RETRA Strobe Thread

3 hours ago, nudibranco said:

Wow,  could not find anything that worked except the Eneloop Pro.   The powerex are also about 20% cheaper in Europe and maybe worthwhile a try then. (!).   Any other choice is welcome here.   I tried with no success Duracell Ultra and Amazon.  Lithium stil unsafe?

The specifications of GP Recyko+ are close to Enerloop Pro. I used them on my old Sea&Sea's for years and always was satisfied with their recycle time and stamina.

Wow,  could not find anything that worked except the Eneloop Pro.   The powerex are also about 20% cheaper in Europe and maybe worthwhile a try then. (!).   Any other choice is welcome here.   I tried with no success Duracell Ultra and Amazon.  Lithium stil unsafe?

I found this interesting:

https://www.slrlounge.com/powerex-pro-aa-batteries-vs-eneloop-a-practical-review-for-photographers/

However it is of limited use due to comparing the "pro" batteries to regular

26 minutes ago, Draq said:

I found this interesting:

https://www.slrlounge.com/powerex-pro-aa-batteries-vs-eneloop-a-practical-review-for-photographers/

However it is of limited use due to comparing the "pro" batteries to regular

Yeah, the follow-on comments are almost more interesting!

Also use Ikea Ladda, and not able to see differences with my Eneloop pros

I may have found a contributing issue.  Back from my dive trip, and while soaking and rinsing gear, it occurred to me that perhaps my somewhat sophisticated charger may not have been doing what I needed.  Generally, the "better" chargers do more to maintain and protect batteries from damage.  I need to do some more research and perhaps testing, but I suspect my charger was charging the eneloops to about 90% and then switching to a very slow trickle mode, so the "full" batteries I was putting in the strobes were actually about 90%.  Not a huge issue normally, but where my ' shots per charge" rate is somewhat limited as in the Retra's, and coupled with losing 10-20% capacity per hour while in standby mode, I could possibly be down to perhaps 60% before I finish the first dive of the day.   I may need to to use a different charger.

Since I am ordering the superchargers, I am wondering if I should consider a set of wide angle diffusers and shark diffusers.  Anyone have comments after using these?

I use the Amazon brand, the ones with 2400mAh. I am quite happy with them. But the Supercharger is a mandatory buy I think. With the Supercharger I can get a full day shooting (4 dives). If you buy the supercharger, I recommend buying a charger for 8 batteries. If you have only a standard one for 4 batteries it might become a problem as you need to charge 16 batteries in total for two strobes with two superchargers!

I also use the wide angle diffusors and the shark diffusors. For the wide angle diffusors I am not quite sure if I would buy them again, as for normal wideangle shots for reef etc, the light from the strobes without diffusors is quite pleasing and doesn't need the diffusors in my opinion. Without the diffusors, the strobes are also a lot more forgiving in regards of backscatter. I found myself more often use the strobe without the wide angle diffusors. But they might be a good solution for wide angle close focus. The shark diffusors are a different kind of story: I used them only at one trip so far in Socorro and I found them very good for big animals (sharks, manta rays), they give a pleasing light and color temperature. I do want to try them for reef shots, too. But I have to wait for the next trip to test them. The shark diffusors have however a loss of -0,8 stops of light.

I am beginning to think I am just not supposed to be using Retras.  While working on the battery issue I decided to connect the flash units to the phone and look at trigger count and see if there was naything I should change in settings  Although just before the trip I checked and firmware said up to date, it now shows firmware 1.0 in red and says an update is available.  I went ahead and performed an update, and got a "successful" message but then firmware still shows 1.0 in red and an update option.  I have no recall of what the FW version was before.  Have now "updated" firmware 4 or 5 times on each strobe to no effect.

I thought perhaps the problem was in the app, so I messed with that for a while, finally deleted the app, reinstalled it and checked it again for updates and it seems current.    No love there either. 

I am "this close" to just selling the things and going back to my Inons or getting something else.

