This is not a HV pack. HV stands for HIGH VOLTAGE! This is just ordinary 6V, only difference is that the amperage is slightly higher for SLAs and that you have a higher capacity. With a real HV pack you can load fully after 1/1 in less than 2 secs.
@comatosed Hello, I made one myself based on the TL494 chip and a transformer coil from an old ATX-psu, I also used some power mosfets. I feed it with a 12 V sla and get about 360 V out of it, I feed the caps in the flash directly and get a recycle time of about 5 secs on 1/1, but I have added two more caps to the flash and replaced the tube with a norman style bulb so I'm somewhere around 300 W-s.
Lumedyne, quantum and some chinese brands do powerpacks if you don't have the skills to DIY one.
@kungamord, the HV in the title is the part of the model of the flash unit ... 285HV.
You can easily increase charging rate by getting the same battery unit and run them in parallel to give out more amps. we do that all the time, make it 3 parallel 6v, and see quickly the flash charge up. I even use that pack attached to 3 flash head units, just use thicker wires of couse. its all about common sense.
@h2oreactor Discharge discrepancies or not - the purpose of this video was to illustrate the difference between common AA rechargeables and the given 6v battery pack. It clearly shows that the battery pack resulted in faster recycling times.
my apology for previous post, i what another video similar to this one by a seller claiming that their ext. power can fire fast. You can do like this guy with much lower cost
it's misleading completely. You can fire with even 3 but it's not a full power firing! (at least can't verify here). I can just buy a portable acid led batt from Lowes and other local stores and do it!
@phatbieu I'm not implying that it is faster because it is external, I'm saying a 6v lead acid battery (internal or external) results in faster recycling times.
This is an excellent video which gets to the point. I used 285's for years. Could I suggest adding a second test where you reverse the power sources to eliminate any suspicion that one flash might have been less powerful to begin with? We need more videos like this one.
I just got some questions. Isn't the 4 AA rechargeable batteries totals to 4.8 volts (1.2 volts each cells) compared to the 6 volt cell you connected as external battery pack? Doesn't it cause the flash unit circuitry to heat up than normal? How about using an old 7.2 Ni-Mh battery pack from an old Sony videocam? - Would it cause overvoltage damage to the this Vivitar flash?
This is not a HV pack. HV stands for HIGH VOLTAGE! This is just ordinary 6V, only difference is that the amperage is slightly higher for SLAs and that you have a higher capacity. With a real HV pack you can load fully after 1/1 in less than 2 secs.
kungamord 3 months ago
@kungamord That's good to know. So how do you go about getting an HV pack? How may volts/amps would it be?
comatosed 3 months ago
@comatosed Hello, I made one myself based on the TL494 chip and a transformer coil from an old ATX-psu, I also used some power mosfets. I feed it with a 12 V sla and get about 360 V out of it, I feed the caps in the flash directly and get a recycle time of about 5 secs on 1/1, but I have added two more caps to the flash and replaced the tube with a norman style bulb so I'm somewhere around 300 W-s.
Lumedyne, quantum and some chinese brands do powerpacks if you don't have the skills to DIY one.
kungamord 3 months ago
@comatosed google armatar flash if you wanna see what kind of mods I'm talking about.
kungamord 3 months ago
@kungamord, the HV in the title is the part of the model of the flash unit ... 285HV.
You can easily increase charging rate by getting the same battery unit and run them in parallel to give out more amps. we do that all the time, make it 3 parallel 6v, and see quickly the flash charge up. I even use that pack attached to 3 flash head units, just use thicker wires of couse. its all about common sense.
h2oreactor 3 months ago
This is misleading, it all depends on the Discharge Rate of a Battery. It does't mean that if its external, it will be better.
h2oreactor 5 months ago
@h2oreactor Discharge discrepancies or not - the purpose of this video was to illustrate the difference between common AA rechargeables and the given 6v battery pack. It clearly shows that the battery pack resulted in faster recycling times.
comatosed 3 months ago
my apology for previous post, i what another video similar to this one by a seller claiming that their ext. power can fire fast. You can do like this guy with much lower cost
phatbieu 11 months ago
@phatbieu No problem, thanks for clearing that up. Cheers, G
comatosed 11 months ago
it's misleading completely. You can fire with even 3 but it's not a full power firing! (at least can't verify here). I can just buy a portable acid led batt from Lowes and other local stores and do it!
phatbieu 11 months ago
@phatbieu I'm not implying that it is faster because it is external, I'm saying a 6v lead acid battery (internal or external) results in faster recycling times.
comatosed 3 months ago
This is an excellent video which gets to the point. I used 285's for years. Could I suggest adding a second test where you reverse the power sources to eliminate any suspicion that one flash might have been less powerful to begin with? We need more videos like this one.
EdVidz 1 year ago
I just got some questions. Isn't the 4 AA rechargeable batteries totals to 4.8 volts (1.2 volts each cells) compared to the 6 volt cell you connected as external battery pack? Doesn't it cause the flash unit circuitry to heat up than normal? How about using an old 7.2 Ni-Mh battery pack from an old Sony videocam? - Would it cause overvoltage damage to the this Vivitar flash?
mannydeguzmanjartist 1 year ago
Very cool. Thank you for this.
spacefaget 1 year ago
What size gauge wire did you use?
lfcrule2 2 years ago
...very nice...may i ask where you purchased your vivs?
lutzroderick 2 years ago
@pedraopy: I charge it with a car charger. I'd say it lasts 6x longer than standard alkalines
@m4gunner25: Look up at the top right of this page, under more info. I can't seem to post it in the comments.
comatosed 2 years ago
Very interesting... now, how do you recharge the external battery pack? Does it long much better?
pedraopy 3 years ago
Hi there!
Cool video. I took a look at your blog, but was unable to find the DIY for the battery pack. can you point me in the right direction?
m4gunner25 3 years ago