Yongnuo 600ex-rt Battery Drain

WillMass wrote in post #17409810
I'm considering adding a yn 600 to the arsenal and was wondering if there were any updates, or additional issues. Thanks!

I have been wondering the same thing as the battery drain issue is a much bigger deal with a flash than with a radio transmitter. Reading reviews where after 50-60 shots the batteries are dead is not an issue I would want to deal with. I have also been waiting to see if anyone has had an issue with the YN300's being unable to wake Slaves like YN-E3's or if they have had any reliability issues with the flashes not firing. For Yongnuo to release the YN600 with a battery drain issue, when that was one of the major issues with the YN-E3, seems a bit fool hardy on their part especially since they delayed the release for more than a year after releasing the YN-E3.

I bought three from the factory. They were shipped to me in January with manufacturing dates of January 2015 (on the QC sticker under the rotated flash head). I have the same issue. After the first use, if I leave the batteries in the flash with the flash turned off, I'm lucky to get more than a dozen flashes the next time I use them. Obviously the batteries are being drained while the unit is off.

Ah well...

I use them and the YN-ST-E3 with other camera manufacturers and really like both the auto-focus assist beam on the transmitter and the audible BEEP when the slaves are ready. I like those three features enough to have chosen the YN 600ex-rt system over my Canon units. To be fair, I do have one Canon 600ex-RT for bounce flash (I love and trust Canon gear).

Anyway, to get to the point...

I cut up a Ziplock bag into small rectangles and just open the battery door and cover the batteries with the plastic and shut the door when I'm done for the day. There is plenty of extra clearance from the battery springs to allow for a single sheet of plastic. Just make sure that the plastic is small enough to not interfere with the locking edges of the battery door. The whole process take an extra minute for four units. Not much when I'm setting up all of my lighting gear.

Hope that saves others some time and frustration.

Oh, and if you want to make sure it works, just try and turn them on after you've closed them up with the layer of plastic in place.

agv8or wrote in post #17410579
the battery drain issue is a much bigger deal with a flash than with a radio transmitter

I agree, that would certainly be the case for me too. After buying the YN-ST-E3 shortly after it was released I was disappointed to find the batteries were always flat after about a week or so. However after realising the problem I can live with it by removing the batteries after each use - which is okay as the transmitter is something I only use occasionally.

A flash gets used a lot more and I like to have it ready for quick use at unexpected moments etc. So having to put the batteries in / take them out each time is a definite drawback.

It's too bad YN couldn't have sorted this. The flash seems to work well otherwise, and I'd have imagined they would have picked up on this issue given their experience with the transmitter.

Surely a physical switch to turn the flash on and off should isolate the batteries and prevent battery drain when its switched off? Or does it need to draw a small amount of power continuously to retain the last used settings etc? I know with my Canon flash the batteries will last for weeks when I'm not using it much - even if I leave it switched on (thanks to the auto-off feature).

I'm still tempted to try one of the YN flashes, maybe just for occasional use as an extra slave flash, but the battery drain issue is still a drawback.

Does anyone know if the battery drain issue has been solved? Not only did it drain the 4 I had in it but the 8 I had in the extra battery pack I had hooked up to it. It wasn't hooked up to it until the day of the wedding but went dead after about 100 or so shots, 12 batteries gone. This is unheard of.

Shooting wrote in post #18084105
Does anyone know if the battery drain issue has been solved? Not only did it drain the 4 I had in it but the 8 I had in the extra battery pack I had hooked up to it. It wasn't hooked up to it until the day of the wedding but went dead after about 100 or so shots, 12 batteries gone. This is unheard of.

Several months after my post above I bought 3 YN600's, to replace some of my Canon 600's, in anticipation of the TTL version of the Godox AD360's to be released later that Fall. My 3 YN600's do not have a battery drain issue, when the batteries are left in the flash for several days but, they have other issues, such as going into thermal protection without even being fired, which has rendered the YN600's unsuitable for use in my estimation. I ended up keeping all my Canon 600's although I did buy some of the new AD360II's but, then found that they did not play well with the Yongnuo products which can be read about in the following thread: https://photography-on-the.net …read.php?t=1444​958&page=1 . After testing the YN600's and continuing to read about issues by other users I have come to the conclusion that the YN600's is a draw of luck as to whether the flash is going to have issues and that buying them is a gamble.

I guess if I had lower expectations the YN600's would be an option but I have used Canon flashes for too many years to know there is a difference. Even the new Godox Speedlites, which I have found to be much more reliable than the YN600's, are not even up to the standards of the Canon 600's. I still have all 8 of my Canon 600EX-RT's and the YN600's have been relegated to the parts bin.

I just upgraded my firmware to the newest 1.8.8 and so far, no unnecessary battery drain. Having lots of trouble adjusting the flash output power in M mode though.

agv8or wrote in post #18084383
Several months after my post above I bought 3 YN600's, to replace some of my Canon 600's, in anticipation of the TTL version of the Godox AD360's to be released later that Fall. My 3 YN600's do not have a battery drain issue, when the batteries are left in the flash for several days but, they have other issues, such as going into thermal protection without even being fired, which has rendered the YN600's unsuitable for use in my estimation. I ended up keeping all my Canon 600's although I did buy some of the new AD360II's but, then found that they did not play well with the Yongnuo products which can be read about in the following thread: https://photography-on-the.net …read.php?t=1444​958&page=1 . After testing the YN600's and continuing to read about issues by other users I have come to the conclusion that the YN600's is a draw of luck as to whether the flash is going to have issues and that buying them is a gamble.

I guess if I had lower expectations the YN600's would be an option but I have used Canon flashes for too many years to know there is a difference. Even the new Godox Speedlites, which I have found to be much more reliable than the YN600's, are not even up to the standards of the Canon 600's. I still have all 8 of my Canon 600EX-RT's and the YN600's have been relegated to the parts bin.

"You get what you paid for" never changes.....
Our Canon 600 EX-RT's just keep multiplying don't they Agv8.