Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hi

I have three Vagabond minis that are not working.

I can turn them on, and the led goes green. Power indicator shows 1/4 power on all three batteries.

Two of them are completely dead and gives no power out at all. One of them can charge my iPhone and my laptop. But no luck when I attach my Einsteins to any of them.

Have swapped batteries between all of them with same result.

When I try to charge the Vagabond minis, the charger only shows green led indicator. Not red as its supposed to indicating its charging. So not possible to charge either.

When I take the lithium batteries out of the inverters and connect directly to charger, I still get the same green LED light on the charger. NO red light I was hoping for.

But here is the question: should I be able to charge directly connected to battery or do I need the inverter for this?

Anybody else with similar Vagabond mini problems?

I have the 230vac version by the way.


Pal from Norway

The batteries can be charged while not installed in the inverter. The red/black connectors on the inverter are an almost direct path to the battery.

Given this, do you have a green LED by the USB port? This is your power light.

How old are the batteries?

What lights are you using them with? Only Einsteins, or others?

Also, inspect all connectors to ensure all metal tabs within each are forward and raised. You should get a sense of where they should be by comparing them to each other.

Also make sure the connectors in the front and back of the housings and in the battery do not move. I.e. make sure they dont push in with pressure.

My batteries do not charge while not installed in the inverter. The charger goes only to green led (this is on the charger itself). And same thing if battery is connected to inverter. No red led on the charger indicating that its charging.

My three batteries are 2 years, 1 year and 6 months old. Inverters the same.

I have had this problem since day 1 ! I am just a bit late to report this as I am a busy man.

I have green light on all inverters by the USB port. So they all provide power.

The one Vagabond mini even charges my iPhone and laptop. But none of them can start up an Einstein when connected. I only have Einsteins.

I have inspected all metal tabs and they look the same - forward and raised.

Not sure what you mean by connectors in front and back of housings and battery do not move. Assuming you mean all connectors on the inverter itself and also battery - nothing seems to be loose or has to be forced in. The batteries all slide into the inverters with same amount of pressure. It doesn't seem to me that there is anything wrong with the connectors.

I was hoping I had three bad inverters, as they are easy to ship to Norway. Lithium batteries are not. But since you say the batteries should be charged while not installed in the inverter, I am now afraid that my batteries are also bad… Hmmm… could I have a bad charger?

Must also add that I have had one inverter and battery replaced earlier. So in total 4 complete Vagabond minis have died on me. I must be an extremely unlucky Vagabond mini owner :)

Ok, the batteries CAN be charged outside of the inverter, but they do not HAVE to be charged. Either way is fine.

How many chargers do you have? Do you (or someone you know) own a multimeter (voltage tester. AC and DC)?

What lights are you running off of the Vagabonds, and what other devices are you running?

Ok. So your saying that there is not necessarily a problem with my lithium batteries just because they don't charge directly connected to charger, without inverter? So either way is fine? How come some batteries can do this and some don't? Or is that my charger is old?

I hade three chargers but two are lost so only one charger now.

I could borrow a voltage tester from a friend and check my batteries…

Only lights I have ever used with my Vagabonds are Einsteins. But I have connected other equipment to charge laptop, iPHone etc. In one occasion I remember I connected a 220 volt lipo charger (80w). But I have only done this once and it was only one of the Vagabonds. Out of the three Vagabonds only one has survived over time. So I have never had more than one working Vagabond mini. And I don't remember that the unit specifically stopped working after charging lipo batteries. It was some time after this that it died.

But should we be careful with what kind of equipment we try to power with the Vagabond minis? I thought that anything running on 220v and max 120w continuous should be fine...

You should be fine with flash units and <120W power consumption. Just covering my bases. It is fine to charge in or out of the inverter. It is exactly the same.

If you can use a multi meter, use the DC setting and meter the red/black connectors on the charger when it is plugged into the wall. You should get 16.8VDC.

Do the same for the battery. 16.6VDC would indicate a fully charged battery, 14.8VDC is nominal. 11VDC would be the cut off. (This is listed on the silver label on the battery).

Just to be sure, install the battery in the inverter, and test the red/black connectors on the faceplate. This should match the voltage of the battery alone.

With the battery installed, use the AC setting and meter the top two slots on each outlet (VML turned on). This should read more less 230VAC. You may get a positive or negative value, depending on which way you insert the probes. Either way, it will be a positive value.

Knowing what these values are for each battery and inverter will help narrow down the problem(s).

OK. Thanks - I will start by using a multi meter and measure as you say. Then report back to you.

I am not sure you understand my charging problem. I can not charge at all! When battery is connected to inverter no charging - charger LED stays green. It does not show red as it should when it charges. When I uninstall the battery from the inverter and connect charger directly to battery, same thing. Green led on the charger, no red. Which indicates that its not charging. This is why I asked about the charging in the first place. This was to narrow down and search for the problems.

If the charging of the battery should work both in and out of the inverter, and in my case it doesn't, then I might have a problem with both inverter and batteries.

But I will check the voltage with a meter, as you explain, and then get back to you.

Thanks for your quick support and help :)

I do understand the problem, and I was making sure both ways were tested. Also, it seemed as though you were not sure which way was the best, I wanted to make sure you understood both ways were fine. I apologize if I created any confusion.

Thanks for clarifying - no confusion :)

Since I can't charge either battery directly nor installed in inverter - does this mean that I might have bad batteries? Because the batteries should be able to charge directly?

It may, or it may be you have a bad charger, or it may be the inverter is not making use of that power, or a combination of the three.