A New Bare Bulb Flash Arrives

abbadon31 wrote in post #16871777
The 360 battery pack might be getting a new color what are your thoughts?

I dig the white and black; I think it will help keep the pack cooler in the bright sun.

I like the current black. Most places I use the lights the added attention of the bright colors is a negative.

Whortleberry wrote in post #16871959
...
Alternatively, a transparent battery compartment so you can check if the battery is full without actually turning on.

You jest but I rather like this idea. The thought of a transparent battery case reminds me of the "Visible" series of plastic models that used to be available, best known being the Visible Man and Visible Woman:

mmmfotografie wrote in post #16871670
Did some more testing with the 360 and 960 after charging the battery this night.

After 50 1/1 power pops lost one led and I noticed that after each pop the red light came on telling me I can release again an then two leds drop and come on again. The duration of the two leds going dark and bright again gets longer and longer.

After 70 1/1 power pops I lost the third led and 90 pops all leds were out and the 360 and 960 stopped working. When pressing the battery test button no leds are lit.

After charging the voltage was 11.89 and now the voltage is 11.08 and I cleaned the contacts before starting the test.

This afternoon I will get the spare 960 battery and after charging I will conduct a new run to test the usability of this flash.

Is this a common problem with these battery packs? The small size of these lights is nice but if there is a problem with the packs and they fail when you are depending on them to work that is a huge problem.

I just fired 75 pops at 1/1 with no loss of LEDs or increase in recycle time.

mmmfotografie wrote in post #16871670
After charging the voltage was 11.89 and now the voltage is 11.08 and I cleaned the contacts before starting the test.

If I'm reading the specs on the battery pack correctly (11.1V, 4500mAh), there should be two sets of three 3.7V 2250mAh cells in series, those two sets wired in parallel, i.e., 3S2P. A fully charged pack should read very close to 12.6V. If you're reading under 12V after charging the battery, and the charger is working as it should, the pack has one or more weak cells.

oldvultureface wrote in post #16872405
If I'm reading the specs on the battery pack correctly (11.1V, 4500mAh), there should be two sets of three 3.7V 2250mAh cells in series, those two sets wired in parallel, i.e., 3S2P. A fully charged pack should read very close to 12.6V. If you're reading under 12V after charging the battery, and the charger is working as it should, the pack has one or more weak cells.

3.7V * 3 = 11.1V. Or 10.8V if 3.6V cells.

The battery should be able to have a voltage just over 12V (4.2V * 3 = 12.6V) during the charge, because the voltage will then be the cell voltage + the voltage drop of the charge current over the inner resistance of the cells. 4.2V/cell is a normal charge voltage for normal use - lower (about 4V) for special applications where the goal is to maximize the life of the battery.

abbadon31 wrote in post #16871777
The 360 battery pack might be getting a new color what are your thoughts?

That's what happens when you let Paul Buff choose the colours.

butterfly2937 wrote in post #16872238
Is this a common problem with these battery packs? The small size of these lights is nice but if there is a problem with the packs and they fail when you are depending on them to work that is a huge problem.

Its not the pack (top half), its the battery. I've actually had one go exactly the same way as described, and a couple of others have reported the same issue.

That's 3 or 4 I have heard of out of at least hundreds, likely out of thousands. The others are holding charge very well still so I don't think its really much to worry about.

.

butterfly2937 wrote in post #16872238
Is this a common problem with these battery packs? The small size of these lights is nice but if there is a problem with the packs and they fail when you are depending on them to work that is a huge problem.

I have never had a problem with any of my three CL's. The freaking battery seems to last forever. I shot an receptions two weeks ago for over 6 hours and I just looked, three out of the four lights are lit!!
Probably limited to a bad cable or battery itself.

Edward shipped me a new battery, should be here Monday. Hopefully that is the problem.

I have received the spare battery and out of the box the voltage was 11.9 and after connecting up to charger the led on the charger went red and strait for at least 20 minutes and had to go somewhere so I could not wait till was fully charged.

When I returned about an hour later the led was green indication that the battery was full and ready for use. I measured again the voltage and it was now 12.5 volt.

I did a test of 30 full power pops and all the four blue led stayed lit all the time and no two leds turning dark and lit again after the red led came on signalling that the flash was ready again to be used again.

I would love to get a new cable because mine stopped working last year and despite it was announced half a year ago it is still not available, expect for the 5 metre cable.

I have now a working flash again that I can trust that it will work when I need it. Going to contact my local shop to ask if they can help me with the faulty battery.

mmmfotografie wrote in post #16872828
I have now a working flash again that I can trust that it will work when I need it.

If that was me making the comment, it would surely come back and bite me on the arse. I'm knocking on wood for you.

great to hear your up and running again

So yeah, this was waiting for me when I got home today. Only had time to snap a quick pic with my iphone.

windpig wrote in post #16872844
If that was me making the comment, it would surely come back and bite me on the arse. I'm knocking on wood for you.

Thank you for knocking on wood for me.