CAME-TV Dual Battery Charger, Inverter and Extender is not only an inverter capable of converting one or two 14.4V type batteries into AC output, but also has multiple interfaces to easily connect various equipment. In addition, it can also be used as an efficient charger, capable of charging two V-shaped batteries simultaneously. It can be used as an extension cord even without batteries.
The Dual Battery Charger, Power Inverter and Power Strip is a follow-up to the CAME-TV Pure Sine Wave Dual Battery Charging Power Station that I reviewed in mid-2022.
Such devices are very convenient, and powerful solutions are often not appreciated or given the attention they deserve because they are not as interesting as cameras or lenses. If you’re traveling, it makes sense to have a device that is essentially a dual-voltage charger, along with a variety of other power supply options.
Visually it is not much different from the original. Below you can see what has been changed and/or improved:
There are also two AC outlets that can be plugged into any type of AC plug in the world. This means you can use it not only to charge batteries, but also to power flashlights, wireless video transmitters, monitors, and more. For example, if your flashlight does not run on batteries, but can work on mains power. You can power the light remotely using only V-lock batteries.
Above you can see all the available inputs, outputs and functions. I would like to see more USB-C outputs instead of the usual USB-A outputs since more and more devices use USB-C these days.
On site, you can plug a dual battery charger, inverter, and power strip into an electrical outlet to charge your V-lock batteries, as well as your laptop, cell phone, drone batteries, and more.
There is a small storage compartment at the bottom of the charger. You can use it to store charging cables, etc.
It should be noted that no matter which battery you use, the total load power does not exceed 220W. Using a larger battery will provide longer battery life, but the output power that the inverter can provide will not increase.
To charge the V-lock battery, use a dedicated 16.9V, 4A charger and connect it to the DC/IN connector. If you press the screen button, the current battery capacity status will be displayed.
The connected battery will automatically start charging and the charging status will be displayed on the screen. Now, since this is a 4A charger, you only get 2A per channel when charging two batteries at the same time (actually a little less than in the real world). Even if you’re only charging one battery, the current is limited to 2A. This means charging isn’t particularly fast.
The device makes a loud noise when charging the battery. There’s nothing worse than having a charger with a loud fan in your hotel room when you’re trying to sleep. The fan noise is definitely the Achilles heel of this product. I will tell you more about this in the comments.
By connecting one or two batteries, you can use the power station as a power inverter. If you press the display button, the current battery capacity information and output interface information will be displayed.
I love that the power station’s AC output can accept any plug in the world. This is convenient because you may have devices with different power connectors on the end.
You can press the USB/DC switch button once to turn on 4 USB interfaces and 2 DC interfaces for power output. To turn them off, press the USB/DC switch button again.
DC 12V 3A interface and two D-tap outputs work independently, you don’t need to turn on USB/DC to work.
If you press the AC switch button once, the 2 AC outlets can output power. The output voltage will be displayed on the screen. To turn off the AC output, simply press the AC switch button again.
What the new version of the CAME-TV power station cannot do, but what the old version can do, is the ability to switch the AC inverter from 110V to 220V and vice versa. With the new version, you can only buy the 110V version or the 220V version. The reason CAME-TV made this change was for safety reasons. In previous releases, CAME-TV found that some customers forgot to switch back from 220V at 110 V, which ultimately led to equipment damage.
Not being able to switch between 220V and 110V is not ideal if you are traveling between different countries with different power systems.
Best performance is achieved when using two fully charged batteries. Uneven voltage can cause the inverter to favor batteries with higher voltage while waiting for the other batteries to reach sufficient levels to operate at the same time. Each side of the inverter has 9A current protection to protect the battery.
Exceeding 9A on either side will automatically activate the auto-protection function and turn off the output. To reset, simply turn off the device, remove all connected batteries and devices, and restart the Power Station.
When I try to use the AC output, unlike the previous version where the device was silent for a long time before the fan turned on, in the new version the fan turns on immediately and stays on.
