•  When you first plug it in look for the green light. This tells you the wall socket you selected is correctly wired. 

  •  Do not use wall strips which have auto surge protection, the devices interfere sometimes with the brain of the computer inside the charger.  This is a high level self-analyzing charger. It is not the cheap version. It has brains. 

  •  Do use either of the ports (called DINS). Both are OK for charging and the cable connects and fits DIN ports only one way.  It has a key or slot to align.  Look for the bump or key to align the cable and port properly.

  •  Turn switch to on!  This is a three stage Multi-mode automatic charger. The switch must be in the on position to charge at all times. The switch is there basically for field use while working. 

  •  If the battery is lower than 85% (+ or - 3%) the green light will go out and the red light will come on. The light will stay red for a few hours on high-speed charge to restore it to 85% capacity or better.  At that time the battery charger will flip back to green for the slower completion of the charge, do a little de-sulphation and fill the battery to capacity. 

  •  Just letting it go to green and shutting it off is a no-no. Leave it on the charger. It is like a dock for your cell phone.  When not shooting, it has to be on the CHARGER and the switch on, months at a time, no problem.  Check it, if you know you shot a lot and the green stays green, we may have a bad charger, and I will look at the situation after you call and we run a test.  Borrow a voltmeter from some one or someone who knows how to use one and call me.

2-  I RAN IT TILL IT DIED !
  •   This is number two on the I didn't read the instructions hit parade. Our packs have a huge capacity and we have expandable kits for even more exposures complete for location shooting. See the new location pack.  But there are limits.   The average BLACK BOX using a SB-800 or a Canon 580EXii will achieve somewhere around 900 to 1100 full power shots, this is higher on auto or partial power, and then start to bleed off rapidly. Do not run it to dead.  You will be the only thing feeling dead at that point. Heres why. 

The Sealed  Lead Acid battery  power curve stays full and then stops radically.  Thats why those expensive boxes put a lot of money into gauges that basically said good, good, good, good,  drop dead and shut off.  Impressive but not accurate nor a real guide.  Very misleading. 

**** HOT SHOT HINT ****

  •  I work on the card theory. When I put an 800 shot card in the digital and I know it will be a full pop day (long distance and full power) I set my mind to change packs when the shot card in the camera is full. 

That told me 800-900 shots. All I do is keep track on the meter on the camera which on most brands is a count down.
See photo.

 SAFETY DEVICE BUILT INTO CHARGER

  •  When you exhaust the battery below say 5.8 volts, a safety device we built in the charger might refuse to charge the battery.  Again, a really dead or sulfated battery because of not being charged properly, might make the charger think it is faulty and the chargers safety mechanism prevents recharge.  

  •  An SLA battery is similar to the battery in your car. You should never charge any vehicle battery that is dead or dry of water without opening the vent caps to release the hydrogen and oxygen released by the charging process.  

  •  Remember when your car battery was dead, you felt betrayed. They told you it was "maintenance free" which meant you never had to do anything.  Wrong!  It did not say it was water free. Adding water in their book was not considered maintenance neither is cleaning terminals. In this case, you got stuck three in the AM in a snow srorm, because, it was out of water or the terminals were corroded.  After the tow bill, you realized you were simply not told the truth and the first thoughts of killing your car salesman came to mind.

  •  NOTE: All the batteries we use are SEALED LEAD ACID. Similar to your car battery, except it gets no water since it is sealed. It is big and powerful. Actually small and very powerful. They are maintenance free since other than charging, nothing can be done except keeping them properly charged.  They are disposable in most Home Depots and Lowes battery dump bins right by the door. They are sealed and the acid is held in place by fiberglas matting and subsequently thats how they get their name, SEALED LEAD ACID.

  •  PLAN A: If you killed it dead, you have two options, send it to me to restart it. No charge except postage. I will de-sulphate it and fully charge it back. Nine out of ten may be saved this way. These batteries have tremendous recharge capability, and in some instances easily saved. Thats why we use them, we pay more but they are worth it. Neglect and not following instructions kills them more than anything else. 

 • PLAN B:  If you wish to repair it yourself.  You can invest in a no limit trickle charger.  It can sometimes bring back the dead.  Around twenty something dollars at AUTO ZONE and on the web. About the same cost as sending it to me and back to you via postage and you get to keep it. 

