new 430EX not working

I received a new 430EX from B&H on Friday night. I went out Saturday morning and bought a set of NiMH batteries and a charger and charged them for about 8 hours on Saturday. I tried the flash out last night (no more than 10 flashes), and it seemed to work fine.

Today, the pilot light will not come on, and I cannot get the flash icon to appear in the viewfinder. I can see the focus assist beam working, but no flash. I just finished updating the firmware and cleaning the contacts. No improvement. Any ideas?

Double-check your CF settings, in particular CF-7, on the camera. Also check what CFs are available on the 430EX.

Double check and recheck the batteries _ same thing happened to me and it was the AA's.

You were right Bluedog! Evidently, these NiMH batteries are worthless. After charging for 8 hours, they lost their charge in only 10 flashes. I put them in the charger for a couple more hours, and the flash is working again. I guess I'll get some new batteries.

That was a relief uh? _ I've been using the Energizer 2500mAh type and have the Energizer 15 minute charger that works great. Has a built in fan for cooling and also does AAA type too. Got it at Best Buy last year but I think Wally World has them also.

Am I missing something ? Does the 430EX have the ability to have firmware upgrades ?
Glad to hear your flash is OK !

The firmware update was on the camera to correct known problems with the 20D and 430EX flash. Bluedog, those are the exact same batteries I'm having trouble with. The only difference is that I went for the compact travel charger because I thought having something portable would be nice.

I really like my 430 EX. I use Sanyo Ni-MH 2300 Rechargeable and go quite a while on a single charge.

Dan