Sekonic L-778 Spotmeter Problem

[andrew.roos]

Hi All

I've just (today) received a Sekonic L-778 spotmeter from KEH (LN-). When I turn it on, the battery check sometimes takes what appears to be an abnormally long time - I've measured up to 43 seconds on a stopwatch - before switching over to normal operating mode. The time appears to be related to how long the meter has been off for - if it's only been off for a few seconds, the battery check period is short (a couple of seconds). However if it has been off for a long period, then the battery check time is much longer. This does not seem right to me. The batteries are brand new 1.5V alkalines, and the battery check shows the maximum of 9 bar graph symbols.

I'm wondering whether anyone else with this meter could comment on whether theirs behaves in the same way? If this is not normal - and I doubt it is - then I'm thinking perhaps I should return it to KEH within the 14-day money back period in case it dies completely - I did see one thread on LF Photography Forum about a 778 that never left battery check mode! Unfortunately since I live in South Africa the round trip shipping is about $100 so this is not an easy decision!

Thanks
Andrew

 

[pentaxuser]

If you change your mind then the return postage should be down to you but if you return because you suspect it is faulty and this turns out to be the case then it seem unfair that any postage is your responsibility.

So it would never be sensible to return even faulty items if the total postage came anywhere near to the purchase price plus sender's postage cost.

Isn't there an equivalent law to what in Britain is the Sale of Goods Act whereby the goods have got to be "fit for purpose" and if not, all costs are down to the seller.

As you describes things, they seem like a win all ways for the seller and lose all ways for the buyer

pentaxuser

 

[Arvee]

I would take a pencil eraser to the battery contacts. It's not unusual for a used meter to be stored with batteries installed and then they expire and leak and cause corrosion on the contacts. A slow response on the BC function would indicate to me that there is some resistance in the battery contacts. Gud Luk!

 

[andrew.roos]

Thanks guys. I emailed KEH last night about the problem and got an immediate response saying that if I was able to get the meter repaired here then they would pay the cost of the repair, which is a nice suggestion since it avoids the cost and time of shipping it to the US and back. I'll take it in for a quotation and see if they can repair it.