Wow, frustrating to put it mildly. Have you contacted Oskar? I’m sure they’ll help. 
 

All the firmware upgrades I’ve done have gone without a hitch 

The latest firmware version for the Prime X is 1.0 and it's written in the "what's new" section in the App stores, Google and Apple. If the App has signalled that an update is available for the Prime X flashguns it's a bug and will get resolved with the next iteration. It seems the App just re-installed firmware 1.0. There is an update coming for the Prime X in the coming months...

Whilst on this topic I need to emphasise that there is absolutely no way you can damage the flashguns when connecting and controlling them with the smartphone. It is physically impossible to erase the firmware or install the wrong firmware.

P.S.: updates are available for the Pro X (2.17), PRO (3.13) and Prime (3.13) flashguns. If you don't have automatic App updates turned on just go to the App store and download the latest App. Here are the links: 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/retra-uwt/id1472741374

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gm5.solutions.retra_flash&hl=en

OK, so firmware is up to date and the update notice is just a bug in the app.  That is good to know.  I do have automatic updates set.  It did not occur to me to check the what's new section for the app on google play, I assumed the app was correct in telling me there was  a firmware update available. 

Back to exploring battery issues.  I plan on ordering superchargers in the next day or two, but am also exploring battery chargers and am reconditioning my eneloops to see if that changes anything.  Maybe I have a battery problem.  The downside to the superchargers is having to take 32 AA batteries in order to have a fresh set when needed and managing the charging of 16 batteries each night on a liveaboard or hotel somewhere.   I just need to work out the best way.

Thank you.

30 minutes ago, Draq said:

OK, so firmware is up to date and the update notice is just a bug in the app.  That is good to know.  I do have automatic updates set.  It did not occur to me to check the what's new section for the app on google play, I assumed the app was correct in telling me there was  a firmware update available. 

Back to exploring battery issues.  I plan on ordering superchargers in the next day or two, but am also exploring battery chargers and am reconditioning my eneloops to see if that changes anything.  Maybe I have a battery problem.  The downside to the superchargers is having to take 32 AA batteries in order to have a fresh set when needed and managing the charging of 16 batteries each night on a liveaboard or hotel somewhere.   I just need to work out the best way.

Thank you.

I just bought a charger for 8 batteries: https://www.ansmann.de/akku-ladegeraete/powerline-8

After the day diving, I change the batteries to fully charged ones. The first 8 batteries charge over night, the other 8 batteries charge during the day when I am diving. So in the evening I have a set of 16 batteries fully charged to put them into the strobes and the supercharger. I did not have any problems with charging on liveboard or hotel.

I'm doing pretty much the same as ChrisH80.

I've got 2x of these from Amazon: 

EBL Smart AA AAA NiMH Rechargeable Battery Charger - 2A USB Charging Port 2 Hour Quick Chargers

With a USB charger they do the job nicely.

I thought the smaller 4x battery chargers slightly easier to pack than an 8x. 

I have been taking an 8-cell charger.  it is slightly bigger than a 4 cell, but needing only one outlets has been good.  I may be able to change settings and have it work better, but its default charging method does not do the best job on eneloops, I think.  My research and experimentation continues.  Thanks for the suggestions.

This might be the way to go, exclusively for nimh AA and AAA batts.  BQ-CC63.  Unfortunately not available in USA.  I have to have it sent from EU or Asia.

12 minutes ago, Draq said:

I have to have it sent from EU or Asia.

John, I'm going to be in the Netherlands and UK for two weeks at the end of this month if I can help as a small parcel carrier.

I've been using the MAHA chargers for my NiMH batteries, it has a 1 hour fast charge and a slower charge of around 2.5 hours.  I little bulky with the separate power pack but it does a good job, with all the usual features like individual charging control for each battery.  One issue with the Panasonic charger is 5 hour recharge time.

https://mahaenergy.com/chargers/

Tim:  Thanks for the offer, but I think I can get it purchased and shipped pretty cheaply.  Chris:  I am not too worried about the 5 hours.  That is from fully expended and slightly slower charging is better for battery.  5 hours I can live with if I can do 8 at a time.  I have been using a Maha, but my understanding is it does a 90% charge then a slow trickle, and I think a faster full charge might work better on eneloops.  Still researching, though.

