Charging / Discharging Godox AD600

Messages
4,266
Name
Rick
Edit My Images
No
Hi,
I've seen a few references stating that these units need to be charged and discharged to make sure the battery life is maintained, can I ask where this information has come from, and how this is best carried out?

I have had a look, but can't find anything stating the best method.

Thanks :)
 
I have only heard of charging the batteries on a regular basis which is pretty much the same as anything else, I'm not sure how you would discharge them without actually using them to drain the power.
 
Ive seen it a few times recently, for example here.
 
Hi,
I've seen a few references stating that these units need to be charged and discharged to make sure the battery life is maintained, can I ask where this information has come from, and how this is best carried out?

As far as I'm aware no you don't need to do this as it won't help the kind of battery (lithium) that you find in an AD600.

From the advice I've seen the general recommendation was to keep a lithium battery around 60% while in storage, if you use it on a regular basis then I wouldn't worry, just avoid leaving it fully discharged as (I think) that's always bad for any type of battery.
 
There are still rumblings around the web about what should and shouldn't be done with modern batteries. A lot of it is a hang-over from rechargeable NiCad batteries that have 'memory' issues but nobody uses those things now - everything is lithium-ion*. Lithium-ion doesn't have memory issues, but can still be damaged. And the other question is keeping the capacitors healthy.

Agree with Simon - basically just don't let the battery run completely flat, but then most modern lithium batteries will hold a good charge for months. Ideally, store at mid-charge and avoid high temperatures. High temps are best avoided at all times and very high temperatures can cause permanent chemical changes (eg keep ventilated during charging). There's some good advice from Apple re iPhone and MacBook lithium-ion batteries here:
https://www.apple.com/uk/batteries/maximizing-performance/
From a quick google here's another link that says much the same thing: https://blog.griffintechnology.com/tutorial/what-you-need-to-know-about-lithium-batteries/

Capacitors - the things that actually deliver the (very!) high-voltage dump to the flash tube. I had an old Bowens monolight that had been stored in the loft for about 20 years - plugged it in and it worked like new. But I'm not sure that's the case with modern capacitors that like to be charged and fired a few times. @Garry Edwards comments would be helpful especially with his knowledge of Lencarta repairs etc.

*rechargeable AA batts like Eneloops are Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH).
 
Couldn't find anything about charge/discharge recommendations in the manual.
 
Couldn't find anything about charge/discharge recommendations in the manual.
Me neither, hence asking, I assume it's mainly internet scaremongering.
 
There are still rumblings around the web about what should and shouldn't be done with modern batteries. A lot of it is a hang-over from rechargeable NiCad batteries that have 'memory' issues but nobody uses those things now - everything is lithium-ion*. Lithium-ion doesn't have memory issues, but can still be damaged. And the other question is keeping the capacitors healthy.

Agree with Simon - basically just don't let the battery run completely flat, but then most modern lithium batteries will hold a good charge for months. Ideally, store at mid-charge and avoid high temperatures. High temps are best avoided at all times and very high temperatures can cause permanent chemical changes (eg keep ventilated during charging). There's some good advice from Apple re iPhone and MacBook lithium-ion batteries here:
https://www.apple.com/uk/batteries/maximizing-performance/
From a quick google here's another link that says much the same thing: https://blog.griffintechnology.com/tutorial/what-you-need-to-know-about-lithium-batteries/

Capacitors - the things that actually deliver the (very!) high-voltage dump to the flash tube. I had an old Bowens monolight that had been stored in the loft for about 20 years - plugged it in and it worked like new. But I'm not sure that's the case with modern capacitors that like to be charged and fired a few times. @Garry Edwards comments would be helpful especially with his knowledge of Lencarta repairs etc.

*rechargeable AA batts like Eneloops are Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH).
Yes, basically it seems to be an urban myth spread by internet 'experts' and very much a hangover from the NiMh days.
As for capacitors, there seem to be a few myths there too. My understanding is that they can die if stored uncharged but in reality this doesn't really happen because they always tend to be at least partly charged in storage simply because they are very likely to be switched off after firing the flash, which means that they have charged - to some extent at least - before being switched off. I don't believe that they have changed much over the years except that the very old Bowens and similar only had one large capacitor that took a long time to charge and this also applied to some of the bottom end makes including the cheap end Alien Bees models, these took so long to charge that it was possible, if they were switched off immediately after being fired, that they were effectively empty. The rescue plan was to switch the unit on and repeatedly press the open flash button until it fired and this did often work. Most modern flash heads have a lot of small capacitors that charge very quickly and this avoids the problem.
 
Yes, basically it seems to be an urban myth spread by internet 'experts' and very much a hangover from the NiMh days.
As for capacitors, there seem to be a few myths there too. My understanding is that they can die if stored uncharged but in reality this doesn't really happen because they always tend to be at least partly charged in storage simply because they are very likely to be switched off after firing the flash, which means that they have charged - to some extent at least - before being switched off. I don't believe that they have changed much over the years except that the very old Bowens and similar only had one large capacitor that took a long time to charge and this also applied to some of the bottom end makes including the cheap end Alien Bees models, these took so long to charge that it was possible, if they were switched off immediately after being fired, that they were effectively empty. The rescue plan was to switch the unit on and repeatedly press the open flash button until it fired and this did often work. Most modern flash heads have a lot of small capacitors that charge very quickly and this avoids the problem.

Thanks Garry. I guess you mean NiCads in the first paragraph, rather than NiMh?

My mistake then. I had a hazy recollection that modern capacitors used some different tech that didn't take so well to long term storage but it seems that's not a concern after all. Cheers :)
 
My mistake then. I had a hazy recollection that modern capacitors used some different tech that didn't take so well to long term storage but it seems that's not a concern after all. Cheers :)

It's still a bad idea to push equipment hard that's been stored for a while, even if it's more prevalent with older gear they're fundamentally the same and they can harden no?
 
Thanks Garry. I guess you mean NiCads in the first paragraph, rather than NiMh?
Yes, sorry.
It's still a bad idea to push equipment hard that's been stored for a while, even if it's more prevalent with older gear they're fundamentally the same and they can harden no?
Well yes, it's always a bad idea to push equipment of any kind to its limit, far better to use things regularly and to use them well within their maximum capacity.
Having said that though, modern flash heads are so much better in every way than the earlier generations.
 
Warning - on a related issue, I've just seen a recent video from Robert Hall on the AD400-Pro

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSFNQ-v0yYU


There's been some discussion here in the past about the ability to charge the battery of both the AD400 and AD600 while the head is operating. I've done it, and it appears to work just fine as a handy bonus feature, but while both some Profoto and Elinchrom heads also have this feature and it's mentioned quite prominently their marketing, Godox doesn't say anything at all.

But apparently, it's not recommended by Godox and in the video above at around 3.05mins, Godox is now specifically advising against it. Robert Hall mentions things like possible battery instability and damage. Even if that's a remote possibility, these things pack an enormous amount of energy so not a risk worth taking until Godox can make it safe.

Lots of other good videos by Robert Hall, particularly on Godox products
https://www.youtube.com/user/rrhallPD/videos
 
Back
Top