How to add an External Battery Mod to your Game Trail Camera S2E1.1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มิ.ย. 2024
- This is a how to video to add an external battery to your game cameras and stop spending a lot of money on AA batteries. Some of my cameras have been running over a year on the same battery with this mod. Below are links to the parts I used.
UPDATE: I found this pig tail jack pack of 20 and these fit the external battery port perfectly so you don't have to rig it into the battery tray. Also, if you loop the wire over the top of the camera and then plug it in, the raccoons seem to not be able to pull the plug out: amzn.to/3Qo8Acl
Batteries: amzn.to/2Yv7DTR
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Solar Kit: amzn.to/36o5e1F
You can get the specific connectors, but I have a kit that has all kinds that I use regularly: Connector Kit: amzn.to/2NRLwVD
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Thanks for the video Very easy and simple and going to save me a lot of money
You’re welcome and thanks for watching.
Great video from a new subscriber. I wish we could do that with our cameras but the bears are a much bigger concern for external wires than the raccoons. They hit my first camera within 24 hours and chewed on it for 6 days before it stopped working. Now they all go in security cases.
Thanks Wildplaces. Fortunately we don't have any bears around here. A black bear showed up a couple years ago about 20 miles east of us. They darted him and took him back to SE Oklahoma where there are plenty around there.
Very informative and helpful. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Martin. One thing I do different now is use a gland nut to run the wire through for water proofing and keeping ants out. Also I noticed some of the ammo boxes don't come with the O ring in the groove so it isn't water tight. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Works like a champ, thanks
Yeah it’s a solid setup. One thing I’ve changed is I’ve added a gland nut that’s a water tight seal around the wire and also make sure the boxes I get have the seal in the lid. I had some boxes fill with water this summer. That also caused my positive terminals to corrode off, so now I put a short wire leader on the positive terminal and coat the terminal with silicone so it’s water tight. Any corrosion will then be on the end of the lead and not ruin the battery.
Awesome idea 👍👍
Thanks, works great. I’m running 15 cameras on these batteries and mods.
Awesome video. I had made external rechargeable external battery packs using 10 AAA's, AA's, C's or D's for the 12 volt (10 X 1.2 volts in series =12 volts) and 5 of those for the 6 volt cams. I stuck them in waterproof enclosures. It finally occurred to me to use these 12 volt batteries like yours directly, as they are already water resistant and rechargeable, likely have more mAH capacity, and in the end cost about the same as the rechargeable battery packs. A waterproof 12 volt to 6 volt regulator can be used to connect the 6 volt cams. I don't leave mine in the woods, though, mine are scattered around the yard capturing the wildlife that raids my trash cans and bird feeders. I needed them to find out what was trashing my feeders at night, so I have been in a long term war with raccoons and possums. By the way, after finding out who the enemy was with cams, I was finally, after years of battles, able to design a simple mount that they can't negotiate, protecting all the feeders successfully. (so far)
Hey JohnnieBravo. Thanks for the info there. Yeah, I wish I had gone with a 6V regulator instead of buying 6V batteries. I only have three of the 6V's though, so not a really big deal. I'd like to retire those because they aren't very good cameras. Good for scouting around, but not any publishable video. Those AGM batteries work really good. I had to warranty one of my cameras last month and I had just bought a Browning Patriot, so I swapped the patriot battery tray out with the one I drilled on the advantage and sent it in. I got an Edge back, which I don't care for those. The lens isn't the same and not wide angle.
I need to mail all my cameras to you for the Jerome setup.
😂
Just found your wildlife channel, I love putting out camera's , I have some that came with solar and they do well, I also have that same browning camera and really like the footage i get from it. Nice video
Thanks Kajun. I prefer the brownings for sure. Thanks for watching.
