Retra Pro Max - Accu issue

[Landvogt1893]

Hi,

Today, after a long time, I finally had the chance to test my new Retra Pro Max strobes underwater.

Unfortunately, the excitement didn’t last long. Underwater, one of the two strobes only turned on briefly before shutting down with the message: "Please charge the battery." It turned off immediately after that.

I had charged the batteries (relatively new Eneloop Pros) the day before and only took them out of the charger this morning. When I inserted them and did a quick test, everything seemed fine.

Frustrated, I had to end my dive early.

 

When I placed the batteries back into the charger, it displayed the following values:

• 1.36V – 066mR
• 1.35V – 120mR
• 1.35V – 120mR
• 1.34V – 015mR

After charging for 30 minutes, the values were:

• 1.48V – 066mR
• 1.47V – 120mR
• 1.48V – 120mR
• 1.48V – 015mR

The charger added 141mAh – 184mAh, meaning the batteries were far from empty.

 

Honestly, I’m very disappointed. Even the second Retra Pro Max started showing signs of power loss after just 60 shots.

Is there a solution for this? The Eneloops shouldn’t be defective, right? My Sea&Sea D2 strobes worked perfectly with any battery and never had issues.

I definitely won’t buy the Booster Pack—I'd rather sell the strobes before doing that.

 

Ah, in case it’s important to mention—the water temperature was only 6°C.

 

 

[fruehaufsteher2]

No. One of the envelops is gone. 

[Chris Ross]

7 hours ago, fruehaufsteher2 said:

No. One of the envelops is gone. 

Wondering what are you basing this on? 

 

Generally speaking the voltage displayed by a cell is only part of the story, I would think you would want to know what happens to voltage under load for each of the cells, what sort of load it can produce (in amps) as well as a capacity test before drawing any conclusions.

 

I should add that the larger beam on the retra means that you will use more battery power.  Some back of the envelope calculations show that comparing a 100° beam strobe and a 130° beam strobe, all else being equal the 130° beam needs 1.7 x the lumens to achieve the same lux (to get the same exposure) on a surface assuming the cone shape beam is evenly lit in both cases.  This means 1.7x the battery power is required.  This is the price of a large beam that is evenly filled with photons.  As I recall the Retras used to publicise a 130° beam and the YS-D2 for example was around 100 to 110 or so depending on the diffuser used.  This of course is idealised but should be good for an order of magnitude difference.

[Oskar - Retra UWT]

If you’re experiencing power-related issues with your Retra Pro Max strobes, the best first step is to contact our customer support team directly at help@retra-uwt.com. Posting on a forum often leads to a mix of opinions and speculation, whereas our team, who develops, produces, and tests the products, can provide accurate guidance and solutions.

 

To ensure your strobes are performing as expected, please check that they are running the latest firmware, as updates can improve performance and address potential issues. Battery performance can also be affected by factors such as temperature, charge state, and internal resistance.

 

For the fastest and most effective support, we offer multiple ways to get in touch, including WhatsApp, where you can quickly share images or videos to help diagnose the issue. You can find all our contact options here: https://www.retra-uwt.com/pages/contact. We're happy to assist you!

[Landvogt1893]

 

 

9 hours ago, fruehaufsteher2 said:

No. One of the envelops is gone. 

 

Which one? How do you come to that assumption? In every other device, including flashes for above-water functions, the batteries work perfectly.

 

 

1 hour ago, Oskar - Retra UWT said:

If you’re experiencing power-related issues with your Retra Pro Max strobes, the best first step is to contact our customer support team directly at help@retra-uwt.com. Posting on a forum often leads to a mix of opinions and speculation, whereas our team, who develops, produces, and tests the products, can provide accurate guidance and solutions.

 

To ensure your strobes are performing as expected, please check that they are running the latest firmware, as updates can improve performance and address potential issues. Battery performance can also be affected by factors such as temperature, charge state, and internal resistance.

