metz 60 ct-1 charging stupidity. right battery?

[dpurdy]

I have gotten a couple of 60 CT-1 units off ebay. The first last year that came without battery or charger. I got a new accu 60-38 battery and charger from B&H Photo. The battery cost 60+- dollars. The battery is a black box with a nose on one side to make sure you put it in right.

A couple weeks ago I got another unit off ebay this time it came with a battery and charger. The battery looks different. It is grey without the nose but it is written on the side in magic marker.. this side out. It is an obviously old battery that must have been recharged many times.

I just want to verify with someone who knows that I have the right kind of batteries for recharging. I drained both batteries of juice by flashing a bunch of times and then am trying to recharge them. They don't seem to be recharging after many hours on the rechargers. I have the units turned off and the chargers plugged in to the wall and the box. The box the new battery came in said dry fit battery.

I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. surely 60 dollar batteries aren't ready to be disposed of after a hundred or so flashes.

thanks if you can shed light on it for me. I downloaded the 60 ct-1 manual but it is of no help.

Dennis

 

[MattKing]

Dennis:

I have both a 60 CT1, and a 60 CT2. I am a little confused about your terminology.

Here is how I describe the various parts.

1) there is the flash head itself, which contains no battery. It connects via cable to...
2) a battery compartment, which houses the battery and the necessary voltage modification circuitry to both provide the flash head with the right current and voltage, and to allow charging of the battery. It connects to ...
3) a wall plug through a cord and transformer. I refer to the cord and transformer as the charger.

You can also buy as an accessory a separate charging compartment called a B27 which uses the same charging transformer and cord, but will not power the flash head itself.

When you refer to the "charger", are you referring to what I call the battery compartment?

On some of the chargers, you can choose the voltage setting. Have you checked yours?

I have to leave the computer for a while, but if I can help, I will.

Matt

One further thought - are you sure that the charger you have is the one for US/Canada voltage - Metz sells the flash internationally, and supplies different chargers for different locations.

 

[dpurdy]

thanks Matt,
I now have two identical units. The charger, one that I bought from B&H photo as a "charger", is a box a bit larger than a 35mm film box that plugs into the wall and it plugs into the battery housing. That is about 5x7x2 inches and holds the battery in a compartment and has a switch on it that you turn on when you want to provide power to the flash head if the flash head is plugged in to it.

The instructions I downloaded say that after having the battery on charge about 7 hours the red light on the side of the housing should start blinking and then you reach full charge about 6 hours after that. I have never been able to see that blinking light. Once I left the charger on about 12 hours and it still didn't start blinking. I plugged the used one I just got off ebay in 9 and a half hours ago and it isn't blinking either. I took it off charge and tried using the flash head on it and it took a really long time to get enough power to make the flash go and the little orange ready light never came on.

I just wonder if I am getting the wrong type batteries. though as I said the one I got off ebay is obviously well used and was fully charged when I got it..so clearly it is rechargeable.

I guess I will leave them both on charge all night. I don't know if there is a potential for damage with over charge.

thanks. Dennis

 

[MattKing]

Dennis:

Are we talking about a light on top of the housing, or a light near where the power plug plugs in?

All of my battery compartments, and my B27, have (near where the power plug plugs in) a red light that illuminates when charging is still happening, and a green light that illuminates when charging is done. If yours doesn't, I would guess that there have been changes since my equipment was new.

The newer version of the battery compartment I have also has the flashing light, but it signifies that the flash is turned on, not that it is charged (it is switch activated).

The "dry fit" battery is the right type, and as I understand it the 60-38 model designation is correct. In the past, there have been other sources for the same battery (it comes from a battery manufacturer and is used in other equipment) and some of those alternate batteries don't have the "nose" on the side of the battery that ensures proper orientation.

A couple of other points.

My 60 CT1/2 battery housings have a moveable switch in the compartment where the battery sits. It is above the battery, toward the right side. It has three positions: "nc" - for nicad batteries, "dry" for dry fit batteries, and "pb" for lead acid batteries. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the newer models don't have a "pb" setting any more. In any event, you should check to make sure that yours is set to "dry", otherwise the voltage is probably wrong.

Also, the contacts in the battery housing do heavy duty work. I regularly clean them, and the contacts on the top of the battery, using a pencil eraser.

Also be sure that the ridges on the bottom of the housing that the battery sits on aren't damaged or bent. The battery should make strong positive contact with the contacts - when you put the battery into the housing it should clearly be making contact.

As far as I know, one of the reasons you pay the big $ for the Metz 60 series flashes, is that they are designed to prevent over charging.

See if this helps. I'm willing to keep trying if it doesn't.

Matt

 

[dpurdy]

ARGH! I think I figured it out. After charging for a very long time the old grey battery on the recently aquired unit with an old transformer did charge up. However after charging all night the much newer dry fit battery on the brand new transformer did not charge at all. However when packing it up I noticed a little switch on the transformer box that I had missed before and the new one was set to 220 where the old one was set to 120. I think that must be the European setting you mentioned. Now another day long test to see if the black dry fit battery will charge. Maybe I can finally get this thing to work.
Dennis