Trying a Unity Digital Battery Pack

[Barry K]

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive 2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7 kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then plugging it back in. I did this until there was no juice left in the pack.

I have now re-charged it for another 12 hours, and will test it out again, but I doubt if it will do what they claim it will, even considering the fact that the pack has not really been conditioned through several charge/discharge cycles.

On the other hand, While charging the battery pack, I inserted a charged set of Optex 1700 Nimh batteries. They lasted for 129 shots, - all with flash.

I'll update this after I've re-tried the Unity Digital Pack. I find the Minolta claim that some cameras had oil on the contacts to hold little weight, as the battery pack does not use these contacts at all.

 

[abc]

Thanks for the alert. I too have tried the Optex 1700s, and found that I had to drainn them twice in my charger, taking them down to zero slowly in an Optex charger and then all the way back to full charge to get them fully conditioned. It takes about 16 hours for each full discharge-recharge cycle, but now they are really wrking well--I too am getting 110-140 shots, including lots of flash and a lot of LCD on time.

dh

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in. I did this until there was no juice left in
the pack.

I have now re-charged it for another 12 hours, and will test it out
again, but I doubt if it will do what they claim it will, even
considering the fact that the pack has not really been conditioned
through several charge/discharge cycles.

On the other hand, While charging the battery pack, I inserted a
charged set of Optex 1700 Nimh batteries. They lasted for 129
shots, - all with flash.

I'll update this after I've re-tried the Unity Digital Pack. I
find the Minolta claim that some cameras had oil on the contacts to
hold little weight, as the battery pack does not use these contacts
at all.

 

[Barry K]

Interesting to hear that you too have had pretty good results with the Optex 1700 NiMH batteries. Mine have also been discharged/recharged twice and I expect the number of shots may increase with time. I've been using a Kodak charger which only takes about 160 minutes for the charge/recharge process. The 1600 NiMH batteries that came with it are almost useless in the D7.

Actually, I'm thinking that the best solution might be to have 3 sets of the Optex 1700's and use them instead of a Battery Pack.

Barry K

dh

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in. I did this until there was no juice left in
the pack.

I have now re-charged it for another 12 hours, and will test it out
again, but I doubt if it will do what they claim it will, even
considering the fact that the pack has not really been conditioned
through several charge/discharge cycles.

On the other hand, While charging the battery pack, I inserted a
charged set of Optex 1700 Nimh batteries. They lasted for 129
shots, - all with flash.

I'll update this after I've re-tried the Unity Digital Pack. I
find the Minolta claim that some cameras had oil on the contacts to
hold little weight, as the battery pack does not use these contacts
at all.

 

[Norman Woollons]

I have a "Keene" battery pack - the UK equivalent and spec of the Unity. I had a problem at the weekend with the D7 locking up, and after posing the question on this forum, was told that any noise coming from a moving contact, was likely to cause me problems.

Holding the yellow tipped plug very still, resulted in no more lock ups, but less than 30 pictures.

I wonder if it is a battery pack issue?

Norman Woollons

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

 

[Barry K]

Just tried the Unity Digital Poer Pack again after a 12 hour re-charge, and got only 8 shots (with flash) before it died again. The unit must be defective.

Barry K

Holding the yellow tipped plug very still, resulted in no more lock
ups, but less than 30 pictures.

I wonder if it is a battery pack issue?

Norman Woollons

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

 

[Stuart20831]

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in.

Barry

Minolta probably should have had a better solution in mind when the set the voltage use parameters for the D7... I went directly to a 6volt 4amp rechargeable sealed battery in a pack. $13.95 at my local battery store and $2 for the tip 1.7mm x 4mm to hook it up... It runs all day... sometimes I can even skip a day (of charging)...

The NiMH batteries are 1.2 volts nominal and by the time the camera puts a load on them, the actual voltage drops just enough to set off the cameras low battery system... It needs a lot of current.
Stuart

 

[simpatico]

I'm not shooting a bunch of pictures in a row, and I'm using the evf only 70% of the time. My maha powerex 1700 mAh nimh worked from 4-9pm yesterday. My maha powerex powerbank (really nice sized $50 battery pack with charge indicator lights from thomas distributing) worked for over two hours. There was a lot more lcd use with the battery pack, maybe 40%. Anyway, it had't run out by 4am so rather than kill myself trying to wear it out I figured I would save it for another day.

