External power use for 6 and 7

[paulp08250]

When using an externalpower source, 

1 - does the cable used make a difference - is the Gopro supplied usb-c different to other usb-c cable's?

2 - should the internal battery be removed while using external power?

The Hero 6 has shut down a number of times while using external power while a battery was in the camera but someone said that was possibly due to the cable used. I have used several cables for differenty reasons but not sure which one was in use when the camera stopped. The times at which this happened varied from one to four hours of use. 

But no issues with the 6 since removing the int-battery for long lapses. 

The Hero 7 shut down last night after just 17 minutes. I was using a long non-Gopro cable that has worked well on my 6.

I don't think there was a battery in the 7 at the time.

Would just like to sort out the protocol for long lapses.

I like to shoot the clouds, dusk to dawn or dawn to dusk.

[danielr15]

1) Yes, cables do matter. You want to use a high quality (not cheap or skinny) 56K Ohm resistor USB-C cable that is only a few feet in length at most. Never use a cable >10 feet and for the best results, keep under 4 feet.

2) This depends. It's actually not recommended to remove the battery. I don't have the technical rational for it, but supposedly using an external power supply without the battery can lead to damage to the internal circuitry, especially if you aren't using a high quality cable and smart power supply. That being said, the camera is more likely to overheat with the battery inside the camera and externally powered. Plenty of people, myself included, do long shoots with the battery removed and using an external power source.

The HERO7 Black is more sensitive to having a good cable and reliable power source. Mostly because it draws a lot more power with an overclocked GP1 chip and twice the RAM of the HERO6.

[rockydusk33184]

I have so far returned three different usb power cables with the 56k ohm resistor because they could not provide adequate power to keep the 7 running.  My experience has been that the camera randomly shuts off even though the battery is nearly 100% for the entire recording.

To confirm this works, I used a 15 watt usb power supply and the gopro provided cable.  That works fine and watching a kill-a-watt monitor the power supply is using 6-7 watts.  When I swap in one of these non-working cables the power draw is only 4-5 watts.  So far I've found that the cables returned are very thin while the cables that work are as thick as the gopro cable - hoping the ultimate answer is the size of the power conductor in the cable.

But having to test & return cables from amazon has been incredibly frustrating.

[ericjohnsonaz]

Rocky, I'm finding when shooting 4k60p with an external monitor and USBC power supplied at > 3A that the battery continues to discharge with use and eventually goes to zero.  Assuming my strong cable I'm using isn't enough.

Can you post links to the Amazon USB cables you found that work for you?

Thanks, Eric

[benj838]

First, I agree that the cable is very important.  These things crash if the cable doesn't supply enough current.

These cables work for me, BUT I ordered a 2FT version which I see they no longer sell.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0799KTZXB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[dperk15]

I just tested the GoPro 7black with the original cable using an anker power core 20000miliamp. I got 10 hrs with 5 minute looping. 1080 at 60fps, WiFi and protune turned off. Battery in. Started record then plugged in the Anker. And, there was still a ton of power left in the anker.

 I just got anker 6ft cords and I am going to test them too.. also with the GoPro 5. 

[benj838]

@ericjohnsonaz actually I found it to be “normal” behavior to have the battery slowly discharge while the unit is external USB powered. It happens to me but oddly not all the time, it happens more when using the external mic adapter.

I usually use the GoPro supplied cable. This is a HERO5, but if I recall I’ve seen this in newer models as well.

In practice you can go to 10h or so before the unit powers off so it’s ok for me, but your application may vary.

And no, it doesn’t really make sense why this is happening.

[ericjohnsonaz]

It doesn't make any sense that the camera draws more power than it can both run and charge. That's poor circuit design.