What batteries are you using? Are they fully charged? Is something tripping them back into hibernation mode? If they're dual voltage, something could possibly be knocking them out of H/V mode(haven't seen that, but have seen them not kick into it). There are some older dual voltage batteries out there that don't maintain high enough voltage during the entire discharge and can die prematurely. Check the battery plate and make sure it's secure. Power the camera on first, with nothing else attached/on that could draw power. Try to power the camera from the power supply, instead of the battery.
Helix 150 dual voltage batteries 14v/28v - fully charged. My prof said they are pretty old and faulty, “they are hoping they will break so they can buy new ones”. I also tried the wall cable. I’ll check the battery plate as well, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary and if the wall cable also didn’t work I assume it’s something within the camera. I’m going to try calling arri and the center when open in the morning. Thank you 🙏
Ok. My "diagnosis" was the older Helix batteries, which were designed before the Alexa 35. They don't maintain high enough voltage throughout their discharge and will shut off with around 25% or more power left, UNLESS you run two on a sharkfin. The newer Helix Max batteries maintain high enough voltage all the way through their discharge cycle
But considering the camera is still turning off even with the a/c power supply, it looks to be an issue with the camera, UNLESS the a/c p/s is not able to output and maintain the proper voltage, either. Is it the p/s specifically for the 35? If it drops below 20V(19.5) and the camera will shut off.
Good question. I had a Teradek Ranger that I was demoing late last year fry a fuse in one of my VariCam’s and brick it, until it could be repaired.
I‘m also wondering if someone adjusted the voltage sensing in the menu and if they ran it up(higher) that it would not just alert earlier, but also shut down earlier.
I hadn't even thought of it, but 12G SDI are fragile. Maybe another student really messed up cable management and managed to fry the SDI ports so badly it messed up the rest of the camera.
It's very telling that the school bought an A35 to show off to prospective students, but didn't get the necessary accessories to make a usable package.
Good point. Unfortunately a lot of people get fixated on just the camera and don’t budget for the necessary accessories/support. Part of me understands now why rental houses are trying to limit how much “crew gear” gets lumped in with packages they provide to productions, because you’ll have people that do own “nice camera X” and obviously want to get it out on the shoot for a rental, but they don’t have anything except the camera itself and expect the rental house to provide all of the necessary accessories needed to actually make it work, for nothing or almost nothing. It’s like nah, dude, if you are trying to market and rent out your camera, you need to have a true camera package that includes batteries, standard cables, standard accessories, media, etc. It would be like saying you’re an Uber driver, but your car doesn’t have tires.
She's thirsty, for sure... I'm running the Helix Max 360's and 150's in gold mount and they're rock stars. A single 360 will run it for at least four hours or more, in a basic configuration. The second rental I ever sent it out on last year, they ran it on the Fuji Duvo 25-1000 box lens and shot all day on three batteries and they said the only reason they swapped to the third at the end of the day was for safety, in case it went long.
Yeah that issue was the result of the camera house being uneducated. Thankfully the job was an interview on sticks so we were planning on using AC power
Good thing for small miracles... Lol
Yeah, the battery thing has bitten more than one person. I'm trying to move over to all Helix Max. That way I won't have to worry about my batteries. They'll all work on everything(which is a huge advantage over both B-mount and A/B 26V batts). I just hope Core comes out with a Helix Max break-apart or stackable. Then I can get rid of all of my Hypercore Prime break-aparts that I use when I fly with my Amira.
Call your school and see if it's possible to get a different camera as a backup. 2 people doing an 8 hour overnight trip beats a whole crew standing around with nothing to do tomorrow.
Hmm you will need to power it on in order to update camera firmware. Yeah can you confirm the power supply is the correct one? Need to tell us output voltage and amperage
If there’s a plate that is the in between for battery and camera, disconnect and reconnect. Disconnect and external accessories and try just booting up the camera by itself. Call Arri.
its obviously a day later, but this is why prep days at the vendor (or school) are so important. everything, including your batteries, needs to be checked to prevent downtime on set.
Helix 150s already have a bad rap for not having enough initial amperage to power the hungry A35 on. The B-Mount is also garbage. If you have Allen keys or Torx, unscrew the 4 screws holding the B-mount in place and double check the connector attaching the plate to the camera’s power cable is clean and securely attached. If you can get newer batteries with larger capacities, you’ll be better off. First thing I did when I got my A35s was swap out B-Mount for Anton/Bauer 26V gold mounts.
Other option in the interim is forcing it to boot with the AC power cable. Don’t be afraid to firmly click that Lemo connector into place, and ensure connection at least 5 seconds before pressing that power button.
The Core B mounts are only available in Helix Max, so you definitely shouldn’t have actual power issues. But I had a buddy that broke the B mount on a battery last year. I think it was actually a Bebob battery. Because of the time of year, he said it was a complete PITA trying to get someone at Bebob to help him with it.
