Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I recall seeing a thread about not keeping the vagabond II plugged in all the time (I only use mine once every couple of weeks.. I could even go months of no use).

I'm curious what is the recommended way to maintain the battery? Does anyone use some kind of timer to automatically take care of charging the battery?

Also, is storing the battery on its side an issue?

+1. I have the same questions. I'd like to know: the ideal schedule for recharging if the unit has not been in use; if the unit should be fully discharged from use - rather than just letting it leak out over time - for maximum battery longevity; and generally the best advice for keeping the unit ready to go and able to last as long as possible, while being able to yield the maximum number of flashes possible per charge.

From TS in another active thread... viewtopic.php?f=8&t=915

"For optimum performance, you should top off the charge immediately after every use, then again every 2-4 weeks, as all batteries will self discharge. You want a full charge on the battery at all times. Faiulre to keep a full charge will result in the battery sulfating and losing ability to hold a charge, and this process can start very rapidly after use."

A few other things to note... batteries don't like temperature extremes so try to store the VB in a moderate temperature location. Also, keeping a lead acid battery directly on concrete, like in your basement, can cause it to discharge. The VB bag is probably enough in between the battery and floor to prevent this from happening but a shelf or table is a better location.

No, don't go out of your way to fully discharge the battery. Lead-acid batteries all have a limited number of cycles in them (about 500 under optimal conditions). Purposely fully discharging the battery at each use will probably shorten the life for your battery.

I'm not saying that you should avoid using the full charge if the shoot calls for it - just don't go out of your way to drain the battery if you don't need to.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=926

Just added this sticky.

to answer some specifics of this theread:

-you can store it in any orientation, and it will be fine.
-do not let it slowly drain without topping it off per the schedule described in the link, and as said, do not go out of your way to drain it.

Just to confirm: is it okay to leave it plugged in all the time when not in use?

ETA: Never mind--just saw the affirmative answer in the other thread...

Now that I've twice forgotten to plug in my V2 after shooting, I figure it's only a matter of time before I trash the battery. Just wondering... would the Mini-Lithium battery power a V2? Is there any other Lithium under about $150 that I could substitute? I doubt there's enough demand to justify making a retrofit kit, but if PCB could specify or sell a suitable battery for DIY conversions, it would be very helpful.

No, the Vagabond Mini battery will not operate properly with the VII. As of now, we do not know of any substitute Lithium battery for the VII.

I can't say for sure but I'm guessing that battery charging would be problematic... SLA and LIon batteries are charged differently with Lions being a bit more complicated. The VII probably isn't set-up to charge LIon batteries.

Properly designed Lithium batteries VS SLA batteries are the rough equivalent of a modern car to a Model T.

Lithium batteries are not that difficult to charge because the battery pack contains digital control of temperature, charge current, discharge/over-current protection and safe-cell voltage discharge cutoff. Our packs contain 16 cells and the "PCM" board that controls these functions separately. It was before this high technology was developed the Laptop and cell phone batteries overheat and blew up

Our packs are individually highly lab tested for all parameters and are highly consistent and produced in clean room, labs. The packs are verified be completely short circuit safe and cannot be over charged or over discharged or over heated.

In contrast, SLA batteries are a bunch of lead plates and acid, produced in smelly garage,, with near zero control or parameter testing . . . they'll be known as lead anchors in a few year.

As for charging, the actual Lithium charge is quite simple and features a constant current stage, a constant voltage stage and a finishing stage. Pretty much the same as an SLA charger.

But Lithium batteries produce different voltages depending on the cell chemistry and number of cells in a pack. They run from 3.2.V on up to 500V . . .so the proper pack must be used and must be matched with the proper charger.

Our packs are officially 14.8V 8.8AH. The full charged voltage is 16.6V and the median voltage over the discharge cycle is 14.8V. We use a 14.8V 3A charger that has a charge time of 3 hours. They can be rapid charged in as little as 1HR but this will reduce the lifespan of the battery and requires a more expensive charger.

This is high tech, high reliability equipment, made by the very best factory we could find.

Back to SLA and V1/V2 . . . the biggest source of failure. If you deep discharge the battery and fail to immediately recharge it will be sulfated in about three day (sulfating is not a yes/no issue and begins anytime the battery is discharged by about 25% . . . so over typical use the capacity to charge and hold a charge always deteriorate over time.

A badly sulfated battery, when connected to a charger that is not temperature coupled to the battery (few are), can result in excess charging current the battery cannot accept, so the battery can overheat to the point a bulging case, and even lead to fire or explosion. This is no specific to Vagabond but, indeed, applies to all SLA battery systems.

Mini Lithium is fully immune to all these conditions.

Since this is a company forum, not an impartial public form I can speak freely. In that regard I was astonished to see Pofoto (a presumed "pinnacle company) introduce an nearly identical product to V2, but less capacity and all the rough-around-the -edges 1999 technology including 17AH Chinese SLA. Another disturbing fact they have to created a firmware mod for their lights to work properly with the $1700 "BatPac".

This is a direct result of their unusually fast recycle time and switching power supply and lack of power supply input voltage range . . . .exactly the reasons that caused us to move from the original "switching power supplies" in pre production Einstein into the released V1 and now-in-production Einstein V.2

I spent a couple grand to test Profoto mono-lights with Vag mini and here's what found:

A single Profoto Compact 300WS cannot bootup or work at all with Mini, nor will a D1. Another disturbing finding was 2 900°K color difference Compact and D1 and the measurement of both Profoto mono lights show a more severe color shift VS power setting than AB, which was slightly better than Elinchrom RX600.

I was able to properly run a pair of Elnchrom RX600 or D Lite, or to interchange either one with an AB1600 or Einstein.

We have run up to four AB1600 (2580WS total) on Vag Mini. Also ran Zeus 2500 but the cycle time is over 20 seconds.