I am late to seeing this but some suggestions: use a rubber grommet on your box where the wires come in… they sell a “selection” of them at Harbor Freight. You also might want to “sleeve” the wires from the box to the camera as you say you are having raccoon problems. Pick a neutral color to blend in and use a small fence staple or two to attach to the tree. A little camouflage netting around/ over the box would also help hide it. A great tutorial on doing this mod… Thanks & good luck. I have subscribed to your channel.
Hey Tim, thanks for the tips. I hot glue that hole on the battery tray. I'll check out those grommets next time I'm in HF. I try to stay out of there because I'm kinda a tool nut. I think mice or rats are what's chewing on my cable. I haven't lost one completely, but they do take it down to the copper in places. One thing I do different now is I put a gland nut on the battery box to keep water out of it. I actually had some fill up with water during a flash flood we had. I actually tried some more accessory plugs. I found some that fit snug. I tried it on a new Strike Force Pro DCL, one of the new dual lens cameras, which sucks by the way, don't get one. The day shots are terrible, looks like 420 video. It got pulled out the first try though, then I wrapped it around the camera a couple of times before I plugged it in and it's been holding since. You can tell which cameras are being used in the videos. I name the cameras by their model number. Camera 2 on west side trail is the DCL and there's a dual lens Patriot on the back to back log cam videos. The Patriot is worse than the DCL. Another mod I do now, after the flood, is I put a pig tail wire on the positive terminal on my rechargeable batteries. Moisture makes them erode and break off. I cover the connection to the battery with automotive black silicon gasket sealer. That way any oxidation occurs out on the end of the wire and not on the terminal. Thanks for your comments and subscribing. Happy New Year.
Update: I located some male pig tail plugs that fit perfectly so you don't have to run the wire into the battery box, and if you loop the wire over the camera before you plug it in, the coons can't pull the plug out. Here's the link to those: amzn.to/3Qo8Acl. Another tip, Don't get the boxes from Harbor Freight, they don't have a gasket and let water in. Get the ones on Amazon instead: amzn.to/3ba8Vgp Several of my cameras are in low areas and we had 5" of rain and some of my battery boxes were submerged and were completely full of water. Most of them were still working, but something odd happened. Since the water conducted, it caused a chemical reaction on the positive terminal and several of them coroded severely and the connector broke and also the battery terminal broke off flush. I thought they were ruined, but I was able to grind out some of the plastic around the terminal with a dremel and rotary file and was able to solder a wire onto what was left and crimped a spade lug on the end of it. I covered the solder connection with automotive silicone so it's totally sealed and if it corrodes again, it will be out on the end of that wire. So for all my batteries, I am going to put a positive stub wire on them and cover the terminal with silicone so they won't ever do that again. Another thing I've done that's not in this video, I put a gland nut on the wire entrance so it's not open to water getting in as well. Here's a link to the kit I got and I use the PG7 size: amzn.to/3ba8Vgp Good luck!
It seems you are a jack of all trades. LOL Thanks for all the tips. Looks easy enough once I've seen you do it. Take care and stay warm. The high temp here in MN on Saturday was -4 F with snow blowing across the roads.
Hey Russell. Yeah, I dabble in a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It's fixin to get really cold. Looks like you might hit -20. We might get some single digits. Going to get out the heated chicken waterer today. Thanks for watching.
@@gamecamwildlife9158 It only got to -17 last night. Later in the week it is suppose to get a little colder. No bees flying this week. LOL
@@russellkoopman3004 Dang that's cold! It got to 16 here. Supposed to be about ten days of this. lol Stay Warm!
Great video. I have been doing the same build for years. I killed a couple batteries not using a solar controller. Then I found that on a 7-amp hour batter you only need 2 / 3 watts of solar to maintain it and not over charge it. (In Alabama) I was using 10 / 5 watt panels and it killed them.