WARNING:   DO NOT SUBSTITUTE.  READ ON.

If you choose to pick one of these up, I will convert the end with the rings to the DIN plug.  Fantastic, now you can use it for both your cars especially during the winter months, boat kicker and start batteries, motorcycles infrequently used, and kids power cars.  This is a great off the shelf tool.

 Call me if you want more information on this device and you will appreciate having this around.  Call me for specific instructions on the use of this solid state one amp charger.  It does both 6 and 12 volts and at one amp. I use it on trolling motors, batteries you send me that are dead, and emergency batteries and lights.  I also use them on my dual super packs for HD location flash units.

BUT and this is a big BUT.  Do not try to make it charge faster or attempting or hooking two packs together or anything else other than what I tell you to do.  Here are actual photos of batteries that were abused by those who used the time tested and unproven theory, "oh just plug it in and see if it works". Thats us, we wanted to see what would happen if a customer took things on his own.

We blew up a lot of stuff before we settled on the quality of the things we put in a Black Box.

HUMAN EXCREMENT SAILS THROUGH AIR
AND HITS AIR CIRCULATION DEVICE:   (SH*T HITS FAN)

Our  cells are 6 volt cells and generally should never be hooked to a charger using more than 7.2 or so on fast charge. A charger should never exceed 1.25 of the capacity per hour.  So, we imagined one of our customers allowed his to go dead for five months and boosted it with a larger charger only it was a 12 volt charger not a six volt.   We learned the hard way batteries should be kept vertical during storage or charging and never should the voltage be exceeded.

                                                        RED IS POSITIVE AND BLACK IS POSITIVE:

Nothing worse than a dyslexic bomb maker. Generally they have short fixed lives and a lousy track record of accomplishments.  Seen here is a battery that is, well was, wired backwards.  Literally sucking the juices out of it and the battery implodes itself.  

By the way we use a specific battery that is fire resistant Our wiring can melt but not burn, all components are RoHS certified parts and the best quality we can find. The dark discoloration on the top photo is acid fume from eating the container it was in.   

In the bottom one we charged it backwards to the point the sides swelled, in on two sides and out on others and the battery actually switched polarity. 

In our quest to outthink potential idiots I realized there is no end to things that people can and will do, all I can do is to strive to do it safer by educating my customers.  No customer, employees, friends or neighbors were injured in the course of these experiment.... but the stink was unbearable.  It reminded me of cooking cabbage, or looking for golf balls at a landfill. 

3- IMPROPER STORAGE, AA BATTERIES, CHARGE TIPS
  •  Do not under any circumstance store batteries in the fridge. 

  •  Good AA cell chargers are not the fastest chargers. They are battery killers. You get fast charges and faster replacements.  In the case of RAY-O-DEATH they started fires. 

  •  Don't mix Ni-MH or Ni Cad rechargeable cells that are not from the:  Same brand, same batch, same size or capacity.  

  •  Mixing cells of different capacities can cause permanent damage to the weakest one in the set making the whole set inoperative.  A string of batteries is as powerful as it's weakest link.

  •  Our batteries, charge the battery in a vertical position. Never store these batteries face down or on it's side for any length of time.

  •  Never charge the battery in a closed box, it needs to vent. The use of Pelican cases is Ok for travel, make sure the vent is open for pressure to change. 

  •  Use the chargers direct to the wall, no strips or APC's with joules or any other interference between the circuit and the charger.

  •  Use the red caps on the airlines or storage while traveling as an additional safety precaution.  The feds will go easier on you if they are not aware my batteries, SLA's are not under scrutiny. 

4- DIRTY TERMINALS

I get a pack back sometimes with erratic behavior. I have removed coca cola from the insides and water sometimes.  But slow operation can be from the cable from the battery to the module that goes in the flash.  That brown to red color is heat. Burning the heck out of your flash shooting at extreme settings is one thing. We all get behind the ball shooting and try to catch up. 

  •  High power and fast pops without cooling the flash is common to sport shooters, paparazzi, and nervous wedding shooters, I call it shellac syndrome.  

   •  Most manufacturers strobes are not made for abnormal usage. Quantum and other board makers sometimes spray the internal parts of their boards and products to weatherproof and seal the metal stripes. The shellac is used to insulate and prevent moisture damage.  The shellac settles on the terminals making them brown.  It could also be the capacitor is getting so hot, you are about to experience a meltdown. Some are covered with paper as an insulator and then wrapped in shellac.