 

For the fastest and most effective support, we offer multiple ways to get in touch, including WhatsApp, where you can quickly share images or videos to help diagnose the issue. You can find all our contact options here: https://www.retra-uwt.com/pages/contact. We're happy to assist you!

Thank you, Oskar, for your detailed message. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really help me at the moment. I was looking for general user experiences, not a check on whether my strobes have the latest firmware. This kind of experience, especially from a relatively manufacturer-neutral perspective, is something I can only get in a forum.

 

When I imagine that before every dive I either need new Eneloops or have to check each one to make sure they work, I start feeling unwell 🙂

[TimG]

9 minutes ago, Landvogt1893 said:

When I imagine that before every dive I either need new Eneloops or have to check each one to make sure they work, I start feeling unwell 🙂

 

Hi!

 

I've been using the ProMax since Nov 2023 and have done about 150 dives with them. Like you, I'm using Envelop Pro batteries and they are probably two years old.

 

Without the Boosters I reckon a set of charged batteries is good for about 150-200 images depending on power setting of course.

 

It's worth bearing in mind too, I'd suggest, that if one of four AA batteries is dodgy or failing, almost any strobe is going to struggle to operate to maximum efficiency.

 

Although I can understand how you might feel, the Boosters are well worth the price and I have no worries over 4 dives a day when using them. Compared to the total cost of your gear, they are not that expensive - all things being relative.

 

It is definitely worth you contacting Retra directly for advice. I'm found them always helpful and quick. And it costs nothing! What's there to lose? 

 

(Yes, I'm an avid fanboy of the Retras. I've been using them since 2019 and have found the product and service to be first rate)

 

 

 

 

[makar0n]

15 hours ago, Landvogt1893 said:

Hi,

Today, after a long time, I finally had the chance to test my new Retra Pro Max strobes underwater.

Unfortunately, the excitement didn’t last long. Underwater, one of the two strobes only turned on briefly before shutting down with the message: "Please charge the battery." It turned off immediately after that.

I had charged the batteries (relatively new Eneloop Pros) the day before and only took them out of the charger this morning. When I inserted them and did a quick test, everything seemed fine.

Frustrated, I had to end my dive early.

 

When I placed the batteries back into the charger, it displayed the following values:

• 1.36V – 066mR
• 1.35V – 120mR
• 1.35V – 120mR
• 1.34V – 015mR

After charging for 30 minutes, the values were:

• 1.48V – 066mR
• 1.47V – 120mR
• 1.48V – 120mR
• 1.48V – 015mR

The charger added 141mAh – 184mAh, meaning the batteries were far from empty.

 

Honestly, I’m very disappointed. Even the second Retra Pro Max started showing signs of power loss after just 60 shots.

Is there a solution for this? The Eneloops shouldn’t be defective, right? My Sea&Sea D2 strobes worked perfectly with any battery and never had issues.

I definitely won’t buy the Booster Pack—I'd rather sell the strobes before doing that.

 

Ah, in case it’s important to mention—the water temperature was only 6°C.

 

 

 

Eneloops Pro are handling low temps pretty well so I do not think 6 degrees would be an issue.

Since battery usage will differ between different devices, and yes, one failing battery can result in strobe complaining about not having juice (gets uneven so to speak). I would suggest a few more tests that will hopefully help you determine where the issue might be:

 

1) Confirm issue happens again i.e. this was just not a fluke dive (unless done multiple dives already that is with issue persisting)

2) Swap batteries around - is the issue staying with the same strobe or moving with the batteries? (though you do mention "second Retra Pro Max started showing signs..."

3) Try other/completely new batteries - yeah no ideal to having to buy new ones but that way you can see if that makes difference.

 

Hopefully you will then at least have a better idea whether issue is battery or strobe related.

