A dv Gear Review – Stealth Cam 12 Volt Battery Kit
Posted by dustyvarmint on November 11, 2009
See A Note On dv’s Gear Reviews and Gear Provider Recommendations.
Product: Stealth Cam 12 volt Battery Kit
The Stealth Cam 12 Volt Battery Kit, on the left.
Overall Rating: ***+ (3.5 stars of 5)
Specifications (from Stealth Cam website):
-STC-12VBB
-12 volt
-Weather proof box
-AC charger
Cost: **** (4 stars of 5). Typically $29.95, Wal-Mart (www.walmart.com), to $59.99 at big box outdoor retailers.
Performance: *** (3 stars of 5). To be fair I have to say that I modified the Stealth Cam Battery Kit’s plug to fit my battery hog Moultrie D40 game camera. During the non-hunting months I only check my cameras once very 30 days and during season I only check them every 2 weeks so I need the batteries to last. The battery kit does help to extend the D40’s internal battery life. However, given daily temperatures in the 30’s or less I can still only get 10 days of battery life between the internal and external batteries even when the battery kit is fitted with a solar panel.
Chatter on forum sites indicates there may be a problem where the kit case fills with water. Mine doesn’t leak, but I set one up for a buddy’s Moultrie D40 and his case does fill with water. I couldn’t diagnose the problem so he drilled some holes in the bottom to fix it. I’ve seen where Stealth will fix the problem under warranty, but it wasn’t worth the trouble of returning it for us.
Manufacturer’s Customer Service: Not used, not rated.
Source: Wal-Mart.
General notes: None.
happy hunting, dv
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I use 3 of these for my 4 StealthCam cameras. I have gotten 3 months use out of it for my camera with 100-400 pictures per 2 week period. The factor you have is how the camera is using the battery. For your camera, it is doing a constant charge to the camera, versus in my case it is only using it for the picture taking and the IR flash. I can get about 1 month use of the camera on just Duracel batteries, so it does extend my battery life 3 fold. I have also seen the water buildup in the box. Drilling the holes sounds like a good solution.
November 11th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Matt,
Thanks for visiting the blog – good stuff.
happy hunting, dv
November 11th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Hello,
I get a lot of water in the battery case from the stealth model. It claims it is waterproof but it is not. I guess drilling holes would let the water out, or put the battery in a plastic bag
November 19th, 2009 at 5:02 am
tazmazz,
Thanks for visiting!
dv
November 20th, 2009 at 1:04 am
I have one, I use on one of my stealth ez cams I get about 8 weeks out of it with an average of 70 pictures a week. I also have the other ez- cam hooked up to a used car battery 12 volt group size 24 in a plastic marine battery box. I set it up the last week of Sept. and it was still working the camera at the end of the season (second of december) taking 50 to 100 pictures a week. temperature was from 28 to 50 degrees. I think i’m going to set up another car battery in place of the stealth cam batt box.
February 7th, 2010 at 7:22 am
tony Mac,
Thanks for visiting Mostly Archery and thanks for the comment.
happy hunting, dv
February 8th, 2010 at 1:42 pm