Hi Basil. I've never tried charging one without a controller. These batteries last so long, I haven't really needed a solar charger. They will last almost the entire summer. I swap them out occasionally in the winter. Sure beats forking out all those $'s for AAs. One thing I've learned is if the battery gets wet, the positive terminal will corrode off, so I started adding pig tails and sealing it up with silicone, that way the corrosion will be on the pig tail and not your terminal. I also started adding a gland nut to seal up the cable entry and also quit using Harbor Freight boxes because they don't have a gasket in them. Take care.
Great Video! I have a couple questions about the batteries. I am in Northern Canada and we get cold weather for long periods of time. I also run mostly Browning cams all on video, 10 second with a 2 minute delay. Can I run the batteries you use or should I run lithiums? Also, what Ah would be minimum? I am looking at 5Ah, should I go higher, say to a 7 or 9Ah battery? Cheers
Thanks Sitka. I think lithium batteries will significantly outperform the AGM batteries in the extreme cold you will have. You won't be able to charge the lithium batteries though without warming them up. (you shouldn't try to charge them when they are cold, many of them have anti charge protection when they are cold because it can damage the battery) A 5AH battery will last me several months, but I don't have the extreme cold that you have. If you go with AGM, I'd get the 9AH because they lose ability to provide power in the cold. Good luck!
Awesome
Thanks Jose.
Maybe instead of glue for the wire to prevent it pulling out, you thread it through, tie an overhand knot, then proceed to wire it up. Thanks for the video!
If you don't seal up the holes completely, they will get ants in them and that's no fun. I know from experience there. lol I also switched to gland nuts on the ammo boxes for the same reason and to make them water tight. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for the info buddy. Maybe a steel casing for the wires? I had to use some on my camera to keep the critters from ripping it out or chewing on it. Stay safe!
Hey Mr. CB. So far I haven't had any chewing problems. I figured squirrels and pack rats might get after them. We'll see. lol Take care and stay safe.
Excellent info , gonna do mine the same way, this is the way we okies do🦌
It works good. I have 15 of them running like this. I did locate some plugs that fit snug in the aux power jack, but the first time I used one, raccoon pulled it out. I wrapped the cord around the camera and down so it's harder to pull out. See how that goes. Thanks for watching.
You can place the exposed wires in steel conduct cables for better protection
So far I haven't lost one from chewing, but the raccoons will pull on them.
Great setup can you add solar panel keep that battery fully charged?
Hey Martin, yes you can. If you are in full sun, you have to be careful of overcharging and use a solar charge regulator. I don't have a need to though. Some of these batteries will go over 6 months, which is really good in full video mode. I keep a couple spare batteries and when I see one gets off 100% and down into the 90%'s I swap it out. If you go over to my other channel (Jerome Bee Farm & Homestead) and search my videos for Solar Barn, you'll see a setup with the same type battery, solar panel, and regulator. It works great for LED lights I have in my old barn, I also use the battery for a tire pump for the tractor.
Just watch the beautiful Gods' creatures come by, please don't shoot them.
Btw, I've been thinking about this idea a while and you're just doing it ;) I find them 8 AA batteries such a fuss. I have a charger for Ni-MN-Cd batteries with a max of 2 capacity, so you can imagine the work you have. (using the GP batteries which hold on impressively long, even in winter) And I only have 1 cam, but the fuss with the batteries kept me from buying more. I have my cameras just to see what is going on, on my property; animals or possible humans trespassing, but mainly to see what animals using the trails. Not for hunting. Any way, thank you for sharing. Will adjust mine soon.
Hi cornesmeets. I used to hunt and trap, and now I can't imagine killing these animals I shoot with my camera. Plus you can get them multiple times. Kind of a virtual catch and release. There's a solar battery thing that's around $60. It would pay for itself in a year or two, and keep all those batteries out of the landfill. Here's a link from my affiliate list to it: amzn.to/3U9quC6 I've been meaning to get one and try it, but a lot of folks seem to really like them. I can do the battery box thing for under $30, and running 17 cameras, it's more economical for me to do what I do and just swap and recharge when one gets low, and they will last months, especially in the summer. I run 100% video, so my cameras use more juice than just photo mode. Good luck.
