Eneloop Leaking in YS-D3 Mk 2

[BoltSnap]

Eneloop batteries not recommended for use in strobes ::

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[davehicks]

https://wetpixel.com/articles/eneloop-batteries-not-recommended-for-use-in-strobes[/URL

That is a five year old statement from Panasonic covering their ass saying not to use their batteries in a sealed compartment underwater.

The Retra, Inon 330 and S&S YS-D3 manuals specifically call out eneloop batteries as the best choice in their respective strobes.

 

[Searcaigh]

Off to the post office shortly to send the strobe to Singapore for repair

 

[Interceptor121]

That is a five year old statement from Panasonic covering their ass saying not to use their batteries in a sealed compartment underwater.

The Retra, Inon 330 and S&S YS-D3 manuals specifically call out eneloop batteries as the best choice in their respective strobes.

There is a lot of discussion about eneloop if standard are better than pro etc etc
Eneloop pro are rated at 500 recharge cycle below they will drop their maximum charge below the nominal value down to around 2000 mAh which is still more than the standard eneloops anyway.
Those last longer however you get less shots with your strobe
As long as
1. You keep the four batteries in the set together never mix and match
2. You do every year a health check to see how much charge they still hold and this does not show that one of the batteries has dropped more than the others or that all have gone below 2000 mAh which makes them not so good for real life yes
3. Alternative to 2 you avoid using them in your strobes after a number of years between 3 and 5 depending on how many dives you do

You are all good

In real terms nobody keeps a log of how many times the batteries were charged however you do keep a log of your dives. It follow that even if you fire away like mad an average person doing 50 dives with strobes per year with two set of batteries has actually only done 25 cycles per battery and therefore the batteries will last 5 years or more. However after five years the cells age by themselves regardless of the cycles and the amount of charge that they can hold may drop. You realise yourself it is time to change as your strobes no longer do a dive or whatever your standard was

The single most problematic issue of a set of eneloop is when one of the batteries gets stressed more than the others. This only happens if you mix and match otherwise it will be very unlikely

the op has not done any mix and match and only taken 30 shots the most likely cause of problems is a leak of the battery compartment that only affected one battery simply because that was in contact with the water. It may even be that the batteries went in wet and there was no leak but the water fried the battery

 

[Searcaigh]

There is a lot of discussion about eneloop if standard are better than pro etc etc
Eneloop pro are rated at 500 recharge cycle below they will drop their maximum charge below the nominal value down to around 2000 mAh which is still more than the standard eneloops anyway.
Those last longer however you get less shots with your strobe
As long as
1. You keep the four batteries in the set together never mix and match
2. You do every year a health check to see how much charge they still hold and this does not show that one of the batteries has dropped more than the others or that all have gone below 2000 mAh which makes them not so good for real life yes
3. Alternative to 2 you avoid using them in your strobes after a number of years between 3 and 5 depending on how many dives you do

You are all good

In real terms nobody keeps a log of how many times the batteries were charged however you do keep a log of your dives. It follow that even if you fire away like mad an average person doing 50 dives with strobes per year with two set of batteries has actually only done 25 cycles per battery and therefore the batteries will last 5 years or more. However after five years the cells age by themselves regardless of the cycles and the amount of charge that they can hold may drop. You realise yourself it is time to change as your strobes no longer do a dive or whatever your standard was

The single most problematic issue of a set of eneloop is when one of the batteries gets stressed more than the others. This only happens if you mix and match otherwise it will be very unlikely

Very good information, many thanks.

Fortunately I keep a fairly accurate log of all of my dives including camera / strobe information, so I am able to make some calculations on how many times I have used these batteries.

Year......Dives......Battery Cycles
2020......72...........22
2021......94...........35
2022.....150..........38 (local)
2022......50...........15 (indo) - Switched batteries with older Eneloops every two dives. Also used BackScatter MiniStrobes.
2023......25............8

Full charge will work for me for two dives locally. However when I was in Indonesia last year I shoot a lot and that is when my backup batteries (older Eneloops) are used. These have now been relegated to electric shavers and toothbrushes etc., and I have two brand new sets of Eneloop Pros still in the packaging ready to use (purchased at the end of last year).

