we should have them by June but in todays shipping climate nothing is guaranteed , the new panel has been tested for the last year but not by myself, the engineers at Cuddeback have been running them for over a year now. Very similar design to the 3600, a bit larger and includes the extra battery and also battery condition feature on the panel itself so you know if its fully charged or charging.

Sounds good - I'll be due to replace my D cell batteries in 3 cameras not yet converted to external / solar in April then hope to get two months on that batch before June. Fingers crossed and would like to try out the new panel when it becomes available. If the shipping / supply chain issues continue to be problematic, I'll probably be shopping for 3rd party solar panels. I read somewhere that the 3600 panel is about 2 watts - is that correct? Curious, do you know what the wattage and battery size that is included in the new and improved / larger solar panel? Your note above suggested something about the new / larger panel coming with "two packs standard" - assume these would be NiMH. You also mentioned that the batteries in the new solar panel are replaceable - is that right?

 

[john volkman]

Sounds good - I'll be due to replace my D cell batteries in 3 cameras not yet converted to external / solar in April then hope to get two months on that batch before June. Fingers crossed and would like to try out the new panel when it becomes available. If the shipping / supply chain issues continue to be problematic, I'll probably be shopping for 3rd party solar panels. I read somewhere that the 3600 panel is about 2 watts - is that correct? Curious, do you know what the wattage and battery size that is included in the new and improved / larger solar panel? Your note above suggested something about the new / larger panel coming with "two packs standard" - assume these would be NiMH. You also mentioned that the batteries in the new solar panel are replaceable - is that right?

they are replaceable and the super solar comes with 2 battery packs standard, the solars run about 8.4 -8.6volts on average when charged but there is some variability on that.

 

[ajtxwi]

they are replaceable and the super solar comes with 2 battery packs standard, the solars run about 8.4 -8.6volts on average when charged but there is some variability on that.

excellent. Do you know what the wattage is on the super solar panel is?

 

[john volkman]

excellent. Do you know what the wattage is on the super solar panel is?

3600 solar is 2 watts, the super solar will be 5 watts.

 

[ajtxwi]

3600 solar is 2 watts, the super solar will be 5 watts.

Until the super panel gets here, what do you know about the EXIF data and battery information...? my home camera (with 12AH battery and 20 watt solar panel) reported zero battery days today (after a nice 14 day run with not TOO cold temperatures) and sent me one image - report says external battery is OK and the EXIF data from the image says, BL=8538, and BP=75%.

 

[john volkman]

Until the super panel gets here, what do you know about the EXIF data and battery information...? my home camera (with 12AH battery and 20 watt solar panel) reported zero battery days today (after a nice 14 day run with not TOO cold temperatures) and sent me one image - report says external battery is OK and the EXIF data from the image says, BL=8538, and BP=75%.

the fact that you are using a home brew system and that your battery days went to zero tells me there is some type of issue with your power system, the voltage is fluctuating drastically or it could be something else. It may not be feeding the correct voltage to the camera so id rather not take a guess , as it sounds like its something you put together yourself and it would be nothing but a guess on my part.
EXT ok just means it was running above 6 volts
- BL = battery load in millivolts when he batteries were under load , this can vary up and down, BP is battery percentage and this is not as accurate as BL, your batteries could have been as low as 50% or as high as 90%.