Keep in mind I'm still using my supplied 16mb card, while I wait for the 128mb viking I won on auction to arrive. I filled up the 16mb card 4 times. (with images that I actually like) 14 5mp .jpgs and 28 2mp jpgs.

Once I have some real memory I can give you a better idea of how the powerex pack and batteries work.

yrs
kirk

.

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in.

Barry
Minolta probably should have had a better solution in mind when the
set the voltage use parameters for the D7... I went directly to a
6volt 4amp rechargeable sealed battery in a pack. $13.95 at my
local battery store and $2 for the tip 1.7mm x 4mm to hook it up...
It runs all day... sometimes I can even skip a day (of charging)...
The NiMH batteries are 1.2 volts nominal and by the time the camera
puts a load on them, the actual voltage drops just enough to set
off the cameras low battery system... It needs a lot of current.
Stuart

 

[Barry K]

Just spoke to the people at Unity Digital. They think my battery pack is faulty and asked me to change it for another new one. There had to be something wrong with it. I previously had one that I used with a Nikon 990 and it took a few hundred shots before it died.

Barry K

Keep in mind I'm still using my supplied 16mb card, while I wait
for the 128mb viking I won on auction to arrive. I filled up the
16mb card 4 times. (with images that I actually like) 14 5mp .jpgs
and 28 2mp jpgs.

Once I have some real memory I can give you a better idea of how
the powerex pack and batteries work.

yrs
kirk

.

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in.

Barry
Minolta probably should have had a better solution in mind when the
set the voltage use parameters for the D7... I went directly to a
6volt 4amp rechargeable sealed battery in a pack. $13.95 at my
local battery store and $2 for the tip 1.7mm x 4mm to hook it up...
It runs all day... sometimes I can even skip a day (of charging)...
The NiMH batteries are 1.2 volts nominal and by the time the camera
puts a load on them, the actual voltage drops just enough to set
off the cameras low battery system... It needs a lot of current.
Stuart

 

[patty diamond]

Barry K

Holding the yellow tipped plug very still, resulted in no more lock
ups, but less than 30 pictures.

I wonder if it is a battery pack issue?

Norman Woollons

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

 

[patty diamond]

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in. I did this until there was no juice left in
the pack.

I have now re-charged it for another 12 hours, and will test it out
again, but I doubt if it will do what they claim it will, even
considering the fact that the pack has not really been conditioned
through several charge/discharge cycles.

On the other hand, While charging the battery pack, I inserted a
charged set of Optex 1700 Nimh batteries. They lasted for 129
shots, - all with flash.

I'll update this after I've re-tried the Unity Digital Pack. I
find the Minolta claim that some cameras had oil on the contacts to
hold little weight, as the battery pack does not use these contacts
at all.

 

[patty diamond]

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in. I did this until there was no juice left in
the pack.

I have now re-charged it for another 12 hours, and will test it out
again, but I doubt if it will do what they claim it will, even
considering the fact that the pack has not really been conditioned
through several charge/discharge cycles.

On the other hand, While charging the battery pack, I inserted a
charged set of Optex 1700 Nimh batteries. They lasted for 129
shots, - all with flash.

I'll update this after I've re-tried the Unity Digital Pack. I
find the Minolta claim that some cameras had oil on the contacts to
hold little weight, as the battery pack does not use these contacts
at all.

 

[patty diamond]

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in.

Barry
Minolta probably should have had a better solution in mind when the
set the voltage use parameters for the D7... I went directly to a
6volt 4amp rechargeable sealed battery in a pack. $13.95 at my
local battery store and $2 for the tip 1.7mm x 4mm to hook it up...
It runs all day... sometimes I can even skip a day (of charging)...
The NiMH batteries are 1.2 volts nominal and by the time the camera
puts a load on them, the actual voltage drops just enough to set
off the cameras low battery system... It needs a lot of current.
Stuart

 

[David Race]

What are you trying to tell us Patty?

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in. I did this until there was no juice left in
the pack.

I have now re-charged it for another 12 hours, and will test it out
again, but I doubt if it will do what they claim it will, even
considering the fact that the pack has not really been conditioned
through several charge/discharge cycles.

On the other hand, While charging the battery pack, I inserted a
charged set of Optex 1700 Nimh batteries. They lasted for 129
shots, - all with flash.

I'll update this after I've re-tried the Unity Digital Pack. I
find the Minolta claim that some cameras had oil on the contacts to
hold little weight, as the battery pack does not use these contacts
at all.

