Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I just did some head shots for a local community theater group. Due to the circumstances, I had stored my lighting gear including my Einsteins, triggers and transmitters in my car in 20F weather for several hours. After doing one test shot, the Einsteins failed to fire and when I wiggled the CSTT in the hot shoe to check contact, the Einsteins fired multiple times. While that behavior stopped soon, the Einsteins still failed to fire.

I then took the battery out of the CSTT and rubbed it on my shirt for about 30 seconds. After putting everyting back in place, the Einsteins fired normally.

Next time I will take the CSST inside with my camera. I am curious as to whether the problems noted above was likely due to moisture on the battery due to transition from cold to warm or due to cold alone.

The lack of response followed by a burst of firings is a symptom of low battery voltage in the CST. All batteries are susceptible to cold weather reducing thier output voltage. Typically, when the battery is returned to normal temperatures, the voltage returns to normal as well, and operation should be fine from that point on.

This post is very relevant at this time, when most of us here in the United States are experiencing winter weather conditions. There is nothing at all wrong with transporting or storing your gear in a cold vehicle, but exercise caution when you move your equipment from a cold vehicle or storage area into an indoor space with a condensing atmosphere. What does this mean? For those of use who wear eyeglasses, that's easily explained: after we have been outside in the cold, then come inside, our glasses "fog up." This fogging is water that has condensed onto the cold lenses from the room air, which is a condensing atmosphere. The same thing happens to the internal circuit boards and components in your equipment: water condenses onto the cold surfaces. While the condensed water is not in itself a problem, it can suspend or dissolve material on the components or circuit boards that can form electrically conductive current leakage paths across the circuit board surface.
In order to prevent this from causing problems with your gear, play it safe, and allow several minutes for your equipment to warm up to room temperature before using it.