Bowens 1st Gen travelpak major issues

H

honeybuzzard

Suspended / Banned
Messages
3
Name
Richard
Edit My Images
Yes
Right, here it guys. I am at boiling point right now and I have my first location shoot tomorrow, I have not previously used this equiptment and its driving me mental. I have the 1st gen travelpak and two 500 Gemini heads. When plugged in to charge, the wall adapter goes red then green after about twenty seconds. When I turn on the unit, 3 lights show as fully charged, as they should. As soon as I remove the wall power the unit drops power down to single red light, which is ridiculous since the wall adapter is telling me its charged. When I plug in the 2 heads, they get no power at all from the unit and do not charge even to pop the flash. The lights flicker between one red and red and amber, mess about a bit, then drop down to one red light again. Banging my head against the wall.
Nobody has given me a straight answer whether or not the pack should be charged on or off.
Please do not refer me to the first or 2nd gen travelpak .pdf manuals as I have already looked through them meticulously and they offer little help.

Something I read on the internet mentioned that you should not turn the switch on the heads from battery to mains when plugged into the unit. Is this true? I accidentally switched one of the flashes to this mode...could that be causing lack of power in the travelpak? (I didn't CONNECT the flash unit to the mains, only switched the power switch from two II to I.)

Suggestions, please. Before it goes out the window.

Thanks, Rich
 
Mmmmm Not sure how long you have had the pack on charge but they take a good 24hrs if discharged. If they have been on charge for a long period of time and the charge level apparently drops when you disconnect, it could mean that the battery is knackered and not holding charge. With a healthy battery it will have a voltage rate of say 13.5 volts when discharged it drop by up to 2 volts. A knackered battery's voltage will not reach this higher voltage even when fully charged.
Secondly when you attach a load ie 2 x 500ws the voltage will drop, amperage increases to a point that the battery cannot provide and output is insufficient to work it. Try it with a smaller unit and see if it will work that.
Sorry I can't offer any more help!

Dunc
 
Thanks for info. Maybe charging is the issue, people have been saying oh yeah it only needs 6 hours if discharged. So thanks!
The question is, do I charge the unit switched off or on?
 
Decided to charge overnight, with the unit off, even though the charger shows trickling green light, going to charge it anyway.
Any other comments or help would be greatly appreciated in this time of need!
 
I think you have chosen the right option! Good luck anyway but 2 x 500 is a hell of a load! Try and use one light as a fill, get it up close and personal so you can reduce the power as much as possible!

Let us know how you got on.

Dunc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top