DC800 - Strobe Batteries Discharged

[scuba_frog]

I received my DC800 w/ the dual strobes a couple weeks ago and yesterday (8/27) was my first time using it underwater. I charged the rechargeable batteries overnight last weekend. When they were done charging, I left the batteries in the chargers and placed the chargers in the carrying case. When I went to use the camera yesterday, all the batteries had discharged...strobes did not work. Did I do something wrong? Should I not have stored the batteries in the chargers? Are the batteries or charger bad? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[SkipperJohn]

I don't know if this is true for the SL chargers, but in many circumstances, a charger when not plugged in will conduct electricity resulting in a drain on the batteries. I have an extra battery for my DC800 and a tray charger. I store my battery in the tray for convenience but I put it in backwards so no electrical contact is made.

 

[scuba_frog]

Well I called Sealife and the "regular" tech is on vacation until Tuesday. They suggested fully charging the batteries again (which I did last night) and play with the camera a while and see what happens. They claim that storing the batteries in the recharging cases should not discharge the batteries. I will try again over the long weeknd and see if I have any better luck keeping them out of the charging case.

Denise, if you see this, maybe you can shed some more light on this. Thanks.

 

[Former Sealife Employee]

NiMH batteries will discharge about 2 to 3% every day, so it is highly recommended to charge them the night prior to diving and load them into the flash the morning of your dive. That will ensure the batteries are fully charged. The batteries should not discharge any faster if they stay in the unplugged charger, unless the wall plug prongs contact some other metal object creating a short in the circuit.

 

[scuba_frog]

Thanks Denise. That's kind of what I thought. I fly RC airplanes and have all sorsts of batteries and none have ever discharged that fast. And as a side note, the charger was not touching ant metal. They were inside the hard plastic carrying case in their foam compartment. I can also cycle them a couple times to try and build up their capacity.

I'm doing my own little test. I charged all 8 batteries last night and took a reading this morning. I took 4 out of the charger and have them laying flat and have the other 4 in the charger but unplugged on the counter. I'm going to take another reading this evening and again tomorrow and see if there are any differences with them in or out of the charger.

 

[scuba_frog]

Well I performed my own little test. I charged all 8 batteries. Let 4 sit on the counter out of the charging unit and left the other 4 inside the charger but unplugged. Left them there for a week. After checking them on a volt meter, all 8 batteries showed approx. the same remaining charge. My conclusion...I probably screwed something up the first time I used them because they work just fine.

 

[ronbeau]

Well I performed my own little test. I charged all 8 batteries. Let 4 sit on the counter out of the charging unit and left the other 4 inside the charger but unplugged. Left them there for a week. After checking them on a volt meter, all 8 batteries showed approx. the same remaining charge. My conclusion...I probably screwed something up the first time I used them because they work just fine.

A regular voltmeter is probably not a very good test since it is not checking the voltage under load.

I have a unit made by ZTS that does this for commonly used Alkaline, NiMh and Lithium batteries.