From above you can see how noisy the fan is. This was done approximately 50 cm from the front of the power plant.
The reason for the louder fan noise is that the CAME-TV now has a built-in power supply instead of an external power supply. This generates more heat and requires the fan to spin at a higher speed to ensure proper heat dissipation. According to CAME-TV, they have selected the best silent fan on the market, but the fan must have a high speed to ensure heat dissipation. This means that the noise is louder than before.
This can be a little tricky to remember, so I’ve listed the maximum power outputs depending on whether you’re using an AC input and whether you’re connected to a battery.
If you connect two V-cell batteries, you can get a maximum output of 220W AC or 180W DC. If you want to use both AC and DC current, the maximum total power is limited to 220W.
If you connect two batteries and an AC input, you can output 220W AC and 180W DC power at the same time.
The build quality of the CAME-TV Dual Battery Charger, Inverter and Extender is good, but I found that one section at the bottom was not aligned correctly.
I love using the Power Station, it comes in handy in many situations, especially if you travel a lot.
The ability to charge or turn on lights remotely on site or charge devices in a vehicle traveling between locations cannot be ignored.
With two V-lock batteries, I can power my laptop, run my Odyssey 7Q+, charge my iPhone, charge two Sony NP-F batteries, and charge 4 AA batteries with no problem.
As another test, I was also able to charge and run two Nanlite PavoTube II 30X tubes at the same time.
I also wanted to test the claimed 220W maximum power, so I hooked up a Godox AT200BI KNOWLED Air Dual Color LED Tube (4″) to see if it would work. This lamp consumes 210W. Now the light comes on but then goes off after about 5 seconds. The fact is that if you connect two V-lock batteries, regardless of their capacity, the voltage difference between the two batteries must be within 0.1V, otherwise you will not get the maximum value. exit. I then ran the same test again using two fully charged batteries of the same capacity and model, in this case the 99Wh CAME-TV batteries. I was able to turn on the Godox light at 100% power. However, I tried the same test with two fully charged 150Wh Bebob batteries and couldn’t get it to work.
The reason some batteries may or may not work is because certain brands of batteries have customized protocols and you can only use their own protocol, and in some cases only their chargers. CAME-TV recommends using a 99 Wh battery or higher. However, it is important to note that smaller batteries may have lower current protection thresholds, increasing the risk of overcharging or overcharging. The CAME-TV Mini99c has a maximum power rating of 168W, while some other 99Wh batteries are limited to a maximum power rating of 99W.
Another bug I found was that if I replaced a battery with a higher capacity than the one I was using before, the display would show that the battery was connected, but would not show the remaining capacity, and would just show 0%.
I like that the power station can accommodate any size V-lock battery. I run it on a SWIT PB-C420S 420Wh battery, which allows the device to be powered for extended periods of time in emergencies or other situations where mains power is not available.
I like the built-in flashlight and in case of an emergency you can also use the power station to charge your laptop or phone if you have V-lock batteries.
As I mentioned in my review, the fan is too noisy in my opinion. It is very loud when charging the battery or using the AC or USB-C output. You don’t want to leave it near where you’re recording, and you don’t want to charge the battery in your hotel room at night because you won’t be able to sleep.
I’m used to carrying a fairly long extension cord with me so I don’t have to place the charger or power supply too close to where I’m recording audio.
It’s a pretty good all-in-one power solution that’s very convenient, especially when you’re traveling. It’s not perfect, and there can be some oddities in the order in which the device turns on, and the fan is a bit too noisy, but for the most part it’s a decent solution.
Matthew Allard is an award-winning, ACS-certified photographer-director with over 30 years of experience in over 50 countries. He is the editor of Newsshooter.com and has been writing articles for it since 2010. Matthew has received 49 ACS awards, including five prestigious Golden Tripod awards. In 2016, he won the Best Cinematography award at the 21st Asian Television Awards. Matthew is available to work as a director of photography in Japan or anywhere else in the world.
Post time: Apr-24-2024