 

Another angle is the internal battery resistance - the 015 reading does seem a bit low (vs others). You could try to mix and match the sets i.e. find ones that are reading high and try only those. Could be also charger though - a lot of them are simply inaccurate as well as slot dependant (i.e. battery will read differently on different slots)

As I had some time on my hands, I took out Xtar VC4S and measured resistance. Note that I am not sure as to how accurate this is - for example one battery showed about 121 mΩ (once), I then swapped it to another slot and now it shows 38 mΩ (or thereabout after swapping few more times)...To counter this, I have read each set twice - 2nd time just randomly swapping batteries between slots to see if readings will change (so readings in second column do not belong to the same line as first column technically) - and yes they did, so I suspect my charger is not that accurate neither.

 

3 sets of Eneloop Pros, all produced between 09-11/2011, all 3 work fine in all my devices including Z240s. Have not been charged or used for a few months so voltage on all is just under 1.3V.

 

Set #1	mΩ #1	mΩ #2
	23	28
	38	18
	27	31
	32	27
Set #2	mΩ #1	mΩ #2
	31	21
	21	23
	23	18
	47	31
Set #3	mΩ #1	mΩ #2
	43	20
	54	18
	23	20
	72	30

 

Edited Sunday at 11:22 AM by makar0n

[Muellema]

 

 Hi all,

I`m also a Retra victim. Bought 2 Retra pro max with Booster in front of my 2 month travel in Indonesia September 2024 to substitude my very well working 3 Seacam 150D.

Bought new Eneloops and tested everything back home in my office (no diving). In Indonesia one of the Strobes stopped working after few days. I was on a liveaboard on “forgotten islands trip” so communication was very hard. I lost the whole liveaboard trip the second strobe. After arrival mainland Indonesia Retra send me a miracle combination an how to restart the strobe so it might work. It start working again. No explanation why.  Lot`s of Whatsapp communication…… and showed me the feeling I`m stupid. I tried everything and I`m no electronics specialist but I have technical background and can basically see if I do something wrong myself. ( interchange batteries, rest…. etc)

Day`s later I put in fresh loaded batteries in the affected strobe and it showed zero battery power on the indicator and didn`t flashed.. Again contacting Retra….. Next miracle combination. Asked what I should I do if it´s happening again. Answer: use miracle combination…… and it happened again.

I`m asking myself if I`m a user or tester.. or have to remember which combination of pressing knobs on the flash to start it working.

In regard to the battery life incl. Booster my experience is that after around 50-60 shot´s full power the battery indicator on the Retras showed 1 bar battery live. I don`t know what I should believe, due to Retra words, but I always decided to change batteries before next dive to be shure to have enough power for the next dive.

Asking Retra to check the affective flash after my return was negative.

From my point of view a poor service if you refuse a customer request to check a not occassinaly working product in warranty phase.

 Br Markus

 

PS Plan my next trip for around 2-3month  in the south sea and would be very disappointed if my flash equipment fails…. Might be I should go back to my trusted Seacam`s 150`s, heavy but never failed (still laying in my shelf).

[Oskar - Retra UWT]

Hello everyone,

 

I’m Oskar from Retra UWT. We appreciate open discussion and always value feedback from our customers. However, we’d like to clarify a few points regarding the comments made by “Muellema” so everyone understands the full situation:

 

1. Prompt Communication 

As soon as “Muellema” reached out to us, we responded, professionally and politely, with step-by-step instructions to help diagnose and potentially resolve his strobe’s issue. Our WhatsApp conversation shows our prompt replies, follow-up messages, and willingness to continue troubleshooting. We regret if our thorough questioning and guidance gave any impression of belittling his knowledge; our sole aim was to gather enough information to find the quickest and most effective solution.

 

2. Troubleshooting Steps

We asked “Muellema” to test the strobe in specific modes, record a short video, and confirm battery readings. Through these steps, he was actually able to get the strobe working again, allowing him to continue using both strobes on his trip.

 

3. Possible Battery Error
“Muellema” mentioned that, at one point, the strobe displayed an empty battery indicator even with fresh batteries. While rare, such an error can be overridden by holding the pilot/test button, a workaround we explained so he could continue using his strobe without interruption.

