Tekkeon Batteries

[Nick Walters]

I know a few of you guys have purchased Tekkeon batteries, namely the 3450, so I thought I'd make a thread for them.

Those of you using this product : How is it holding up, and how do you feel about this product?

I myself just picked up a 3450 and 3450-10 for a total of 100Wh, and all in all it cost $190 USD on Ebay.

I was convinced to buy this for a few different reasons :

1. Voltage Flexibility
It can adjust anywhere between 5 and 19V

2. Capacity
50Wh by itself, and 100Wh with the 3450-10 added

3. Cost
At 100Wh it completely surpasses the price point of the Anton Bauer or comparable name brand battery I could have used(I own a gold mount). Secondly If I were to invest in Anton or comparable batteries I would need to purchase a charger, with the Tekkeon this isn't required.

Overall this product looks perfect on paper, but I'd love to hear everyone elses thoughts, concerns, experiences, and opinions. I'll be sure to do the same when I initially receive the product, and as I gain some experience with it.

[Martin Amada]

This line looks interesting, especially the one with the 14 volt capacity that looks to be for sale some places for under $100. I think it is model 3300.

I look forward to hearing how they work out for you.

Martin

[Nick Walters]

overall cost dropped to $179.28 USD for both the 3450 and the 3450-10, as the seller gave me a shipping discount for buying both of the items from him. Not to bad for 100Wh of flexible storage....he still has 4 3450s and 4 3450-10s available if anyone is interested....although the 3450s are a refurbished product.
http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/livinconn

The 3300 doesn't seem like a bad product, but I definitely like the 3450 and 3700 more, as they both have more capacity, and have the ability to add on an extra 50Wh(3450-10) for a pretty low cost($73 USD including shipping from the guy above). Going with the 3450 actually enables a lower cost per Wh. The cheapest price I found for the 3300 is $83 which is roughly $2 USD per Wh. With the 3450/3450-10 combination at $180 USD for 100Wh it comes to about $1.80 USD per Wh.

This is all based on the cheapest prices though, and I'm comparing a refurbished product cost with new. New 3450s go for about $125 USD(that includes shipping), and then if you purchased a 3450-10 from the guy above which is by far the cheapest price I've seen on new 3450-10s you'd have spent $198 USD for 100Wh, avaeraging out to about $2 a Wh.

So I guess it all comes down to what someone wants, if they want a new product then both the 3450 and 3300 seem equal, if one purchases a 3450-10 as well...this enables one to have a large capacity solution for less battery changes. If one only cares about overall spending the smallest amount RIGHT NOW and just getting their system up and running...then the 3300 makes sense. However if someone is a brave refurbished product purchaser like myself, the price point sways in the 3450's favor.

Overall it seems like a good range of products, on paper, although I'm of course talking about the Mypower All 3300 and higher range of products, as I don't know anything about their various battery holders, ipod power solutions, and all that stuff

[Tom Frisch]

Looks like you'll have to set the voltage each time you hook up the battery, which is not a huge deal, but might get annoying, or be downright dangerous if you set it wrong.
Still, the price per W/H is quite good, and they are LiPo which is the newest and lightest battery tech (I think)

I might go this route as well.

-Tom

[Nick Walters]

Yeah I considered getting the 3700 which says it can automatically sense the voltage needed, but I didn't want to trust a piece of electronics to correctly choose the voltage level...I'd rather handle that myself....I'll prolly tape a note to the Tekkeon to remind myself to change the voltage. Hopefully the battery lasts long enough in the field that I won't have to worry about this very often, as at the moment I'll be using my camera's batteries to power it, as I have three of them that are Panasonic 5400 MaH batteries, so they'll last a whole day, and it helps me add a little more weight to the sled, which I need.

In fact I hardly need all the battery power I have now, as all it can feed is a transmitter at the moment....once I have a more full rig with FF/Iris/Zoom control, wireless audio, and a 35mm adapter it will come in handy though.

I suppose I'm laying down the ground work for the future. I have the three 5400 Pannys, the 100Wh Tekkeon, the glasses will have their own battery, plus I'm building a 12v AA enclosure to velcro onto my vest, and then I have two 5v USB power packs...I'm gonna be lit up like a Christmas tree lol.

[Nick Walters]

Well my Tekkeons showed up yesterday, and overall I'd say I'm happy.

A couple gripes I have are the small amount of power tips the unit comes with. I'm unsure if I'll ever need to use the Tekkeon with anything besides my sled, but it would have been nice. They sell the extra tips on their website, but to be quite honest I would have rather spent $10 more on the Tekkeon to cover manufacturing costs so they would have included all the tips.  Out of the box I have tips for my 600g external drive, the HVX-200, Tx/Rx, any USB item, and probably a couple of other items I can't think of at the moment. One thing in particular that I can't power is my laptop, without spending quite a few dollars on another set of tips.

All that said, I'll probably not be using the Tekkeon for anything besides sled power, and the price per Wh is so good that I just can't be anything but happy! An Anton wouldn't hook up to my laptop! This one actually can if I get a tip, or do some custom wiring.

Sadly I don't really have an appropriate load to test the battery with, but I'll do my best once I have some more equipment, and I'll report back in this thread.

[Carter Raff]

How's this battery working out for you? How much does it weigh?

[Nick Walters]

It's worked out fine, although it's been primarily used to power audio equipment so far. As I've said before the price per Wh is amazing. As for weight, I'm unsure, and I don't have a scale handy at the moment...I'll post again soon once I have access to a scale.