SB-600 died from battery leak!

[HansVision]

my sb-600 just died from a battery leak. i was using 4 energizer e2 AA size batteries which i have previously used many times on this sb-600. i had put it in the previous night to use to take some photos and when i tried to turn on my flash again today, it didnt respond. i opened the battery compartment to check and to my horror, one of the batteries had leaked. i took out the faulty batteries and tried using a fresh set of alkaline batteries. no response. NiMH rechargeable batteries also no response.

if i'm not wrong, energizer has a guarantee that states that it will replace or repair any device that was damaged by its batteries when used under normal operating conditions. will probably be going down to settle this on mon so i hope they won't give me problems by giving me all sorts of excuses. i still have the photos to prove that my flash was functioning normally yesterday.

just wanted to check if anyone has faced a similar problem before and what their experience with energizer was like. what's their definition of "normal operating conditions"? thx...

[zaxh81]

no,i use Sanyo 2100mah

[ernest_ted]

no too.. I use sanyo 2700 mah

[crazypaladin]

Originally Posted by ernest_ted no too.. I use sanyo 2700 mah

Sorry to side track a bit, but where to get Sanyo 2700 mah?

[hongjone]

Yeah. A few days ago my SB600 also died on me. A fresh set of energizers too, placed over the week end. Then apparently got some leakage, then it died. I cleaned it then try again with my rechargables also cannot start up. Then I tried with another new set of energizers for a few times, then finally it start up.. Phew. Perhaps you can try with another new set a few more times. See whether can or not. Good luck.

[xkingx]

but so far mine haven lehz?? i think when i get home i better take out liaoz.. die.. haha..

[longkangman]

after reading above I immediatelly remove all batteries from my flashes.

[xkingx]

lol.. ya lohz.. too bad outside now.. have to remove liaoz... wah.. then damn ma fan lehz.. have to put in and remove it...

[Artosoft]

Never put battery on devices for too long. Either it is alkaline or rechargeables battery.

Alkaline battery also have expire date, which is maybe can cause leakage problem.

IMHO, NiMH have better sealed than alkaline battery.

Regards,
Arto.

[HansVision]

called energizer up today and complained. they were v friendly and offered to pick up the batteries and flash unit from my place to do an investigation.

surprised me with that as i had expected to have to go down to their office myself. only problem is they said it would probably take a wk for them to find out what went wrong and get back to me.

now i feel quite lucky to have used energizer batteries instead of some cheapo brand. the money saved on cheap batteries would not have been worth it...

[HansVision]

Originally Posted by Artosoft Never put battery on devices for too long. Either it is alkaline or rechargeables battery. Alkaline battery also have expire date, which is maybe can cause leakage problem. IMHO, NiMH have better sealed than alkaline battery. Regards, Arto.

i left my battery inside for less den 24hrs. and the expiry date for mine was 2012. even the guy i called sounded surprised when i stated that. maybe my batteries were faulty somehow. just bad luck that i got them...

[ernest_ted]

Originally Posted by crazypaladin Sorry to side track a bit, but where to get Sanyo 2700 mah?

from Japan....a colleague was there for a holiday...

[xkingx]

huhz... even at 2012 also will leak huhz.. how come arh?? **** liaoz.. i scared liaoz lehz... so must remove everytime arh??

[Koelsch]

Originally Posted by longkangman after reading above I immediatelly remove all batteries from my flashes.

hahahaha lkm never fails to crack me up. "immediately remove all batteries from my FLASHES". that must have took you some time though =p.

[kelster]

actually...IMHO...its not the act of putting the batts into the flash that caused the leak lah...more likely that its the batts tat is the problem...even if u're using the flash...there's also a probability that it could be leakin as well...just that when not using...just a precaution to remove the batts...

[vbs1979]

always remove the batts after use. never put inside the flash unit.

[gcck]

Strange! Me too. Over the weekend I found a tripple A energizer e2 battery which had leaked too. Messed up my drawer! Expiry date 2010.

I suspect that this could be an almost depleted battery that I chucked in there when it couldn't turn on my MP3 player. Usually this is around 1.2v or 1.3v. My guess is that if you have depleted batteries lying around, it will leak even though expiry is still a long way to go.

Moral of the story is, check you batteries with a good battery checker and discard all batteries which are low ~1.2v or below. I have only noticed this leaking problem with weak batteries be it energizer e2, normal energizer or Duracell. New ones, not used yet, are ok, even from older batches (ie: expiry 2009)

[Artosoft]

Originally Posted by HansVision called energizer up today and complained. they were v friendly and offered to pick up the batteries and flash unit from my place to do an investigation. surprised me with that as i had expected to have to go down to their office myself. only problem is they said it would probably take a wk for them to find out what went wrong and get back to me. now i feel quite lucky to have used energizer batteries instead of some cheapo brand. the money saved on cheap batteries would not have been worth it...

Let us know the result. Whether they are willing to return you some money to buy new SB600.

Regards,
Arto.

[smtan24]

Guess I'm luck. I left my batteries in my 3600HS for months nothing happen.

[Artosoft]

Originally Posted by smtan24 Guess I'm luck. I left my batteries in my 3600HS for months nothing happen.

I think you are out of luck if the battery company really replace the device .

Regards,
Arto.