Sekonic L-328 - eats batteries

I have an old - but very accurate Sekonic L-328. With a new battery it continues to perform flawlessly - but only for a matter of hours. I assume there is some kind of short somewhere - any ideas how I might go about tracing it and fixing it? I'm really not a "techie" - but I can solder and do have a multimeter.

Bob H

If you have a multimeter that can measure current you could try putting the battery in series with the multimeter and measure the current draw of the L-328. First, the current draw should go to zero (or very close to it) when the power is shut off. Second, the current draw should be reasonable. Third, if it has a battery test feature and the current draw increases during the test, it should drop back down after the test is complete.

Does the battery quickly die even with the power off, or only when you leave it on for a few solid hours?

Denis K

It drains when it's turned off Denis. The on / off switch seems to have three contacts. The outer two, when measured, show the full 1.5V or thereabouts, when in the on position. The central one shows full current whether on or off. Does this help?

Thanks for the interest.

Bob H

BobNewYork said:

It drains when it's turned off Denis. The on / off switch seems to have three contacts. The outer two, when measured, show the full 1.5V or thereabouts, when in the on position. The central one shows full current whether on or off. Does this help?
Bob H

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From your description it sounds like the switch could be OK. This assumes that the always hot terminal comes from the battery and flipping the switch to on applies power to the other two terminals.

1) Take the battery out and use you multimeter to measure the RESISTANCE between the two battery terminals in the L-328 (with the battery removed). Do this both with the power switch in the off and then on position.

2) I noticed from the manual that the L-328 has an auto-off feature which should automatically turn the meter off after a period of 5 minutes of non-use in case you leave the power switch in the on position. Does this feature work?

Denis K

Thanks Denis - I'll try both and get back.

Bob H

BobNewYork said:

Thanks Denis - I'll try both and get back.

Bob H

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I'd return it to the mothership for repair.