 Ever try to solder with a dirty solder iron tip. It don't work, does it , thats why you clean the tips.  What can occur is "fast shorting" contacts that open and close rapidly. Thats what I think may of been the problem with the 580's when they first came out. Weak contacts internally.  Several ways to clean, ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL, not rubbing alcohol.  A grade or percentage of 93 or better.  Also a soft eraser done away from your gear and lenses, and a vacuum cleaner. Isopropyl alcohol is readily available at the drug store. It is used widely as a solvent and as a cleaning fluid, especially for dissolving lipophilic contaminants such as oil. I use LKG 99.6 percent. I also use a dremel with small wire and eraser tips to polish terminals when really bad.

 BE AWARE:

  •  The modules can also be inserted wrong as in backward. Some of the modules are easily confused.  In that case you can short the strobe or simply most newer ones have protection and don't function. On this site there are sections on specific cables with specific instructions under flash units and cables.

  •  Another possibility occurring with the cables is stretching. Many claim they don't stretch the cables.  

Well after taking things with a few grains of salt, two shots of Tequila, and some lime juice I see things differently. 

This shot taken at a local Lambada Dance contest got the photographer who was so into the music he just grabbed this gorgeous young lady and almost won first prize taking his own portrait at the same time.

I do have some great guys and gals using the black box. And we'll put up any decent shot you send us using black boxes providing I don't get any letters from the Religionistos. 

Under careful scrutiny I did notice he is still using the older RCA jack which we have upgraded free for years during the time of sale of the Black Box.  By simply sending them to me with fifteen dollars enclosed, we will upgrade the cable to DIN, clean the terminals and ports and send it back to you. Thats another weak link we have over the year attended to.  See Cables 

  •  We have experienced a few failures with the DIN plug by the retainer screws working loose. from time to time tighten them - Remove one screw at a time, put clear nail polish on the threads and re-insert. For 2009-10  I now torque them down, we use a different series of shrink tubing and Blue Lock-tite the two screws.

  •  The last thing about cables is old age. Sometimes we rebuild an older Quantum CABLE not pack, for the customers and it saves them fifty dollars. It is at your risk.  Only if I deem the cable is OK, will I update it.  I have seen many where the cable is; Corroded internally and the copper has turned green; The rubber has disintergrated and literally falls off; and there are breaks potentially we cannot see and only show under load testing. 

6-  CONNECTING WRONG -
  •  No matter what I say or print on instructions, people just don't like to read.  There is nothing more I can do about it except if you do not understand something, call me.  My numbers are on the page "contact me" and most information on how to insert the module is under flash and cables. You can do damage "just fooling around".

7- SOMETIMES IT'S THE FLASH -
  •  Not as often, we will experience a flash failure. KAA-KAA, the ancient God of bad luck rears it's smiling and ugly head.  Understand please, most of the flashes we provide cables for are made by the manufacturer to suit his camera line. 

Though they may be marked PRO or HD or whatever, it does not imply these were designed for extreme hard use. They were designed to operate at slow speeds, no heat buildup, subsequent fast flash pictures at partial slow settings, not at high repetitive speeds, lots of cool downs and infrequent use.  Sometimes they need to be rebooted.  You may try the following;  Reset the flash to it's default settings.  It's like rebooting a computer.  Get out the instruction book. You might try turning the flash off and restarting it with the mode and on button pressed at the same time. And some flashes have to be turned on after the camera to handshake.  

  8- LOOSE CABLES:
  •  Loose cables can occur at any time and nine times out of ten it's when you about to take "The Shot Of The Year". Thats another reason why we eliminated the RCA jack they pulled out, locked on too tight and could not be removed, or a fan of the blades fell off and shorted the cable.  In our product we use locking DIN plugs, they are externally protected, all grounding is internal,  where it should be. 

  9-  CLEAN FLASH TO CAMERA FOOT Use the Isopropyl Alcohol to clean the flash internal contacts and the shoe of the flash where it makes contact on the prism. If you do use AA cells moisten a piece of paper towel with ISOPROPYL and wipe the batteries top and bottom to remove finger prints and oil residue.