Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I received my 2 ordered Vagabond Minis this week. First impressions: wow! they are even smaller and lighter than I anticipated. I didn't think I would end up using the stand clamps but they are pretty convenient and work well with the Buff TS13AC stands. Now I have "powered light stands."

Einstein, PLM, and Vagabond Mini are very nice additions to the product line.

The initial charging process leads to a few questions.

First, one of the two chargers emits a bit of a buzz at the initial higher current part of the charging cycle while the other one did not. I don't mind this as long as it doesn't indicate an incipient problem with the charger. They both worked fine.

Second, I connected each charger up to its respective Anderson port on the inverters. One of them charged just fine, the other did not. When I wiggled the non-charging one at the connection to the inverter, I could get the light on the charger to flicker, but not stay charging. I connected the charger directly to the battery and it charged just fine. The reassembled VMini works fine with a flash. Based on that thin evidence, I suspect trouble in the Anderson connector on the inverter. Or alternately, user error. Next time I recharge, I'll swap chargers to see if trouble follows the charger or the inverter. I realize it's possible that I simply didn't have the battery properly seated in the unit, which would have been corrected by the removal and replacement of the battery that I did.

My third question is, outside of leaving a fully charged battery in hot conditions (I'll avoid leaving them in the trunk of the car on a hot day), is there any other battery unfriendly behavior to avoid?

My fourth question is, what's the recommended way to reduce the battery charge in advance of extended storage? My thought is a 60 watt constant drain for an hour would take the battery to about 1/2 charge. Plus 60 watts is half the max continuous power draw, so it feels nice and conservative.

Buzzing is not unusual for equipment that has transformers . . . it's just a mechanical vibration.

The charger vendor substituted some non-authentic Anderson connectors on a few chargers, even though we actually sent them genuine Anderson connectors. We have been all over them for this and have rectified this. Customer service will gladly replace the iffy charger for you.

There is no real need to store the battery at any particular charge level. While the manufacturer suggests storing at about 60% charge, the difference on life and performance is negligible. Storing at full charge is perfectly acceptable.

Temporarily storing a charged battery in a car trunk is not a big deal, but you should avoid long term storage in very hot environments,

I had a similar charging problem on one of my VML's, but it turned out to be the female part of the Anderson connector. I managed to "adjust" it with a small jewelers screwdriver, and all seems to be well.

Thank you folks. On closer inspection, one of the contacts on the iffy charger looks sort of flattened so that it wouldn't make secure contact. It's a little discolored as well. I will work out a replacement with customer service during the work week.

It really is fantastic how little special care these batteries need. What a relief after the rigors of SLAs.