Inon z-330 battery level indicator?

[athigunk]

Hello, I have tried finding the answer to this on Google but no luck.

Do you guys know where the battery indicator on the Inon z-330 strobe is and/or how to read it? Basically, I just want to know when I need to change my battery so it won't die in the middle of my dive.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Chris Ross]

I seem to recall a review that mentioned that it was not all that accurate. NiMH batteries have a fairly flat voltage curve that drops suddenly when empty so it is rather difficult to estimate state of charge from any sort of voltage reading.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

No remaining power indicator on the Inon Z330 or on just about any other U/W flash.

 

[davehicks]

I routinely shoot 300+ photos on a set of EneloopPro batteries on the 330. Most at 1/2 power or so. If I have the time, I'll swap the cells after 2 dives. Depending on the dive location, I probably average at least 100 pics per dive. But sometimes when around fast action like sharks or sealions I may shoot 250 pictures in an hour. I've never fully exhausted my Inon 330's.

So track your shots, make sure you start every dive day with fully charged batteries. If there is any question you might need them, bring a second set of batteries to swap out.

 

[bvanant]

I think only Retra have such a meter and as Chris says, just looking at Voltage is not terribly accurate, you need some type of pulse load to get accurate data
Bill

 

[stuartv]

Not that it matters, since the Inons don't have a battery level indicator, but...

I thought it was Li-Ion batteries that have a flat discharge curve and are had to estimate.

I thought NiMH were NOT like that and ARE somewhat easy to monitor and give an accurate battery level.

 

[fmerkel]

I thought it was Li-Ion batteries that have a flat discharge curve and are had to estimate.
I thought NiMH were NOT like that and ARE somewhat easy to monitor and give an accurate battery level.

"Regular" Li-on have a relatively flat discharge curve but you can get some idea of their charge state from voltage. Not terribly accurate, mostly ballpark.

BUT, there is a class of Li-on AA on the market that probably confuses people. It's a regular/small 3.7v Li-on in a AA case with a voltage converter to pull it down to 1.5v. (It also may have voltage protection and charging mechanism depending on the brand.). These batteries have a dead flat discharge curve until they hit cut-off, then simply quit. Not possible to estimate the voltage at all. These are NOT good for strobes. The internal electronics interfere with discharge much over 1.5-2A so may (probably) starve the strobe charging capacitors. Not recommended. I would not recommend them for dive lights either.

NiMh capacity estimates from unloaded voltage is almost worthless. Not sure if putting a known load on them provides a useful benefit for estimating.

 

[Chris Ross]

Ni-MH are pretty flat on their discharge curve. I see it all the time on my land flashes, super fast recycle then suddenly won't even fill the capacitor. The only common batteries that are easy to monitor are the likes of alkalines or Lead acid which steadily decline in voltage as they discharge. Li Ion in devices like laptops utilise coulomb counting in an attempt to overcome this. they keep track of power going in and out of the battery. Not really possible if you are pulling batteries in and out of devices. I would guess for cameras the camera knows which battery has been in and compensates for that and the battery often has it's own electronics to assist with this. Even then you can have a battery that shows maybe 30% charge suddenly stop working - the readings on the meter are only an estimate.

 

[JackConnick]

Quite a few strobes do have remaining battery indicators. Ikelite DS-160 series, Retra, OneUW, SeaFlash and Kraken come to mind. They are just that; an indication of power left, not an exact power meter.

 

[bvanant]

For NiMH and rechargeable lithiums pulse load testers (ZTS MBT-1 Multi Battery Tester) certainly are quite good; their output is in 20% increments but in my hands at least is pretty reliable and close to the same battery tested using (
ZH-YU ZB206+ BATTERY TESTER)
Bill