About this replacement
JVC CU-VH1 / GR Series — 7.4V Li-ion Replacement Battery (BN-V428)
This is a 7.4V, 3300mAh Li-ion battery for JVC camcorders including the CU-VH1, CU-VH1US, GR-33, GR-4000US, and over 250 compatible models. It replaces OEM part numbers BN-V428, BN-V428U, BN-V438, and BN-V438U. The physical dimensions are 54.95 x 55.34 x 37.58mm — check these against your current battery before ordering.
- CU-VH1 and GR series compatibility: These JVC camcorder lines share a common 7.4V battery architecture and the same physical connector footprint. The BMS handshake uses the same three-pin communication line across this entire family, so one cell fits the full range without modification.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We ran this cell through full charge and discharge cycles on a CU-VH1 body. The BMS accepted the cell cleanly, voltage held steady through recording and playback loads, and protection circuits triggered correctly at the low-voltage cutoff threshold.
- First charge on the CU-VH1: Charge this battery inside the camera body or OEM charger before your first recording session. Some JVC BMS firmware maps the battery-remaining indicator to a discharge curve it builds on the first full cycle — skipping this step can cause the indicator to read inaccurately from the start.
Why the CU-VH1 displays a dead battery icon on a partially charged replacement cell
JVC's battery gauge maps the remaining-charge display to a voltage curve it calibrated for the original OEM cell. A new aftermarket cell has a slightly different discharge curve, so the camera can misread the state of charge at the top and bottom of the range. The indicator may jump straight to low battery from what looks like a full charge. One full charge-discharge cycle run inside the camera body lets the BMS recalibrate its threshold mapping to the new cell's actual curve.
Battery percentage jumping erratically during recording on the CU-VH1
This happens when the camera's voltage-threshold indicator is reading a cell discharge curve it doesn't recognise. The BMS samples voltage at fixed intervals and maps those readings to percentage steps — if the new cell's voltage sag under load sits between two threshold points the firmware expects, the percentage display skips or bounces. Run the battery from 100% to full discharge once in the camera to let the BMS anchor its threshold map. After one full cycle, readings typically stabilise. If jumping persists past two cycles, check that the cell is resting at or above 7.2V fully charged.