Compur Electronic 3 battery issue

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

Hi, I have a question today.

I own a Rodenstock Apo-Ronar 9/360 in a beautiful Compur Electronic 3 shutter on an original Linhof board. A wonderful lens, I like it very much.

For the shutter you need a battery. I found out what possibilities are available (button cells, dedicated batteries, external power source, solar cells from China, which you glue on a lens cap with a hot glue gun etc.). I purchased two batteries in the USA with exactly the right dimensions to replace the original battery: an Exell Alkaline Battery A133 that replaces the original PX21 - everything worked wonderfully!

But today, after three months, I saw that the battery bulges at one pole. Apparently it is about to explode. Of course, the battery is dead and the wonderful shutter only releases in its shortest time and T.

Why is that? I have the same type of battery in a Compur Electronic 1 with a 210 Symmar. I love these shutters. They are so precise, they have the modern time scale and they are also ergonomically great. On the Symmar or Compur Electronic 1, the battery from the same manufacturer that I bought at the same time is still ok. I have perhaps only released both shutters 100 times so far.

Is it possible that there is an electronic defect in Compur Electronic 3? But why does this shutter work with the battery of Compur Electronic 1 then?

Tschau zäme

[Dan Fromm]

You probably had the bad luck to have bought a bad battery. Just get another one and go forward.

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

Perhaps you're right. Thanks for your immediate response!

Tschau

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

You probably had the bad luck to have bought a bad battery. Just get another one and go forward.

Hello Dan,

I have found the problem. The Compur Electronic draws 40mA of current from the battery as soon as you just press the trigger down. - Even when the shutter is not cocked! Even if the shutter has already released! It is enough just to touch the lever gently! Even in T-position ...

The short circuiting-battery-emptying-and-heating issues always arose when I had the wonderful Apo-Ronar 9/360 for 2 days in the backpack - there the own weight of the lens pressed down the shutter release lever by itself and current flowed. It takes 50 hours to discharge completely, 2 days, for a Li-Ion battery with 2000mAh and 3.7 V (No. 16340, China, very cheap) .

Apparently this Compur Electronic shutter was not designed for backpacking ...

So I recommend to remove the battery holder during the transport of the lens. One could solder a circuit board with switch and a status LED, on which the 16340 batteries fit. In any case, you save a lot of money with these batteries and they are also rechargeable. I love the Compur Electronic. The shutter runs so nice and smooth, no trigger shake is felt, just everything is right and in the right place.

Greetings

[domaz]

I love the Compur Electronic. The shutter runs so nice and smooth, no trigger shake is felt, just everything is right and in the right place.

Agree, there is no better shutter than the Compur Electronics when you get find one in good working condition. The battery issue puts some people off but with soldering there is a lot of possibilities. Even soldering in a rechargeable battery that is USB rechargable is possible. Most backpackers I know carry a USB Battery Bank at this point anyways (sometimes with a Solar charger). So field use of these shutters is quite possible.