@@gamecamwildlife9158 Thank you and good to hear you shoot multiple ;) Nice! Good luck with your project, and love to see some footage of that.
Nice video. How does this work for trail cams on video mode? I'm using a 12V 20ah connected to a zopu trailcam. It doesn't seem to run long for whatever reason.
I run all my cams (mostly browning) on video mode only and they last about six months before needing a recharge. They record 100-200 shots per week. Sounds like that zopu is a current hog, or that battery isn’t holding a charge. If you are using a voltage regulator, they will pull a few milliamps.
@@gamecamwildlife9158 thanks. I’m gonna run a test on it. I have two friends who might be going to that spot and they may have turned it off on me while taking photographs (although I don’t remember it being off).
Darren, that’s great for one charge to last a full year.
Hey Don. Yeah, I was surprised it went that long. The Browning cameras are a very low current draw. I run them on full video too, which takes more juice than photos. Take care Don.
I do have a question. I assume this set up will work on the browning cell cameras Thanks
Yes I use almost exclusively brownings. In the links below there’s a link to a plug that fits snug as well. I started using those on my latest mods. I found if you loop the wire around the camera before you plug it in the coons can’t pull it out. The venter is positive and the outside is ground (on the plug).
With the muddy manifest there are 4 tabs with 2 sets of 4 aa batteries putting out 6 volts each. Do I assume that is wired in series or parallel?
Hey Glenn. It could be either way. Pull out one set of 4 and if the camera still works with one set of 4 batteries, they are parallel and a 6V camera, and you can run a 6V battery, or a 12V with a regulator. If the camera requires 6V be present on both tabs at the same time, then go with a 6V battery and just run a positive wire to each positive tab and negative to the negatives. Also, if you have a manual, look up what the voltage is required for the aux input if you have one and just use the plug, but the dreaded raccoons will unplug it every time. lol Maybe you could strap it in there somehow. Good luck!
Fancy charger you have 🔌 😃
I bought a 6v sla (says sealed lead calcium) and my campark t20 seems to run better on just aa’s, I tested 20+ videos but in the tree it seems to lose power after just a few days, maybe just the camera but I’m a little confused.
Funny I feel like the raccoons were avoiding mine cuz the battery was in the tree behind the camera they haven’t been seen as much haha 😆
I have one six volt camera that sucks batteries dry. A set of AAs would last a couple weeks if lucky. I recently bought a much larger 6V battery for it. Here’s the one I got. amzn.to/3fWg8AJ. Thanks for watching and commenting.
How to trigger to take at least three pictures before I let nature take selfie 🤳?
With this set up do you have to use rechargeable batterys
You don't have to, as long as the voltage is 12V, or 6V if you have an older 6V camera. But that's the idea to get away from throw away batteries and save $'s. Here's the batteries I've been using on my cameras and they last over 1 year before needing charged: amzn.to/3w3IQq4 Also, because I do the TH-cam wildlife channel, I run my cameras on highest resolution video for 1-2 minute videos, so my power consumption is way higher than someone who does just photos.
Brilliant, I am going to do this but both my cams have a power jack which appears to do nothing in either. Are these just for recharging rechargeable batteries? I have tried with my new 6v 4.5ah battery and also a mains 2 amp supply on a Victure HC500 and a Campark T80. The jack is a 3.5x1.35 which seems to fit correctly so I'm baffled..I thought I just had to plug cable in?
The power jacks should work to run the camera. They aren't to recharge batteries. (At least not that I've seen) You need to figure out if you have a 6 or 12V camera. If it's 12V, the 6V battery won't work. Center pin is the positive on the plug. I have a couple older Victures and they are 6V. On the victure, I just wired it straight to the battery connectors. I think it was the top and third from top battery terminals on the left. I was able to unscrew the battery holder and look on the back to see where the wires on the first and last battery came off. From there, you can measure the voltage, or just look to see if they are all in series. Good luck.
