Comer LBPS 1800 problem

[Lee Haggarty]

Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone had ever experienced the same problem as me with a Comer LBPS 1800?

The problem is that the dimmer does not seem to be working and the unit discharges a fully charged battery in seconds. It works fine on an external power supply but the dimmer still doesn't work. I have two of these units so am able to compare etc. The flattened batteries wont work in the other light once flat. I know the batteries are ok as they work fine in the good unit.

Both my units are just out of warranty and have seen very little use.

Any feedback appreciated.

Thanks,

Lee.

[John Nantz]

Lee - that sounds like a real problem. My first thought is, what battery manufacturer are you using? For example, Sony, Cannon, etc.? This probably doesn't make any difference but I've got Sony in mine and so far, after about a month and using the light about a dozen times all I can say is so far, so good.

Oh, one thing to note: the instructions say to turn the light on with the power on the LOW setting. I also turn mine off at the low setting even though there is no direction to say so.

My next thought is, are the batteries OEM products or aftermarket? If they're aftermarket there is no telling what they like. I've got some really bad ones for my cell phones so I'm really leery about aftermarket.

The other thing is the OEM batteries are typically "smart" batteries (don't know if those are or not), and have a memory about the number of cycles, etc. Maybe their "brain" got fried?

Anyway, that's a bummer and hopefully someone here can help more. In the mean time I'm going to keep an eye on mine but power down before turning ON or OFF.

Edit comment:
A possible resource is LA Color at http://lacolorOnline.com/product/?CM...-(Sony-Battery)
The bottom part of this web page has a lot of questions and comments and there may be something there that can help.

Oh, and last but not least, Welcome Aboard and come back to visit often.

[Lee Haggarty]

Thanks John.

The batteries are NP-F970 compatable aftermarket type. I have two identicle that I bought at the same time.

The fact they both work fine with one of my comers would suggest they are ok? They have seen very little use. I'm wondering if the dimmer problem is causing some sort of short or electrical problem thus draining all life from the batteries.

The lights are great though and work really well when working! Lol.

I'll check out the info on the lacolour page.

Thanks.

Lee

[John Nantz]

It really puzzles me how the battery life could be totally drained in a matter of seconds. Which ever type is used (Panasonic, Sony, Canon) they pack quite a bit of power compared to, say, AAs, and all that power has to go somewhere.

On another note, in the equipment for sale section a couple weeks ago there were two people selling their Comers and one guy had like, 8 or 10 of them. Just thought I'd throw this in for what it's worth.

Used mine today for a bit and still no problem (knock on wood).

[Bob Grant]

Originally Posted by Lee Haggarty

I'm wondering if the dimmer problem is causing some sort of short or electrical problem thus draining all life from the batteries.

Lee

I suspect the batteries are not being drained as such. There's a lot of energy stored in those batteries and for it all to be drained at once smoke and fire would likely be involved.
What those batteries do have is over current protection inside them. I suspect something in the faulty light is causing that to trigger. The only way to reset the over current circuit in the battery is to put them on a charger.
One fo the most common causes of failures in a very wide range of electronics is failed electrolytic capacitors and they fail with age. If your light can be easily opened a competant tech might be able to easily find the problem.

[Lee Haggarty]

Thanks for the replys guys.

Laky at La Colour said they could send me a replacement rear section with the PCB etc for $99 but I may run it by my electronics guru first incase it is something simple.

I'll keep you posted!