Eneloop Leaking in YS-D3 Mk 2

[Searcaigh]

Just removed my black Eneloop Pros from my Sea & Sea YS-D3 Mk 2 and they felt warm!

A quick look inside the battery compartment revealed some gunge

Photo prior to clean up

After cleaning it up I put in a set of fresh batteries that are working in my YSD2J and the YSD3 does not light up. I am assuming that the circuit may have blown as a result

As per another thread Help from YS-D2J users I am now beginning to believe that the Black Eneloop Pro's may not be the most desirable battery, although this is the first time I have had an issue with one in many years usage.

At an estimate, I think this set of batteries may be three to four years old. The strobe is barely six months in use.

Only one battery is reading 0 on my voltmeter, the others are all fine and currently reading 1.1v.

 

[BrackaFish]

Just removed my black Eneloop Pros from my Sea & Sea YS-D3 Mk 2 and they felt warm!

A quick look inside the battery compartment revealed some gunge

Photo prior to clean up

After cleaning it up I put in a set of fresh batteries that are working in my YSD2J and the YSD3 does not light up. I am assuming that the circuit may have blown as a result

As per another thread Help from YS-D2J users I am now beginning to believe that the Black Eneloop Pro's may not be the most desirable battery, although this is the first time I have had an issue with one in many years usage.

At an estimate, I think this set of batteries may be three to four years old. The strobe is barely six months in use.

Only one battery is reading 0 on my voltmeter, the others are all fine and currently reading 1.1v.

Ooo. I do Not like hearing about this. I recently ordered a 2nd set of 4AA with charger and as I am reading the warning I come across the part about not using in a watertight compartment. I cannot remember if the original set I ordered had this warning or not. A I recently had a computer repaired for having an alkaline battery leak, I am not very excited to repeat that ordeal.

 

[davehicks]

Eneloop batteries are recommended by pretty much every Strobe manufacturer at this point precisely because they do not leak very often. That does not mean that they never leak...

Still, are you quite sure that your battery compartment did not have any water intrusion? The blurry sludge in your photo kind of looks like it got wet. My last strobe leak was in an MF-1 with a lithium battery. There were just a few drops of water, and the battery was fine.

 

[Searcaigh]

Still, are you quite sure that your battery compartment did not have any water intrusion? The blurry sludge in your photo kind of looks like it got wet.

I'm sure if there was water ingress then the other batteries would have probably succumbed to it too, but they were dry.

The battery that leaked is slightly deformed at the + end, rather pissed off about this, especially as I will have to send the strobe to Singapore for repair.

 

[BoltSnap]

I have used these batteries with the YSD1 extensively no issues at all.

I am going to buy the Retra Pro strobes when I buy my new camera hopefully before end of this year. Retra recommends, demands, to use these same batteries nothing else.

 

[davehicks]

I'm sure if there was water ingress then the other batteries would have probably succumbed to it too, but they were dry.

The battery that leaked is slightly deformed at the + end, rather pissed off about this, especially as I will have to send the strobe to Singapore for repair.

I wonder what battery charger you have been using. Could there be a root cause other than just an old or worn-out cell?

I have got in the habit or buying a new set of 16 eneloops about every two years. I put a lot of charging cycles on each cell, maybe 50 or so a year. After two years I buy new ones for the strobes and put the others in household items like motorized blinds.

 

[stepfen]

Once I had a (small) water leak in my strobes (S&S YS-01) and it looked exactly like this. I was using the white eneloops. One of them was destroyed ( leaked some rusty looking fluid like yours and was giving 0V), a couple of others had a tiny bit of water absorved by the outer label/paper (paper/label slightly decolored but the batteries are still functioning to this day) and the forth one was intact. I know it was a water leak because it happened during a dive. I installed them in the strobe maybe an hour before the dive, strobe was ok for quite some time underwater, then stopped working and upon surfacing I found it like that with some water still inside. We are talking about tiny leak (few small drops) not total flooding.
Salty water on metal contacts under voltage causes electrolysis and these are the results.
Lucky me the strobe survived (after thorough cleaning it).
I wish your strobe recovers well.

 

[Interceptor121]

Any battery can leak if it has overheated. Was this a wide angle or macro dive? Did you take many shots at full power? Was the strobe warm in the front?
The strobe might have gone in to circuit protection which is related but separated to the battery issue
more imporantly were the batteries matched? As in was always the same set of 4 with same age in the strobe of you mix and match?

 

[Searcaigh]

I also purchase my batteries in batches, usually two packs of four, and each pack of four is used together.
I really don't know how many charge cycles these batteries have gone through through, and this is the first time I've had an issue in using Eneloops in more than 10 years.

I use Panasonic chargers that I bought with the original sets of Eneloop Pros, and the offending battery is from the second lot of eight batteries, so much newer than another batch that are also in use.

I still have eight new Eneloop Pros unopened in the packaging.

 

[Searcaigh]

Was this a wide angle or macro dive?

It was a macro dive, and due to lack of subjects, I barely shot 30 frames over two dives.