Thanks Tim . . . (et alia with postings about the flashing slab lamp).
I believe the previous owner not only didn't know how to operate the flash,
he didn't know how to care for the dryfit block. He's also its 2nd
owner. It was near discharge when I got it and it's been deep-cycled down
to an "erratic" power lamp a couple times now. Long recycle time with the
lamps on the back of the flash handle are a warning of low power just
before the battery slab "on" lamp goes erratic. Capacity has improved each
charging cycle thus far and several more deep discharge cycles over the
next week will tell how much capacity can be brought back to it. Even if I
have to replace the dryfit block (about $60) it's still a great deal.
Thanks,
-- John
At 10:20 AM 9/2/03, Tim Hughes wrote:
The Led is a self flashing LED that just indicates the low voltage power
is on. It flashes more
erratically if the cell voltage drops a lot under load at end of
discharge. I have had good look
at the electronics of these units, so am very familiar with them. The age
of the cell is not so
important as whether it has been left discharged for extended periods. The
cells can be bought
back a bit by putting the cells through a number of full charge-discharge
cycles **provided they
are only modestly sulphated**. But it is rough on the flash to use it as a
load by flashing. Use a
power resistor and discharge to ~1.8V/cell (5~5.4V) at about 1A (6 Ohm).
It is much better for the
batteries to leave them on float charge for an extended period
(>18hrs)rather than disconnect
immediately the charging light goes off, otherwise you may "cycle down"
the cells. The batteries
can be safely left on float charge for an extended period, it is a voltage
regulated design at a
safe float level (2.3V/cell). If you don't want to use a resistor to
discharge the cells, just
leave the flash on rather than trigger it repeatedly, as it has a fairly
high standby current
drain and this is less stressful than flashing at full power.
Regards,
Tim Hughes
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