430 EX behaving badly

I have not used my 430 EX in a very long time and I did not remove the batteries

from it before storing ('abandoned' in the bag actually).

Tonight I have to use the 430 EX so I pulled it out of the bag to check the

batteries and refamiliarize myself with its operation.

With the Speedlite off of the body: I turned the power on the 430 EX started

trying to zoom in-&-out rapidly and the LCD was flashing on-&-off... this went

on for several seconds before stopping.

Any ideas on why this happened?

tia

Behaving badly? Have you tried spanking? :-)

Just kidding. Did it behave better afterwards? Did you try other batteries? Was there any corrosion in the battery chamber?

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

Alkaline AA batteries are notorious for leaking a invisible film of chemical residue if left for a

number of months. I've had to clean the contacts in my Speedlites many a time due to this

problem. I've found AA lithiums are far better to leave for long periods unattended than

alkalines.

Thanks Yakim & Puppy.

In the future I will try to remember to remove the batteries from my gear if I am not going to be using it for a while.

The shoot was pushed back one week until tonight. During the extra time I had a close look inside the battery compartment and it was clean... Although I did have a new Dixon HB pencil, with its fresh eraser, on standby if the new batteries did not inspire the 430 EX to perform properly.

As I rarely use flash I skipped the $$ lithiums and picked up some Duracell Ultra Digital batteries: they made the 430 EX behave - No spanking needed!

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