Last week I bought a Movi M10, been shooting with it almost every day on various projects, I had absolutely no problems with it apart from literally just now, the battery charger set on fire. The battery was plugged into the charger but the charger was off the mains. I can't believe this is happened as I have a shoot every day for at least the next 2 months for a large scale film. Right now I have no charger, the remnants of a small fire, inoperable machinery and a small burn on my hand... I've been looking for a number to call but no luck...
Derek, if the battery is OK, don´t worry. Chargers for LiPo Batteries are pretty cheap and widely available. Go to a hobby store that sells radio controlled toys, like cars, planes, etc. nearby, that should save you a lot of troubles. But be aware to take all precautions when charging batteries - reread the manual, so that you won´t repeat the problems, in case it was self-inflicted.
Wow.. had the same problem last week. Not a fire per se (caught it in time), but it did catch fire briefly. A little scary.
Lipos are tricky over time and can be temperamental. Sounds like you've cycled them quite a few times. In broad terms a lipo can last anywhere from 50 to 500 cycles depending on conditions, quality etc.
I'm not sure the exact meaning of "cycling". Did I use them until they ran out of battery? yes. Did i Recharge them until they were full? yes. Did I do this a at least 10 times? yes. Did i do this less than 30 times? No. I am still in a state of shock after what has happened, especially as my investment into the freefly system was based on the quality of its products and build. It's 9.30pm, my shoot begins at 3.30am, I have an injury on my hand, nothing to charge the battery with and a whole crew with expectations of me to complete my duties. Woflgang, I understand you are trying to help. Believe me, I have read the manual... I'm sure it's easy to replace a charger but this is hardly the point... Fred, I'm sorry to hear that that is happened to you also. I believe this is a serious thing that the manufacturer should look into...
Derek one of the main issues with LiPo's is discharging them to much. They are considered 'dead' when they go below 3.3 volts per cell. If you run them completely empty, in other words until they won't power the MoVI, then they may actually have been damaged internally. For those of us who fly LiPo's on copters if that were to happen I would discard the battery. To much chance of failure while flying. Good operating practice would be that when the lights on the MoVI get down to 1 green light out of the three that you change the battery. I forget who posted a recent picture of their setup on a cart at a shoot but they had something like 8-10 MoVI batteries ready to go. As pointed out above any hobby store will have LiPo battery chargers that will work. Lastly would you and Fred please contact the support desk as I am sure they would like to know about these situations. support@freeflysystems.com
It seems to me with the considerable cost of the MōVI system, Freefly should look at supplying LiPo batteries with built in circuitry to shut the battery off when it reaches critical voltage. That circuitry and logic is very well-understood, and exists in many forms. I don’t know if the MōVI itself has this built in, but it should, too. Obviously if one buys extra LiPo batteries from another source, you’re on your own. But if you’re doing that, you probably know a bit about LiPos. Here’s an example of a small device that does what I described above: http://www.mikrokopter.de/ucwiki/en/LipoSaver
The MōVI has the circuitry internally. My understanding is that the MōVI lipos were left without it to save on space.
Hi Derek...Sorry to here about this very unfortunate incident. I have sent you a note via a separate conversation so that we can help you out with this issue. Best Regards, Denise
Hey guys, It was me with the 11 Lipos on the cart (Denise won't sell me 1 more to make it an even number!!) First if all I've been doing some larger shoots lately and the last thing I want to do is have dead batteries, so more is always better. Have backups for your backups. Lipos are cheap! $50 for a battery that does so much is DIRT! Second TEST your batteries often- use a little tester every time you get the chance- when my batteries hit "25-30%" they are taken off and charged. This sounds like a tough thing to remember to do, but just make it a habit and things will go well. Third- make sure you or your AC plug in the RED and BLACK connectors on the charger into the corresponding RED and BLACK on the plugs. I caught my last AC just before he plugged in the AC. My guess is this could lead to nasty things happening. Eighth- Change batteries when you can, not just when you need to. Don't let a battery with 30% start your shot. Thirteenth- always have backups of your backups.
We RC nerds are well familiar with the interesting (read: terrifyingly horrific) things that a Lithium Polymer battery can do when it loses the will to live. The rest of humanity just gets to read about it in the news (google: Boeing 787 Dreamliner LiPo fire).
Justin you nailed it through and through, you can never have enough packs and constant testing is essential. I believe these are the same: http://www.gensaceusa.com/98p-25c-2200-4s1p.html When I fly and film I have a saying "My life is a battery" (while humming "life is a stereo") because as soon as we change one it's on the charger right away. Bonus about third party chargers is you can hook most of them up to a car battery as a power source. Handy in the field. Also to cover what Steve was saying, get yourself one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tester-Voltage-Buzzer-Alarm/dp/B005GJCJOA Best $5 you ever spent when it comes to lipo. The AC might get angry when it goes off but I suppose you could get one without an alarm and just make sure the operator monitors it. Personally I never run my packs below 3.7V per cell. If you run them lower than 3.3 you might as well throw them out. LiPo's are a very big thing in the RC industry because they pack a lot of punch in a little package. That said safety is always first. I'm not sure if it exists but one of the moderators may want to create a sticky post on caring for your batteries. If you want a detailed understanding of them this link is the most comprehensive I've found. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209187 LiPo likes to be balanced, they like to be "Store Charged" when not in use. By cycle I meant 1 charge/discharge. Most packs will get you 100 cycles although hyperion claims theirs are good for up to 500 but not in my experience. Hope I didn't step on anyone's toes here, namely you guys FreeFly. If so feel free to delete this post. Derek I'm sorry to hear of your situation but remember this, it happens to the best of us. Good luck and I'll bet you it will never happen to you again with the proper preparation. Lastly, MoVI is expensive mostly due in part to the algorithm that makes everything so smooth, the design that makes it so clean and the countless hours of R&D put into delivering a quality product. I've been using brushless gimbals for awhile and IMO open source controllers don't even come close. In closing, know all aspects of your gear intimately. It's your bread and butter. Sure it takes a little time and research but in the end it costs less money and cred.
I'm sorry, I just re-read this again.. Derek, you are on a "large scale" feature film and only have one charger? I'm not trying to be an ass, but maybe you need a bit more experience before you take on a large film..
I've had two Freefly Movi Lipo charges go up in flames in the last month. It's a serious issue. I've emailed Freefly twice now with pictures of the burnt out charger and cables etc and although they've got back quickly when it comes to sales request it's been over a week since my first contact outlining my concerns and they haven't bothered to get back to us. We use cell alarms and never let the batteries drop below the outlined levels so I don't think this is the issue. I've bought additional chargers and cables to replace the initial one that went up in flames. I refuse to buy more these should be replace as should the damaged batteries.
Hi Rick...I am sorry to hear about your battery chargers and the fact that you have not received a timely response. I just did a quick check and I don't see any email from you in our support system since December. Could you please email your request to support@freeflysystems.com and we will make sure you are taken care of? You can also send me a private conversation with your current email address and I can have a Support Engineer create a ticket for you to ensure you receive it.