2015Batteries/Power forum
Powering Steadicam Shadow sled with separate 12V and 24V battery supplies while bypassing the built-in DC/DC converter
What the thread found
- The Shadow sled contains a DC/DC step-down converter that automatically activates when a 24V battery is connected, even when the sled is powered off
- The DC/DC converter can begin charging a connected 12V battery if its voltage drops sufficiently low
- To use independent 12V and 24V power sources, the 12V circuit breaker should be removed from the rear battery mount and the 12V battery instead connected via D-TAP cable to the common ground LEMO connector used for the 24V battery input
- The 24V circuit breaker should also be disconnected as a safety measure when implementing this configuration
- This workaround allows a 24V camera to draw power solely from a dedicated 24V battery on the main battery plate while a separate 12V battery on the rear mount powers the sled systems
Depends on
- This solution was discussed for the Steadicam Shadow sled model
- The exact location of the DC/DC converter within the sled was not definitively identified in the thread
- The recommended approach involves circuit breaker modification and custom cabling rather than a universal or factory solution