Thanks for your reply, it is indeed 6volts as are my power sources and positive to centre pin. Won't work on my Campark T80 either, so strange. I will do it your way but frustrating when the jack plug is already there. I wonder if the centre pin is long enough to make contact, I will check. Thanks for your help. Regards Clive (Cheshire UK)
I had some plugs that I thought fit, but they were just a bit loose. I wound up using a different one and they fit snug: amzn.to/41DZXhM You should research those cameras - that plug may not even be connected inside. On the Brownings, the plug disconnects the batteries and goes to external battery, and if the plug is pulled out, it will switch back.
Thanks for your reply and the loose connection with the plug did cause the the problem on the first lead so I discarded that. The second which I tried was a home mains variable voltage power supply which I set to 6 volts which failed to work, however when I checked the voltage it was over 14 volts!! Couldn't believe it!! It seems the camera has an over voltage protection feature which is a godsend in my case. I scrapped the power supply and used the lead. All now works and I just have to do the box. luckily no racoons to worry about here ! Thank you again for your help and interest.
Regards
Clive
@@cliveturnbull5019 Glad you got it worked out. I charge my batteries with a power supply. I set it on one amp for a nice slow charge and constant voltage and charge the 6V's at 7V and the 12Vs at 14V.
I know this is 2 yr old have you tried adding a solar panel vs the exterior battery?
Hey Mike. I haven't. Most of my cameras are in really shady areas and these batteries will last months, especially in the summer months. I just keep an eye on them when they show less than 100%, I swap them out with a fresh one. One thing I also do now is I add a pigtail to the positive terminal and seal it with automotive grade silicone because it will corrode and break off. With the extra wire, it's the sacrafice and not the battery terminal.
I just recently done my 4 cameras. The Plano box is made in the USA 🇺🇸. Harbor freight box is china and after the ccp virus I try not to buy made in china. Good video and good hunting from west Tennessee
Thanks H Phillips. Good luck with your cameras.
Racoons are very good at damaging stuff.
Yes they are, and killing chickens and eating deer corn.
When using the "12 Volt battery pack" option, HOW OFTEN do you typically have to "recharge" this RECHARGEABLE SEALED LEAD ACID 12V 8AH BATTERY when using it for your outdoor trail cameras 24x7x365? Is it a once week, once a month, or a few times throughout a year is my question?
Multiple months. I've had some go nearly a year with the 8AH. I have some smaller that go 3-4 months. In winter, they don't last as long. When I see they aren't reading 100%, I swap them out. I have 16 cameras running and I will usually swap one of them every 2-3 weeks. One thing I do now is I put a short stub wire on the positive terminal and silicone over the terminal to seal it up. The terminal will corrode if it gets wet, so the stub is the corrosion sacrafice and not the terminal.
@@gamecamwildlife9158 Thank You for this info.....much appreciated. Now, I got a general idea of how often I can expect to recharge my battery packs.
I may add, for those on a budget, if you have a local recycling center, oftentimes you can find batteries similar to these for pennies on the dollar. Many commercial business' such as hospitals that replace their batteries based on time, (scheduled replacement) rather than when the battery fails (medical equipment, even powerchairs are replaced before failure) and the recycling center will sell you those by weight. I picked up 2 AGMs that sold for 180.00 on amazon for 7.00 each and used them for 18 months before voltage dropped and wouldnt maintain a 12.6 v charge for any legnth of time. Then i sold em back to the recycling center for 3.00 ea. Hope this helps someone. Thanks.
Yeah, that's a good tip. I get some AGMs from a pipeline monitoring company that changes them out as preventative maintenance and they are still good enough to run electric fences. They are much larger than these I use for the cameras though. Thanks for watching and commenting.
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