Batteries and flash question?

My question is what are the symptoms of batteries heating up or flash heating up?....I have had a couple of experiences of my shots losing contrast and becoming increasingly brownish. Very hard to fix in PP.

This has been reception photos in low light. I have always used bounced flash and this works fine, good colour, contrast etc. BUT the more I shoot the browner they become.

Am I on the right track .....should I change batteries more often if I am shooting many flash shots in a short space of time . Is it the batteries or the flash itself...Canon 580 ex 11. In the manual it states that after 20 or so shots to give it a rest.
Any input would be appreciated.

It sounds like your flash may not be recycling fast enough for the rate at which you are shooting. Is it possible that some of these flash shots really are without flash? The more you shoot/flash, the more the flash will heat up. But usually this is not an issue unless you are shooting multiple frames/sec.

Just how many flashes in a row are you shooting without a rest?
How many flashes are you getting per set of batteries?
Are they rechargeables or throw-away batteries?
Over what (short) period of time are you shooting?
And what camera mode are you in? Brownish/yellowish shots sound like just the ambient light and no flash; are you using really low shutter speeds?

Best of all, give us some samples to evaluate. I'm having a hard time trying to visualize your shots. - Stu

After reading your reply I went back through some of these pics and yes they very well may be ...actually no flash or very little.

I noticed with the photos in the shots that are fine there is plenty of ambient, the ones where I am having the problem become increasingly dark background and the subjects slightly underexposed.

Shutter set at 60 ..(this is what I can handhold comfortably in a fast paced environment.) f 2.8 throught to about f 5 iso 800 usually manual inside using flash and use FEC. 40D camera and 17-55 lens most times.

I use rechargeable batteries, not sure how many shots I get from batteries as I just usually change them at each seperate stage of the wedding to be on the safe side.
Mostly seems to happen when I am doing multiple table shots and impromptu guest group shots.

I will take more notice at my next wedding, that the flash is actually going off and slow down a little. I might also do some test shots at home with the flash and batteries and see what happens.
Thank you for your input Stu...it has got me thinking.
cheers Val

Get a CP-E4 battery pack, but remember you can still burn a flash head out. Also use Powerex NiMH cells and a good charger.

Post a photo showing the problem, with exif embedded, that'll tell us what we need to know to help.

I was having issue w/ batteries getting very hot at the last wedding. I want to remove them from the flash if at all possible. I am actually looking to get a CP-E4 in the meantime and eventually getting a Quantum Turbo 2x2. Nothing drains batteries faster than them getting hot. Thanks for the links, Tim.

I have been very busy the last few days, so havent had time to do any testing as yet.
Tim the bride has requested that no photos be posted online .
Thanks for the link to the CP-E4...I think I will try one of these.....and I will be more careful in future to check my flash is working properly in theses situations.
Thanks Val