 

4. Future Support & Firmware Insight

“Muellema” indicated he’s not fully confident in the strobe’s reliability after these incidents. We understand how frustrating any equipment issue can be, especially on a long dive trip. We never refused to inspect or service his strobe; after his last message (“Will contact after return on my final thoughts”), we unfortunately just never heard back. We remain fully prepared to assist him further should he decide to reach out again.

 

In the meantime, our development team conducted a deeper analysis and discovered a potential firmware improvement that will likely address the reported issue, without requiring to send the strobe in for service once it’s ready. We stand by our products and remain fully committed to assisting our customers whenever they need us.

 

5. Battery Consumption & Shot Count
A claim of only 50–60 shots per charge is far from our measured results, which exceed 500 full-power flashes using 8×AA Eneloop Pro batteries. We stand by these test figures. The significant discrepancy can often be traced to factors like prolonged standby times, heavy pilot light use, measuring battery capacity right after intensive use, or unintended multiple triggering when the camera/trigger is set to TTL but the strobe is in manual mode. If you find your strobe is delivering far fewer shots than expected, please get in touch with us directly. We’re here to diagnose the setup and help optimize your battery performance.

 

6. Our Commitment
We pride ourselves on the reliability of our flashes and the support we provide. If any of our users ever experience a similar issue or have concerns, we encourage reaching out directly via email or WhatsApp. We do everything possible to resolve problems quickly and effectively.

 

We regret if any misunderstanding has arisen, and we truly want everyone to have a positive experience with our products. If anyone else here has questions or feedback, please feel free to contact us.

 

Thank you all for reading and for your continued trust in Retra UWT.

 

Warm regards,
Oskar / Retra UWT

[cerich]

7 hours ago, Oskar - Retra UWT said:

Hello everyone,

 

I’m Oskar from Retra UWT. We appreciate open discussion and always value feedback from our customers. However, we’d like to clarify a few points regarding the comments made by “Muellema” so everyone understands the full situation:

 

1. Prompt Communication 

As soon as “Muellema” reached out to us, we responded, professionally and politely, with step-by-step instructions to help diagnose and potentially resolve his strobe’s issue. Our WhatsApp conversation shows our prompt replies, follow-up messages, and willingness to continue troubleshooting. We regret if our thorough questioning and guidance gave any impression of belittling his knowledge; our sole aim was to gather enough information to find the quickest and most effective solution.

 

2. Troubleshooting Steps

We asked “Muellema” to test the strobe in specific modes, record a short video, and confirm battery readings. Through these steps, he was actually able to get the strobe working again, allowing him to continue using both strobes on his trip.

 

3. Possible Battery Error
“Muellema” mentioned that, at one point, the strobe displayed an empty battery indicator even with fresh batteries. While rare, such an error can be overridden by holding the pilot/test button, a workaround we explained so he could continue using his strobe without interruption.

 

4. Future Support & Firmware Insight

“Muellema” indicated he’s not fully confident in the strobe’s reliability after these incidents. We understand how frustrating any equipment issue can be, especially on a long dive trip. We never refused to inspect or service his strobe; after his last message (“Will contact after return on my final thoughts”), we unfortunately just never heard back. We remain fully prepared to assist him further should he decide to reach out again.

 

In the meantime, our development team conducted a deeper analysis and discovered a potential firmware improvement that will likely address the reported issue, without requiring to send the strobe in for service once it’s ready. We stand by our products and remain fully committed to assisting our customers whenever they need us.

 

5. Battery Consumption & Shot Count
A claim of only 50–60 shots per charge is far from our measured results, which exceed 500 full-power flashes using 8×AA Eneloop Pro batteries. We stand by these test figures. The significant discrepancy can often be traced to factors like prolonged standby times, heavy pilot light use, measuring battery capacity right after intensive use, or unintended multiple triggering when the camera/trigger is set to TTL but the strobe is in manual mode. If you find your strobe is delivering far fewer shots than expected, please get in touch with us directly. We’re here to diagnose the setup and help optimize your battery performance.

