Hopefully there is a techical type out there for this question:
I have an old full size camcorder (Montgomery Ward Signature 2000). The charger has apparently decided to go south on me. I can use to charging unit to power the camcorder through the 110v, but it doesn’t charge batteries. I’ve purchased new batteries, but they don’t get charged either. When I put the battery in the charging unit, the charge light comes on, but the battery does not charge. In fact, after a few hours, the charge light goes out indicating a full charge has taken place, but it actually hasn’t. Also, the unit and battery get quite warm. I’m thinking I’ll have to retire the whole thing, but I need to get a smaller unit anyway as this sucker will wear you out after 20-30 minutes of use.
Use a VLM on the contacts of the battery to make sure if it has a charge or not. Its also possible a the camera has a bad contact that won’t register enough of the voltage to make the camera operate off of a battery.
It could be corrosion or poor contact on the battery terminals inside. Sometimes these older units have a piece of foam on the inside of the battery door that applies pressure for to the battery, ensuring good contact. If the contacts are corroded or dirty, you should be able to clean them with cotton swabs and alcohol.
Or just ignore the ‘tech guy’ who can’t even differentiate from ‘Preview Reply’ and ‘Submit Reply’.
‘pressure for to the battery’ should be
‘pressure to the battery’.
Every full size camcorder I have seen has a plug in the back under the battery where you can plug in a power adapter from zee wall. Don’t you have one?
Uh…yes. But the problem was that the adapter/charger didn’t APPEAR to be charging the battery. However, I went on a serious contact cleaning binge and I was able to bring it back from the dead. The last battery I bought is now fully charged. The other two batteries I had (including the factory original) are now fully deceased and will no longer accept a charge.
I have used the adapter/charger to power the camera, but I haven’t always been able to take it with me since there’s not always a place to plug in. I’m going to get either a VHS-C (whose tapes I can use in my VCR) or, possibly a digital 8mm that I can run through my computer. This particular camera weighs about 8lbs with battery and tape and tends to wear out my shoulder after 30 minutes.
“particular camera weighs about 8lbs with battery” Thats why I used mine as a web cam. They give great pictures. Just put them on the bookcase & connect them to the computer with a tv card.