41 minutes ago, Draq said:

Tim:  Thanks for the offer, but I think I can get it purchased and shipped pretty cheaply.  Chris:  I am not too worried about the 5 hours.  That is from fully expended and slightly slower charging is better for battery.  5 hours I can live with if I can do 8 at a time.  I have been using a Maha, but my understanding is it does a 90% charge then a slow trickle, and I think a faster full charge might work better on eneloops.  Still researching, though.

Fair enough, my thinking was doing two full superchargers would be 10 hours vs 4 and a bit hours with something like the MAHA. 

If you want something slower there is also this charger:  https://mahaenergy.com/mh-c800s/

It uses 500mA as the soft charge rate instead of 1000mA and may be more readily available perhaps?  STandard rate is 1000 mA which is 2-3 hrs charge time and soft rate is 500mA for 5-6 hours charge rate.

I have seen references stating that charging the batteries too slowly can also present problems - I found one reference on the MAHA site that recommended not charging at below 0.33C where C is the capacity in mAhr which for a 2500 mAhr battery is 825 mA, which would argue that a 1000mA charge current is not unreasonable for a battery of that capacity.  See this article for example:  https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-408-charging-nickel-metal-hydride

10 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

Fair enough, my thinking was doing two full superchargers would be 10 hours vs 4 and a bit hours with something like the MAHA. 

If you want something slower there is also this charger:  https://mahaenergy.com/mh-c800s/

It uses 500mA as the soft charge rate instead of 1000mA and may be more readily available perhaps?  STandard rate is 1000 mA which is 2-3 hrs charge time and soft rate is 500mA for 5-6 hours charge rate.

I have seen references stating that charging the batteries too slowly can also present problems - I found one reference on the MAHA site that recommended not charging at below 0.33C where C is the capacity in mAhr which for a 2500 mAhr battery is 825 mA, which would argue that a 1000mA charge current is not unreasonable for a battery of that capacity.  See this article for example:  https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-408-charging-nickel-metal-hydride

 

I have been using the 800S and considered the 980 but have been unable to determine if the 980 will charge eneloops to 100% at a suitable fixed charge rate, or will instead go to about 90% and then switch to slow trickle despite saying "done."  That is what the 800S is doing, leaving me to guess when the trickle charge phase is done.  Also, it can be damaging to the batteries over time to leave them on a trickling charger beyond a full charge, so charging overnight or while gone during the day is poor practice.  None of that posed much of a problem before because my prior flash units did not go through batteries so fast and of course I only needed 8 charged batteries at a time.  Needing to replace 16 batteries every day or every other day at the most will require more attention to battery charging.  If the 980 does not trickle charge, I would likely get one.  I called powerex to try and ask, but calls go directly to a voicemail and no one has yet called me back. 

https://lygte-info.dk/info/batteryChargingNiMH UK.html older article but addresses the needs of batteries like eneloops

https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Panasonic BQ-CC55 UK.html

https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Panasonic BQ-CC17 UK.html  similar circuitry as the CC63 I mentioned, but a slightly higher  charge rate than the cc63.  The cc63 might be lower than optimum.  I am having second thoughts about this option.

I may just use two BQ-CC55 chargers.  They have been tested and reviewed well and are fairly fast.  Using two gives me some backup in case one were to fail.  I just need to hope there are two available wall sockets. wherever I go, but that should rarely be a problem.

Perhaps I will eventually hear back from Powerex, and if so I will update.

Any tips on opening the lid of a supercharger? I've just gotten them, read the app description (remove black protective cap, then pull the lid form the supercharger housing) but it seems impossible to dislodge..!

Thanks

Edit : Solved ! thanks @Stefan Ekman@Barmaglot