 

[charles nash]

I just talked with the owner of the company and he said that we should be using their 7.2 volt model. He said something about "when the D7 puts a load on the 6 volt battery pack it drops below what is needed for proper

current and it will not last as long as it normally would". Does this sound right? Will the 7.2 volt harm the camera?

Thanks!

Charles

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in. I did this until there was no juice left in
the pack.

I have now re-charged it for another 12 hours, and will test it out
again, but I doubt if it will do what they claim it will, even
considering the fact that the pack has not really been conditioned
through several charge/discharge cycles.

On the other hand, While charging the battery pack, I inserted a
charged set of Optex 1700 Nimh batteries. They lasted for 129
shots, - all with flash.

I'll update this after I've re-tried the Unity Digital Pack. I
find the Minolta claim that some cameras had oil on the contacts to
hold little weight, as the battery pack does not use these contacts
at all.

 

[Barry K]

The guy at Unity Digital said that Minolta told him that the camera was rated at 6volts. I don't know if 7.2 volts would harm the camera or not.

But he did say that AA NiMH batteries would only put out 1.2 Volts each, or a total of 4.8 Volts, whereas their #5 Battery Pack puts out 6 volts of power.

Barry K

Thanks!

Charles

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in. I did this until there was no juice left in
the pack.

I have now re-charged it for another 12 hours, and will test it out
again, but I doubt if it will do what they claim it will, even
considering the fact that the pack has not really been conditioned
through several charge/discharge cycles.

On the other hand, While charging the battery pack, I inserted a
charged set of Optex 1700 Nimh batteries. They lasted for 129
shots, - all with flash.

I'll update this after I've re-tried the Unity Digital Pack. I
find the Minolta claim that some cameras had oil on the contacts to
hold little weight, as the battery pack does not use these contacts
at all.

 

[newsposter]

Amen.

The point here is not to feed a D7 with 7+ volts; the real issue is that the Unity battery pack CANNOT sustain it's rated voltage under the heavy load such as the D7 camera.

It is that simple folks.

Use a battery back that not only give 6 volts, but is regulated/stabilized to sustain that voltage over the amerage drawn by the D7.

Packs like the Quantums and the Minolta pack can do this.

But he did say that AA NiMH batteries would only put out 1.2 Volts
each, or a total of 4.8 Volts, whereas their #5 Battery Pack puts
out 6 volts of power.

Barry K

Thanks!

Charles

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in. I did this until there was no juice left in
the pack.

I have now re-charged it for another 12 hours, and will test it out
again, but I doubt if it will do what they claim it will, even
considering the fact that the pack has not really been conditioned
through several charge/discharge cycles.

On the other hand, While charging the battery pack, I inserted a
charged set of Optex 1700 Nimh batteries. They lasted for 129
shots, - all with flash.

I'll update this after I've re-tried the Unity Digital Pack. I
find the Minolta claim that some cameras had oil on the contacts to
hold little weight, as the battery pack does not use these contacts
at all.

 

[abc]

Patty appears to be one of two types:

A A person who learns very slowly about how to actually post a response (the kind interpretation)

or

B An annoying twit who is trying to annoy the rest of us by posting empty replies on numerous threads ( the cynical interpretation)

Will the real Patty please stnd up?

dh

After phoning Unity Digital and being told that I should receive
2-3 times the usage of a set of 1700 NiMH while using their Battery
Pack#5 5/2.7 AH, I ordered one and charged it for 15 hours as per
the instructions.

It went dead after taking only 28 shots with the D7 (25 of them
with flash).

I then charged it again for 5 hours, and got 80 shots - all with
flash. However, I managed that with great difficulty, as the D7
kept dying after every few shots, to be revived for few minutes
aftercontinually disconnecting it from the camera, and then
plugging it back in. I did this until there was no juice left in
the pack.

I have now re-charged it for another 12 hours, and will test it out
again, but I doubt if it will do what they claim it will, even
considering the fact that the pack has not really been conditioned
through several charge/discharge cycles.

On the other hand, While charging the battery pack, I inserted a
charged set of Optex 1700 Nimh batteries. They lasted for 129
shots, - all with flash.

I'll update this after I've re-tried the Unity Digital Pack. I
find the Minolta claim that some cameras had oil on the contacts to
hold little weight, as the battery pack does not use these contacts
at all.