580ex works, 580exII doesn't...

[jauiek]

Hello, I own a Canon 580ex and 580exII and am experiencing some problems with the 580exII when using rechargable batteries.

I recently purchased a Maha charger and some powerex batteries and they have been working great in my flashes until recently when something has gone wrong that I cannot quite figure out.

I was at a wedding yesterday and my 580exII appeared to have died with no warning. The back panel was not even turning on. One would assume that the rechargable batteries were low. So I put in a new set and nothing changed. I went through all my sets of rechargables to try to see if it would turn on and no luck.

To confirm whether these batteries were drained I put them in my 580ex and the red ready light came on immediately and I could fire a series of bursts and it recycles as it should. But as soon as I put them in my 580exII I experienced a variety of things: green light doesn’t even come on, back panel doesn’t come on, red light comes on when batteries are first installed can do one pop of the flash and then the green light wont even come on.

I tried putting a set of energizer alkaline batteries in my 580exII and it seems to perform as it should.

Also I checked all my rechargables in the battery tester and they are not low. However, they were fully charged about 2 weeks ago so they may have slightly drained as rechargeable batteries do by nature.

Any ideas what may be going on here? I read somewhere that rechargables aren’t good for flashes since they can cause problems or even damage them. I just wrote it off as a rumour or paranoia… however, I am starting to wonder if it is true. Surely my 580exII doesn’t only operate on 100% fully charged batteries?

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks,

[Eric&Susan]

I know with the 580 EXI there is a CF for external power source only, maybe you turned this on on the 580exII?

Also sometimes my rechargeable get a film on the top that seems to interfere with the contacts. Maybe try cleaning the batteries?

Eric

[jauiek]

Thanks for the reply. There is no custom function set on this flash. It turns on and fires sometimes. The batteries are brand new and work in everything else (I did try clemaing them though after your suggestion). After some searching I have found a report of a very similiar problem on another website but no solution there either. hmm.... maybe some bugs are starting to come out in the open with this new unit?

[Eric&Susan]

I was just reading in the wedding forum and a guy had a prob with his 580EXII also. It mentioned that it might have some thing to do with the new way it attaches to the hot shoe? Not sure what he meant?


then my pretty much brand new 580exII stops working. I run to my bag and grab my 580ex. Not exactly sure what happened and batteries didn't fix the problem. I suspect it is the new way it attaches.

Thread:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=359013

Eric

[jauiek]

Thanks for the link.. thats too funny that is my post now I am trying to find the answer to the problem in this forum.. :)

[Eric&Susan]

Thanks for the link.. thats too funny that is my post now I am trying to find the answer to the problem in this forum.. :)

:oops: Guess I should read the post names huh:rolleyes:

[jauiek]

Haha no problem it made me feel important ;)

well...it gets stranger...

I took a fully charged set of powerex 2700 rechargable batteries. I measured them individually and they were all at the same level. I put them in my 580ex and did a rapid series of test fires and everything was fine. I measured the batteries again and they were all even.

I then took the same batteries and put them in the 580exII. Did as many test fires as I could until the flash "dies". I removed the batteries and measured them and 3 were full and one measured very low.

I ran this test with 2 more sets of powerex batteries and achieved the same results. Then I wondered if it was the Powerex brand being used in the 580exII flash. I ran the same test with a noname set of 2300mAh and got the same results. I then ran the test with some energizer alkalines and they all stayed at the same level.

What it looks like here is the 580exII flash is rapidly draining or altering the charge somehow in just one battery and then it eventually causes the flash to stop working. The 580ex however does not seem to do this and is not as sensitive to rechargables that are not all at the exact same level. Now I am not an electrician or a scientist so this has me rather confused.

any ideas? I think I have taken this as far as I can go without returning back to school...;)

[cosworth]

I have some new and old 2500 energizers. I'll see if this is reproducable.

[jauiek]

Thanks, I'd be interested to see how you make out. I noticed once the batteries are sitting for about 10min or so they appear as if the charge comes back. I have achieved the same results everytime I try with this "draining"...strange

[pcunite]

I will be monitoring this thread as I have a new 580EX II and two on order to arrive this Thursday. I have been using the Wal-Mart Digital brand 2000mha (forgive me :o) without trouble but have not used it extensively either. I also have on order the Maha PowerEx 2700 mha brand to also arrive this Thursday. I will test and see how things work out although it may be next week before I can report.

[jauiek]

I have some more info for those of you that aren't bored to death with this issue. I found out that my battery tester was not giving me accurate readings on the level of charge in the batteries. I thought my batteries were fully charged but they were not when I ran the second series of tests.

However, the problem still exists with the life draining from just one battery momentarily. At the very least I have concluded in my case that the 580exII seems to require a more fully charged battery to operate as opposed to the 580ex. However the difference it varies is astounding and doesn't seem correct.

I am giving my batteries a solid full charge and will report back... sorry for the confusion.

[pcunite]

At the very least I have concluded in my case that the 580exII seems to require a more fully charged battery to operate as opposed to the 580ex. However the difference it varies is astounding and doesn't seem correct.

I am giving my batteries a solid full charge and will report back... sorry for the confusion.

It certainly does seem that your copy of the 580EX II is defective as this would not be a sellable design. I hope you get something worked out. I will test mine when I get everything in.

[pepsirich]

I have had similar issues. I returned mine and found the same problem with the new one. I will monitor to find out any new news. Thanks for posting.