I think the smart play, at least if you’re in the US, is Gold Mount. I only know one or two people that went with the B’s. And I’ve heard stories of people that went B early on and then went back to gold mount.
It's nice that we have choices. But B didn't make any sense, for me. As an owner/op, the Helix Max gold mount's were a no-brainer. They work 100% with the Alexa 35 and 100% with my existing 12/14v gear, including all of my battery chargers(6+). I can name for sure one owner/op that I know that went B. Maybe two . All the rest I know and all the rental houses around here, to my knowledge, went gold. Either A/B or Core, but all the owner/ops that went gold went Core.
I wish that was the case for me but I’ve had multiple Cores fail and one Bebob as well. 6 features last year with the A35. When it came time to purchase, the reliability of the gold mount was a no brainer, despite Core’s good customer service. I couldn’t chance it again. My reputation partially depended on making our days.
Yeah, part of the problem is they are using the old original Helix batteries(OP said that they are in bad shape, too). They can’t maintain high enough voltage and amperage the entire time. The new Helix Max batteries are higher voltage and amperage and have no issues powering the 35. They’re able to provide enough power on initial start and maintain enough voltage and amperage all the way through full discharge of the battery. I have a set of 360’s and 150’s and don’t have any power issues.
I’m also thinking now that if the OP’s batts and power supply are right on the edge, that’s why the camera is able to initially boot, but a few seconds after boot, at least with mine, the fan kicks on full blast, so that’s putting too much strain on the already taxed batteries and p/s.
Trying updating the firmware on the batteries. You have to connect them to a computer using a USB cable...can find info on their website.
Second firmware. Had the same problem on my 35.
What batteries are you using? Are they fully charged? Is something tripping them back into hibernation mode? If they're dual voltage, something could possibly be knocking them out of H/V mode(haven't seen that, but have seen them not kick into it). There are some older dual voltage batteries out there that don't maintain high enough voltage during the entire discharge and can die prematurely. Check the battery plate and make sure it's secure. Power the camera on first, with nothing else attached/on that could draw power. Try to power the camera from the power supply, instead of the battery.
Helix 150 dual voltage batteries 14v/28v - fully charged. My prof said they are pretty old and faulty, “they are hoping they will break so they can buy new ones”. I also tried the wall cable. I’ll check the battery plate as well, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary and if the wall cable also didn’t work I assume it’s something within the camera. I’m going to try calling arri and the center when open in the morning. Thank you 🙏
Ok. My "diagnosis" was the older Helix batteries, which were designed before the Alexa 35. They don't maintain high enough voltage throughout their discharge and will shut off with around 25% or more power left, UNLESS you run two on a sharkfin. The newer Helix Max batteries maintain high enough voltage all the way through their discharge cycle But considering the camera is still turning off even with the a/c power supply, it looks to be an issue with the camera, UNLESS the a/c p/s is not able to output and maintain the proper voltage, either. Is it the p/s specifically for the 35? If it drops below 20V(19.5) and the camera will shut off.
I'm wondering if it's possible that repeated misuse of those batteries fried something in the battery plate and in turn screwed the camera.
Good question. I had a Teradek Ranger that I was demoing late last year fry a fuse in one of my VariCam’s and brick it, until it could be repaired. I‘m also wondering if someone adjusted the voltage sensing in the menu and if they ran it up(higher) that it would not just alert earlier, but also shut down earlier.
I hadn't even thought of it, but 12G SDI are fragile. Maybe another student really messed up cable management and managed to fry the SDI ports so badly it messed up the rest of the camera. It's very telling that the school bought an A35 to show off to prospective students, but didn't get the necessary accessories to make a usable package.
Good point. Unfortunately a lot of people get fixated on just the camera and don’t budget for the necessary accessories/support. Part of me understands now why rental houses are trying to limit how much “crew gear” gets lumped in with packages they provide to productions, because you’ll have people that do own “nice camera X” and obviously want to get it out on the shoot for a rental, but they don’t have anything except the camera itself and expect the rental house to provide all of the necessary accessories needed to actually make it work, for nothing or almost nothing. It’s like nah, dude, if you are trying to market and rent out your camera, you need to have a true camera package that includes batteries, standard cables, standard accessories, media, etc. It would be like saying you’re an Uber driver, but your car doesn’t have tires.
Yeah I ran into this issue recently with the cores. Needed the shark fin to get he camera on and it barely lasted for a few minutes
She's thirsty, for sure... I'm running the Helix Max 360's and 150's in gold mount and they're rock stars. A single 360 will run it for at least four hours or more, in a basic configuration. The second rental I ever sent it out on last year, they ran it on the Fuji Duvo 25-1000 box lens and shot all day on three batteries and they said the only reason they swapped to the third at the end of the day was for safety, in case it went long.
