If you want a scientific, thorough review, look no further.
By Art Video
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2024-07-02
As far as the price of the Watson VM-293-SP; if you browse the B&H website looking for V-Mount batteries, you’ll see that most V-Mount batteries with HALF the wattage of this one already exceed the price of this super high output 293-watt battery. The price of this battery is a steal! That’s 300 watts! Plus, the super giant info color display it has onboard.
This battery is available in two flavors:
230-Watt-Hour and 293-Watt-Hour. Watt-hour means how long it will power a device by the hour in relation to the device’s wattage. For example: if you had a 100-watt drawing device, such as, a 100-watt COB light at 100% brightness this battery would provide approximately 2.93-hour runtime with the 293-Watt-Hour battery. A lot of people ask me this, Does this formula apply to ALL your lithium batteries? Read the battery label. It will tell you right there how many watt-hours it has.
I spent 5 days consecutively testing this battery while monitoring it very closely and writing notes. I also have pictures along with this review; be sure to look at them. It is best to view the photos through a desktop browser. I believe that you may not be able to view photos via the B&H app.
I love the big, gorgeous color display. It shows everything you need or want. Speaking of the display; it will turn off in 10 seconds when no load is applied. However, if you need to have it on at ALL TIMES, no worries! Simply plug ANYTHING on ANY port, then press the check button located in front of the battery. It will STAY LIT indefinitely for as long as something is drawing power, until you press that button again anytime to turn off the display.
To recharge the battery with a full-size V-Mount charger, it takes about 7 hours and 25 minutes to charge.
D-TAP PORTS (4): 14.4V, regulated. Do not exceed 20.4 amps on all D-Tap ports combined (Watson 293 model).
How to Calculate Amps.
The formula to calculate amps is I (A) = P (W) / V (V). Amps are equal to Watts DIVIDED by Voltage.
I used the Watson 293 V-mount battery in full, using its proper V-Mount main terminals with a 180-watt light panel Runtime was 1.6 hours.
How to calculate watt-hours:
Watson: 293 watt-Hour.
Light: 180 watts
293 ÷ 180 = 1.6 hours runtime.
CHARGING:
You can charge it via USB-C with a decent and appropriate charger capable of at least 20 volts, or via the main terminals.
DO NOT USE THE D-TAP TO CHARGE THIS BATTERY. Not all V-Mount batteries accept charging via D-Tap. Charging will not happen through this port. The D-Tap on this battery is output ONLY. The output voltage on D-Tap is precise, regulated, and identical to all other D-Tap ports of any battery.
CHARGING CYCLES:
The battery counts as one cycle with either charging or discharging, whichever happens first. For example, if you discharge the battery from 50% as it arrives from the factory and then fully charge it again, it still counts as one cycle. However, if you fully charge it and then discharge it to 50% by using it, it counts as a second cycle when you plug it in again. This highlights that it's not just charging that counts, which is quite interesting.
CHARGING TIME:
On a full-size charger via the main terminals, it takes 7 hours, 23 minutes. Remove the battery when it finishes charging. It is not advisable to leave any battery on the charger for extended periods.
INITIAL CHARGE: Things to know:
WHEN you get this battery, it should be charged to at least 50% as standard for all lithium batteries.
When you charge it either from the main terminals OR the USB-C terminal, you’ll see the amp rate of approximately 3.0 amps depending on your charger.
On a completely depleted battery…
When attempting to charge on a completely drained battery such as 0 - 9%, it will be different and very slow at the beginning. Is the battery defective?? NO! This is a SAFETY and battery health protocol in the software to prevent wear and tear of the battery as far as the current is applied. It charges gradually.
Whether you are using either the main terminals or the USB-C power delivery ports, it will start charging gently at a VERY low rate of only 0.3 watts / 0.3 Amps (pretty slowly). THEN, it will gradually pick up after the battery reaches about 10%. You should see on the display that it will “appear” to take 40 hours to charge. DON’T worry. It won’t! It will just take a few minutes until it starts the conditioning process. Soon after, it will receive more charging “juice” elevating the charging current to 3.6 amps. With THIS BATTERY’s software, this is normal. Also, at this extremely low battery level state, the USB-C PD communication will be temporarily disabled, no power delivery current will be sent to a device. But you can still power small devices in this state. So, don’t drain the battery completely below 10% if you want to run a device on USB-C PD. It’s never a good idea to drain ANY battery below this level regardless.
***CHARGING VIA the MAIN bottom TERMINAL USING A FULL-SIZE V-MOUNT BATTERY CHARGER:
After the battery reaches 10% or so, it will restore full charging capabilities from 0.3 amps / 0.3 watts to 3.9 amps / 60 watts, then slowing down as a “trickle charging” when the battery reaches 98% charge. That 2% will take a full hour to charge. This is a BIG battery and charging will require about 7.5 - 8 hours total to complete.
***CHARGING USING THE USB-C Power Delivery PORT:
USB-C-PD is the FASTEST WAY to charge this battery! Interestingly, while using the USB-C port to charge this battery, it took about 5.5-6 hours!!
But the SAME thing will happen when you charge via USB-C with a completely depleted battery. It will start at just 0.3 amps. Again, it’s going to say it will take 40 hours to charge. Then after 10% charge, it will pick up to 3.9 amps. So at 3.6 amps and at 60 watts it will take about 5.5 hours to charge using the USB-C PD port, which INCLUDES the 1 hour trickle charge time from 98% to 100%.
I’m using the Xcellon PDG-5200L 5-Port 200W GaN USB Charger to charge the battery (B&H # XCPDG5200L). The Xcellon PDG-5200L is a 200-watt charger that has a nice and detailed DISPLAY! Watts, Amps, Voltage.
To charge this monster battery, it's ideal to use a POWERFUL charger like this, or at least 60 watts and higher. Using something like an Apple MacBook Mini laptop USB-C brick charger, it won’t be as quick because it will only provide 1.6 amps instead of 3.6 amps.
CAUTION!!
LOAD: this battery awesomely has 4 D-Tap ports, 2 USB-A ports, and 1 USB-C port. HOWEVER, you must calculate your load. You can’t just be plugging things everywhere recklessly…
For being a 293 watt-hour unit, this battery can output a TOTAL of 20.4 Amps and the 230-watt version can output 15.6 Amps COMBINED on ALL PORTS SIMULTANEOUSLY, NOT EACH.
DO NOT EXCEED THESE RATES, including with ALL PORTS COMBINED. If you overload your home outlets, you’ll trip a breaker. Same thing. BAD. Do your math. Stop at the maximum rate described above.
MIXING BATTERIES:
Yes… You can use another 300-watt V-Mount battery you already have with this one, but DO NOT USE TWO V-MOUNT BATTERIES OF DIFFERENT WATT RATINGS! Example: you can’t mix a 99-watt with a 300 on the same light or whatever unit on a dual V-Mount ballast. Not recommended, please don't do that.
Well, I hope that was a sufficient review…my fingers are numb after all that typing, but I hope it was informative…
Conclusion: for the unbelievable low price, comparing to the other options, its performance, and the awesome display, I’m very happy with this battery. The Pro label in its name definitely qualifies it as a pro-level product, no doubt.
[I have received this product in exchange for my honest review].
