Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I purchased my Vagabond II around the end (Late November/Early December 2009) ... I used it a couple times in late December, otherwise it's set plugged in ever since.

Yesterday, I took it out again, and did some shooting, plugged it back in to recharge (as I have a shoot this weekend [Prom Time here]) ....

When the light finally shifted from Red (charging) to Green (charged) ... it set green for no more than 10 seconds, before shifting back to Red (charging) {the fan also came on} ...

It continued this process of back and forth, until I unplugged it from the wall.

At which point (it took the system probably 10 or 15 seconds to realize it had been unplugged) the light went back to Green (charged) ... and has remained that way.

I intend to phone Paul Buff support today ... but wondered if anyone else had seen this issue before? To be this is unusual behavior, as the battery had not previously done this at any point along the way, I know my younger brother also has a Vagabond II at his has never done this either.

That is not abnormal behavior toward the end of the charge cycle. it may do this for a couple of hours. If this continues for a few days, then there may be a deeper issue. It sounds like the charge is near complete, so if the unit needs to be used, you should get good performance (number of shots).

Okay.

I plugged the unit back in and today it's been charging since 9am-ish.

It's been just over 4 hours and at this time both Red and Green indicators are lit, I find no mention of this in the "manual."

the unit had a green light this morning so the charge should have been at least 75% by the manual? 7 hours is the projected recharge if full drain, right?

Thanks for the help today everything is looking fine now
sometimes it really helps to know what you're doing.

I am wondering how to know when I should replace the battery?

First, I made the mistake (after we replaced the inverter) of leaving the thing [VBII] sitting on the shelf ... yea, I don't have any idea how long it's set there - but long enough that when I took it down and flipped on the switch I got a pulsing audible alarm (i.e. it would sound then fall silent for a few seconds and sound again) which I took to mean a depleted charge - after a few moments it stopped at the unit did nothing.

I plugged it in and it has begun to charge. I noted at one point the green light would come on - the fan stops - then the red light comes back on and the fan comes back on - almost as if it's just normal "start and check charge" cycle.

Anyway - I'm going to assume that I probably need to replace the battery? Should I maybe leave it charging overnight - and gauge then?

That might not give you an accurate indication of the battery's health. Probably the most reliable way to check the battery is to take it to an auto supply store and have them load test it (often a free service).

I concur with this advice.

Thanks -

It's no longer cycling between the red and green ... it's remained red and continues to act like it's charging ... I'll check around and see where I can take it for a test ...

Is there anything in particular I should be aware of when I have it tested? How will I know if the battery requires replacement after having it tested?

Auto Zone and Advance Auto Parts should be able to do this, and probably others.
They will take a battery (and charge it if needed) and apply a load to it. They will see what the voltage under load is and it can then be infered how bad or good the battery is.
A good fully charged battery should read about 12.5-12.8VDC, where as a charged battery under load that reads 11VDC will be considered "bad" in that little to no useable energy is available. Some places may or may not be able to tell you actual Ah (amp hour) ratings. The nominal Ah rating of the VII battery is 20Ah.

Okay - so it's set plugged in over-night ... the green light is now solid the red light is on - but it's very faintly on (slight flicker to it) ... I assume this is pretty normal?



--No haven't had it tested yet.