Contour HD CHEAP batteries

[Trumpettom001]

So - a friend lent me their phone - I noticed the battery out of it was fairly similar to the Contour HD battery.... no wait - it's the same size, same voltage, same polarity, same indents, (I imaginge the same Ah rating) - and it's made by Nokia - so from a fairly reputable dealer -


Could be useful - I.e. charge up a couple of them, take an MicroSD card or two, and you could record a respectable amount of footage without having to go near a computer!!

Type into ebay "nokia mobile battery bl5c" - Cheapest I've found is £3.11 + free shipping..... Quite a bit off the £30 quid elsewhere on eBay for a specific ContHD one!!!




(I accept no responsibility for damage to you or your Contour HD, should you choose to use these batteries - double check the polarities etc before use!!)

 

[DrSquirrel]

BL5C is indeed a common battery, used in many other devices too.

Don't always believe the mAh rating - if its from china there is usually a bit of embellishment in it,

 

[gaz]

The contourHD uses a 3.7v 1050mAh battery as standard. as long as you keep the voltage the same it should be fine.

 

[BSRU]

For anyone interested I have just started using BL5C gold batteries, less than £10 each and apparently made in Japan and 1950mAh, so almost twice the duration of the standard ContourHD battery.
The contour website stated the standard battery should last 2 hours at the maximum settings I use, so the new one's should last 4 hours.
In theory they should last three days being used for my current winter commute, which is about 1 hour 10 minutes a day.
Obviously the weather has an affect, the brighter the day the longer the batteries last.

 

[BSRU]

An update to my last post:-
Apparently it is impossible for BL-5C batteries to have 1930mAh rating as the they are at their physical maximum at about 1100-1200mAh.
I have been testing these for a few weeks and they are no better than standard batteries and slightly smaller than genuine ContourHD batteries, causing the camera to turn off on bumpy surfaces.
I have asked for a refund on the basis they are not what they are advertised to be.

From the Contour website forum it appears these are suitable replacements as they are the ContourHD battery.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/japod-...ion-battery-for-nokia-1100-n91-e50-more-32404

 

[Trumpettom001]

Lots of imported products are like that - take my front lamp - advertised at 1600 Lumens, for £30. (batteries not included and it did have to be "re-shaped" a bit... nevertheless very, very, bright.

But that link should prove useful - I'm planning on touring across france later this year, will need a decent stock of batteries for the various devices, as not all French campsites have electricity... (maybe a dynamo would be the answer...?)

 

[BSRU]

An update into my ContourHD battery "research":-
Not all BL-5C batteries are the same size, the OEM battery from dogcamsport and the gold battery from EBay are BL-5C's but they are slightly smaller than genuine ContourHD batteries.
This can cause a problem with camera's turning themselves off when the camera is bounced around by poor road surface because the battery contacts loose contact with the camera. It does not happen to my helmet mounted camera just to my bike mounted camera.

Fortunately I received my Japon BL-5C batteries today from DealExtreme and they are exactly the same as the ContourHD battery, safe to say Contour have taken the Japon BL-5C and re-badged it.
Since the Contour badged battery is at least £22, the Japon battery is very cheap in comparison £4.60 each including free delivery, they took less than two weeks to arrive. I also bought BL-5C mains charger for about £5, so I can now charge batteries outside of the camera.

So in conclusion, for the price of one genuine ContourHD battery you can buy almost five genuine Japon batteries.