Nikon SB 600 fault

[Mountkeen]

My Nikon SB 600 doesn't get used a great deal, but I got it out this weekend to take some shots at a friend's party. I use rechargeable NiMH batteries in it and always remove the batteries if its not going to be used for any time.

I put a set of newly charged batteries into the SB 600 and the "ready" light came on after a while, but the flashgun would only go off intermittently when I pressed the flash test-button.

I attached it to my D7000 and again it seemed to go off sometimes but not others. It was a bit late to seek out alternatives so I just had to go along with the unit and hope for the best.

Even when I put in another set of freshly charged batteries it had the same issues. The zoom function continues to work and the "ready" light remains on but it'll flash only about 1 in 3 times.

Any ideas?

 

[Nod]

It's possible that the 1.2V that NiMH cells push out is enough of a drop from the expected 1.5V/cell that alkaline cells supply to make a difference. The SB600 might also be getting on a bit - not sure how much difference that might make.