jordan@ucbvax.ARPA (Jordan Hayes) (03/24/85)
I have the Vivitar 5600 flash system (really nice -- have a bare bulb for it that puts out ~67 wsec !!), and I'm not rich enough to buy batteries every 3 rolls, so I bought a nc-3 battery and the charge 12/20, which charges the pack (4 AA) in 12 hours (low power) or 20 minutes (high power - thus the name 12/20). Anyways, when I put a charged battery in, I can't seem to get refresh times of any quicker than 10 seconds, until about 10-15 shots later, when it becomes ~8 sec. 50 full power flashes later, it's still ~12 sec, but then dies rapidly. My question is this : are these unreasonable times to expect from this size battery, and what can be done to save the packs during their life time. ANy suggestions and/or experiences greatly appreciated. /jordan ------- ARPA: jordan@BERKELEY UUCP: ..ucbvax!jordan
yoonkim@sun.uucp (Yoon Kim) (03/25/85)
> I have the Vivitar 5600 flash system (really nice -- have a bare bulb > for it that puts out ~67 wsec !!), and I'm not rich enough to buy > batteries every 3 rolls, so I bought a nc-3 battery and the charge 12/20, > which charges the pack (4 AA) in 12 hours (low power) or 20 minutes > (high power - thus the name 12/20). Anyways, when I put a charged battery > in, I can't seem to get refresh times of any quicker than 10 seconds, > until about 10-15 shots later, when it becomes ~8 sec. 50 full power > flashes later, it's still ~12 sec, but then dies rapidly. > > My question is this : are these unreasonable times to expect from this > size battery, and what can be done to save the packs during their > life time. ANy suggestions and/or experiences greatly appreciated. > > /jordan One suggestion I can give is to make sure your Nicad batteries are com- pletely drained before recharging. The way I do this is to connect a flashlight bulb (would be 6v for you right?) and let it drain. But I must say, though, that these Nicads run out real fast -- faster than you want it to be anyways.... -- yOOn Sun Microsystems, Inc. {cbosgd|ihnp4|decvax|seismo}!sun!yoonkim