 

6. Our Commitment
We pride ourselves on the reliability of our flashes and the support we provide. If any of our users ever experience a similar issue or have concerns, we encourage reaching out directly via email or WhatsApp. We do everything possible to resolve problems quickly and effectively.

 

We regret if any misunderstanding has arisen, and we truly want everyone to have a positive experience with our products. If anyone else here has questions or feedback, please feel free to contact us.

 

Thank you all for reading and for your continued trust in Retra UWT.

 

Warm regards,
Oskar / Retra UWT

So point 3 is a known issue with them.

Frankly, That would be upsetting if in a remote place without internet to find out how to get them working, then to find out it's a known issue with the strobes and not a battery issue.

Maybe that should be in user manual, a card in the box or something. You know you have an issue what you don't know is  "where and when" it will occur and  ruin more than a single dive but also potentially a  trip for your customers who in buying your high end strobe are likely to be on expensive trips to far flung places to get the best possible results from their expensive purchase.

I get you may not wish to advertise that you have a known fault, but giving all a up front warning and mitigation seems a better path than playing whack a mole cust service and also PR damage control (like this very thread) where you sorta comes across that you pretty much chastise your own customers. (tone is darn hard in the written word, and harder if folks are using as second language)

Edited Sunday at 10:01 PM by cerich

[Oskar - Retra UWT]

Hi cerich,

 

Thanks for bringing this up. The "empty battery" issue has been reported in only a very small number of units. In most cases, it can be resolved by turning the strobe off and on or, if needed, using the error override function. Since this issue is rare and typically easy to clear, we addressed it in a firmware update rather than broadly publicizing it. No service is required.

 

If you or anyone else has questions or needs assistance, please feel free to reach out to us directly.

 

Warm regards,

Oskar / Retra UWT

[CaolIla]

On my side after some long trips with my 2 retra pro X I had never problems ... hope it will be the same in the futur. (starting in 2 days when we arrive in Raja Ampat 😉 )

 

And naturally with the new maxi I pre-ordered .... when I received it.

 

But this discussion here give me a bad feeling... but it's only a feeling ... wait & see.

[Oskar - Retra UWT]

Hey everyone,

 

We appreciate you sharing your experience with Retra strobes. Even after 14 years in the business, we handle every issue with the same care and urgency, knowing how frustrating gear troubles can be, especially while diving.

 

Here’s where we stand:

• Quick Support: As a small outfit, we respond fast and don’t leave you hanging. We love hearing from you, whether it’s an issue or just feedback.
• Warranty & Service: We’re proud to back our strobes with a warranty extension program that can cover you for up to 5 years in total. That speaks to our confidence in the product’s durability. And if you ever do need to send something in, our turnaround is typically under a week.
• Continuous Improvement: We’re always looking to make our products better. Your input goes straight to our engineering and design teams, and it truly helps us refine what we do.

We truly appreciate your support and patience. For the fastest and most accurate assistance, please reach out through our official channels listed here, so we can review your strobe’s onboard data and provide the best solution.

 

Warm regards,

Oskar / Retra UWT

 

[Landvogt1893]

Just a quick update: I’m already in email contact with Retra. It seems there is an issue with the current firmware, which is supposed to be fixed in the next update. I’m curious to see how it turns out.

I need the strobes as reliable workhorses – they simply have to work when I need them. I’m also not willing to buy a new set of batteries for every use or for longer trips where reliability is crucial.

 

My Sea&Sea strobes, for example, sat in the cupboard for weeks – I put in the batteries (no matter which ones), and off they went.

[JohnD]

21 hours ago, Oskar - Retra UWT said:

Hi cerich,

 

... we addressed it in a firmware update rather than broadly publicizing it. No service is required.

 

If you or anyone else has questions or needs assistance, please feel free to reach out to us directly.

 

Warm regards,

Oskar / Retra UWT

Hi;  I saw this and just checked for a firmware update.  I see nothing since July, 2024, Firmware 2.2.   Should I be seeing a new update in Google Play or is this something that will appear soon?