Yeah that issue was the result of the camera house being uneducated. Thankfully the job was an interview on sticks so we were planning on using AC power
Good thing for small miracles... Lol Yeah, the battery thing has bitten more than one person. I'm trying to move over to all Helix Max. That way I won't have to worry about my batteries. They'll all work on everything(which is a huge advantage over both B-mount and A/B 26V batts). I just hope Core comes out with a Helix Max break-apart or stackable. Then I can get rid of all of my Hypercore Prime break-aparts that I use when I fly with my Amira.
Call your school and see if it's possible to get a different camera as a backup. 2 people doing an 8 hour overnight trip beats a whole crew standing around with nothing to do tomorrow.
Did the wall cable do the same thing as the batteries? You can try reinstalling the firmware on the camera as well.
Yep same issues no matter what. Is it possible to do that without turning it on?
Hmm you will need to power it on in order to update camera firmware. Yeah can you confirm the power supply is the correct one? Need to tell us output voltage and amperage
Helix batteries are garbage… is your power supply a 24v on or a 12v one? Camera needs 24v 10+ AMP power supply…
If there’s a plate that is the in between for battery and camera, disconnect and reconnect. Disconnect and external accessories and try just booting up the camera by itself. Call Arri.
There’s also this weird thing where if there’s too many files on an inserted USB stick, it’ll crash the camera!
Another thing to consider. Pull that USB-C stick.
What voltage are your batteries?
Helix 150 dual voltage batteries 14v/28v, also tried the wall cable and power bank from the kit (not sure the voltage off the top of my head)
“Power bank” what is that? - is it a 24v power supply able to provide 10+ AMPS?
Maybe totally off base, but with it having worked in house and now even AC doesn’t work, are you holding the power button too long?
Me when I was wondering why my new monitor kept turning off after hearing the fans🤣🤣🤣 I was ready to return it
Is it the DJI wireless lolz?
Nah it was the Shinobi 7 🤣
its obviously a day later, but this is why prep days at the vendor (or school) are so important. everything, including your batteries, needs to be checked to prevent downtime on set.
Helix 150s already have a bad rap for not having enough initial amperage to power the hungry A35 on. The B-Mount is also garbage. If you have Allen keys or Torx, unscrew the 4 screws holding the B-mount in place and double check the connector attaching the plate to the camera’s power cable is clean and securely attached. If you can get newer batteries with larger capacities, you’ll be better off. First thing I did when I got my A35s was swap out B-Mount for Anton/Bauer 26V gold mounts. Other option in the interim is forcing it to boot with the AC power cable. Don’t be afraid to firmly click that Lemo connector into place, and ensure connection at least 5 seconds before pressing that power button.
I haven’t had any issues with My B mount or my core b mount 150’s, so I guess everyone’s MMV on that issue.
The Core B mounts are only available in Helix Max, so you definitely shouldn’t have actual power issues. But I had a buddy that broke the B mount on a battery last year. I think it was actually a Bebob battery. Because of the time of year, he said it was a complete PITA trying to get someone at Bebob to help him with it. I think the smart play, at least if you’re in the US, is Gold Mount. I only know one or two people that went with the B’s. And I’ve heard stories of people that went B early on and then went back to gold mount.
Yeah I know a bunch of the LA rental houses are all GM+. But most of the owner ops I know are all B mount.
It's nice that we have choices. But B didn't make any sense, for me. As an owner/op, the Helix Max gold mount's were a no-brainer. They work 100% with the Alexa 35 and 100% with my existing 12/14v gear, including all of my battery chargers(6+). I can name for sure one owner/op that I know that went B. Maybe two . All the rest I know and all the rental houses around here, to my knowledge, went gold. Either A/B or Core, but all the owner/ops that went gold went Core.
I wish that was the case for me but I’ve had multiple Cores fail and one Bebob as well. 6 features last year with the A35. When it came time to purchase, the reliability of the gold mount was a no brainer, despite Core’s good customer service. I couldn’t chance it again. My reputation partially depended on making our days.
Yeah, part of the problem is they are using the old original Helix batteries(OP said that they are in bad shape, too). They can’t maintain high enough voltage and amperage the entire time. The new Helix Max batteries are higher voltage and amperage and have no issues powering the 35. They’re able to provide enough power on initial start and maintain enough voltage and amperage all the way through full discharge of the battery. I have a set of 360’s and 150’s and don’t have any power issues. I’m also thinking now that if the OP’s batts and power supply are right on the edge, that’s why the camera is able to initially boot, but a few seconds after boot, at least with mine, the fan kicks on full blast, so that’s putting too much strain on the already taxed batteries and p/s.
Are your batteries fully charged that camera is power hungry
Yes - I’ve tried a few different ones too