Current batteries

the op has not done any mix and match and only taken 30 shots the most likely cause of problems is a leak of the battery compartment that only affected one battery simply because that was in contact with the water. It may even be that the batteries went in wet and there was no leak but the water fried the battery

Batteries are always changed at home the night before I go diving when I prepare my camera gear. Highly unlikely that they could get wet.

I also doubt that a leak would only affect one battery. I had a leak previously in a YSD2 many years ago and all of the batteries were toast.

 

[Interceptor121]

Very good information, many thanks.

Fortunately I keep a fairly accurate log of all of my dives including camera / strobe information, so I am able to make some calculations on how many times I have used these batteries.

Year......Dives......Battery Cycles
2020......72...........22
2021......94...........35
2022.....150..........38 (local)
2022......50...........15 (indo) - Switched batteries with older Eneloops every two dives. Also used BackScatter MiniStrobes.
2023......25............8

Full charge will work for me for two dives locally. However when I was in Indonesia last year I shoot a lot and that is when my backup batteries (older Eneloops) are used. These have now been relegated to electric shavers and toothbrushes etc., and I have two brand new sets of Eneloop Pros still in the packaging ready to use (purchased at the end of last year).

Current batteries

Batteries are always changed at home the night before I go diving when I prepare my camera gear. Highly unlikely that they could get wet.

I also doubt that a leak would only affect one battery. I had a leak previously in a YSD2 many years ago and all of the batteries were toast.

So the batteries were vintage 2020? Looks llike you clocked over 500 dives over 4 years and that means the batteries were end of life
With your usage it would have been safer to change as of year 3

 

[Searcaigh]

So the batteries were vintage 2020? Looks llike you clocked over 500 dives over 4 years and that means the batteries were end of life
With your usage it would have been safer to change as of year 3

I haven't always been using the Sea & Sea strobes on all dives, sometimes I use the BackScatter MiniStrobes.

However, once I get the repaired YSD3 back and start using using it again with the YSD2J that I partner it with, the new (still in packet) batteries will be used, and I may limit their use to two years max.

Given that my MiniStrobes use 18650 Nitecore batteries, I am beginning to wonder how they will fare in the long term.

 

[Interceptor121]

I haven't always been using the Sea & Sea strobes on all dives, sometimes I use the BackScatter MiniStrobes.

However, once I get the repaired YSD3 back and start using using it again with the YSD2J that I partner it with, the new (still in packet) batteries will be used, and I may limit their use to two years max.

Given that my MiniStrobes use 18650 Nitecore batteries, I am beginning to wonder how they will fare in the long term.

Question to you. Did you have only one set of eneloops? Did they last two dives or did you charge after each one.
Ultimately the only way you know if a battery is faulty is to put into a panasonic charger that will diagnose the battery or in a very good 3rd party charger. But those are bulky and I do not take those on trips

 

[Searcaigh]

Okay I have two of these chargers

Did you have only one set of eneloops? Did they last two dives or did you charge after each one.

I have two sets of four batteries that I have been using since 2020

When I traveled to Indonesia last year I brought eight older batteries to swap out after two dives as I was shooting around 100+ shots per dive usually (macro).
The newer batteries were then charged again and changed once more after two dives.

When charging the older batteries I did notice a charge light blinking when all the other lights had gone out possibly indicating that that battery was on its way out, although when tested it did read around 1.2v IIRC.

The older batteries are no longer used in my strobes as mentioned before.

 

[tarponchik]

Sure, but how much charge do they still hold? And a new set costs a lot less than a new strobe.

I use lots of rechargeable batteries around the house. My motorized blinds use 16 AA's each! I just put the older but still perfectly good Eneloops to work in less sensitive appliances.

I switch the Eneloop sets after every 2 dives, one goes into the flash, one goes into the charger, and this still works. The camera battery (A6000) has barely enough juice for 2 dives, so I have to change the camera battery anyway. I know that regular alkaline AA's would last for 4 dives, so for my last trip with 55 dives I'd had to carry 72 AA's instead of 8 Eneloops. This is 3.6 pounds.