GoPro Battery life..

[LivinLOS]

So I had my first play with my gopro set last week.. Was worried I forgot to pick up a 32 GB card only had a 16GB for +- 4 hours of 720p.

But the battery quit after maybe 2.5 hours recording !!

Is that normal.. It appeared fully charged from my PC..

Can you get larger battery packs ??

 

[alexuk]

depends on the model- my gopro hero 2 might last an hour, but it still eats the battery even when not filming
gopro Hero3 batteries are not the same and last longer, but out of stock for a month at photobug, and I couldnt find one in kad sun kaeiw
You can get an extra big battery for the hero2, and that needs a bigger cover

 

[LivinLOS]

fuck just an hour or two... What a gip..

OK now in search of long life batteries.. Any input on how long they last.. I thought I could just put it on record and get an all day ride out of them ?? Like up to 6h ?? If it cant do that I am kinda uninterested in it TBH.

If it just takes the photos at 1 second intervals.. Does that still chew battery ??

 

[johnnysneds]

i got these as the battery life sucks on the black edition.


New 5X AHDBT 301 Battery and 2X Charger for GoPro Hero 3 1599mAh AHDBT 201 | eBay

 

[LivinLOS]

Nah too much pissing about for me.. Spare batteries.. swapping them out halfway.. charge going flat just when you want it..

Its already a bit much with every ride, GPS, goPro, charge ups, cables, mounts, is it running ?? Is it pointing the right way..

fuck it.. Just gonna ride for me not to show.

I had no idea.. I thought these lasted longer.

 

[Loop]

^ thats a bummer,would have expected more life than that!

 

[johnnysneds]

Nah too much pissing about for me.. Spare batteries.. swapping them out halfway.. charge going flat just when you want it..

Its already a bit much with every ride, GPS, goPro, charge ups, cables, mounts, is it running ?? Is it pointing the right way..

fuck it.. Just gonna ride for me not to show.

I had no idea.. I thought these lasted longer.

Agree...its all becoming too much pissing aboot

Ive still to test it being powered off a step down to 5V from the bikes 12V source. I have this on the WR and it didnt work with the Contour I had, hope it works with the Gopro, then all ill need to do is make some sort of quick release for dismounting (and crashing!!!)

 

[LivinLOS]

If I can get 5h our of the extra large back.. Then maybe..

But really.. All the rest just feels like too much work..

What a bummer.. I really had no idea..

 

[Ally]

I'm having visions of a flat solar panel mounted on a helmet, a bit like a graduation hat Tassles optional.

Ally

 

[2wheels]

Been done!
solarfeeds.com

 

[KTMphil]

Just take spares

 

[buksida]

Anyone had the battery go flat while the camera is off? This happened today, was about to mount it for a ride and the damn thing wouldn't come on - turns out the battery drains itself (googled and its a common gopro fault).

I've upgraded the firmware now to see it that'll help. Inclined to agree with the above - its a lot of pissing about for just a couple of hours of recording.

 

[VietHorse]

It's normal for one battery, just around 2hours recording. I have now changed to Contour HD. I think it could be almost double recording time of the same age GoPro.
If you have time and like to do some electrical mods as what I did below:

Prep:

Naked GoPro:

Wiring - not a nasty one, as I need to dig a hole at the back of the casing:

Someone has better connection than mine:

Connect the extension wires to a USB port, it connects with a Solar battery:

And the solar battery is kept inside the tankbag - under the plastic cover, so it can produce continuous power charging to the GoPro.
If you believe on your Solar battery, just connect directly the Solar battery to the GoPro, and throw the GoPro battery away. (check the power spec of both ends before doing so)

My set-up worked well - Not in the rain.

 

[KTMphil]

Yep thats the big complaint with them just 2 hours of battery life.

 

[buksida]

FYI upgrading the firmware seemed to have solved the battery discharging when camera off problem.

 

[andyh1406]

belated reply!

Look at a Midland XTC 400. Much simpler in operation than a GoPro and, best of all, 5 hours battery life.......