DIY power supply for Sunpak 622

<p>I have 9-Sunpak 622s that run off of 4 "C" cell batteries each. I use them in place of a studio strobe set up.<br>

The one draw back is changing the batteries. The little button that releases the battery packs are difficult to use and a pain in the butt to take on and off, not to mention taking the batteries out and then charging them. Further I can get only about 220 maximum flashes off of a charge, running at full power.<br>

There has to be a better DIY way to do this. I am not an electrician, but I would think that an 18v power supply for an electric drill would work much better, get on and off easier, and provide more flashes per charge. <br>

Am I right? Would it be simple to do? Would it be cost effective? How would I go about doing it.<br>

Here is my plan: Instead of the batteries in the battery packs, a wood block (or plastic) that would make the connections; wires leading out to a "modification device to regulate the current"; then a wire to the 18v drill power supply (or other low cost power source). This would hang on the light stands for each 622. This way, all I have to do is take the 18v batteries out of the connections, take them over to the charging unit, and put them back after. What do ya think? Do able?</p>

<p>I use original Sunpak Dual Voltage AC Adapter. It is a low power device and charging takes longer than I would hope (0.25 - 30 sec.), but no need for the 4 C batteries. According to the manual it looks like it was "supplied" with the flash, but I cannot be sure, it is so old... and I was purchasing additional power supplies as well, at the time when Sunpak handle mount flashes were produced.</p>

<p>You must be joking saying: "<strong><em> </em></strong><em>I would think that an 18v power supply for an electric drill would work much better</em>".<br>

<strong> </strong><br>

You need either low voltage power adapter, that supplies about 6 VDC with considerable current drain capability to be used instead on the 4 C batteries, or the 510 VDC high voltage power pack that accepts Eveready #497 battery.</p>

<p>If you could find a motorcycle acid sealed 6VDC battery, and an automotive charger, then you will need to invent connecting cables. Designing a high voltage power supply would require some knowledge, that you should not undertake yourself. </p>

<p>In the USA = Radio Shack,<br /> In Europe = Conrad<br /> In some other countries = Tandy<br /> And there are other electronics stores that sell parts.</p>

<p>What I would do is to buy a transformer with a 6volt output and enough power (watt/amps) to power up these 9 sunpacks. Use a high current bridge rectifer and that might do it. Perhaps you need stabelised power then I guess get a few circuits with capacitors and voltage req. and one for ech sunpack, or if they can handle the current you can use 2 or 3 sunpacks on circuit.<br /> Here is a sample of a Velleman kit:<br /> <a href="http://www.vellemanusa.com/products/view/?id=350481">http://www.vellemanusa.com/products/view/?id=350481</a><br /> It's not to complicated to build this kit, if you know a friend in electronics than you can make one without a kit just buy the parts.<br /> What ever you do, don't exceed 6 volts. And make sure its dc, not ac.<br>

Now I asume you use this in a studio, not outside?<br>

Before you start investing a DIY rig, you might look into buying used gear, before you know it you be spending more money on something to make this work. That money could be spent on a "real" strobe.</p>

<p>Buy some of these 6V 12AH gel cells and use instead of your drill batteries. If you are using 4 C size 1800MAH Nicad or 2200MaH NiMH cells, these will give you approx six times as many shots.</p>

<p>http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/GC-610/6-VOLT-12-AH-LEAD-ACID-BATTERY/1.html</p>

<p>You will need a few 6 volt 2 amp chargers as well. They aren't lightweight, but they will do the job. Also there are a few larger capacity ones available at a higher price.</p>

 

<p>This seems like a workable solution. Do I need anything between the battery and each unit or can the cord go directly? $20/battery and $40/ Sorrell Charger. Am I on the right track?</p>

<p>Cord is direct, not much else needed. The batteries have 3/16 or 1/4" spade connectors, so you need crimp on ends on a piece of 14 gauge lamp cord for a cable. A couple of wood blocks to fit in the battery holder with two wood screws in the right place to act as contacts and wire end clamps.</p>

<p>Manual is here if you don't have one. http://www.butkus.org/chinon/flashes_meters.htm</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thank you Bob! Do you have a recommendation for a Battery charger? I found a Soneil, Xciter, Black and Decker, Schumacher. How long to recharge a battery? Also will this battery give me a shorter recycle time between shots? Say between 1 and 3 seconds?</p>

<p>A safe charging rate is approx 10% of the amp hour rating. So a 1 amp rate for a 12 AH battery, a 12 AH battery is charged for 12 hours at 1 amp, or 6 hours at 2 amp. Faster charging rates overheat gel cel or other lead/acid batteries.</p>

<p>Recharging rate of the flash is determined by the electronics in the flash. You will get the fastest possible recharge time tho. The only other way is a 510 volt battery pack that bypasses the internal charging circuits and connects directly to the main capacitor. Even those are limited in how fast they can recharge the flash. I don't think the old style 510 volt dry cell batteries are available anymore. BTW, the manual I linked to describes the external packs and their recharge rates.</p>

<p>Any 2 amp 6 volt charger will work. There isn't much to a simple charger, a couple of diodes and a transformer. Also in a pinch a 12 volt one will work, just recharge two batteries at a time in series. Both batteries would have to be in the same state of discharge for that to work properly.</p>

<p>Buy yourself a small digital volt meter, a 6 volt gel cell would read 6.6 volts when fully charged. That is after a 6 hour rest after being removed from the charger.</p>

 

<p>Thanks Bob! Currently with the rechargeable batteries (6000) the recycle rate is 3 to 5 seconds at full. Over the time of the shoot it drops to 5 to 8 seconds and then down to 10 to 12 seconds. I am assuming that this is due to draining of the battery charge. So what I think I am asking is that with this larger battery will the rate atleast stay at 3 to 5 (hopefully shorter maybe)?<br>

I have the instructions and a recharge unit for the two handles with their enclosed batteries. It is shorter than the replacing C Cell batteries. <br>

BTW these 622s cost me around $750 total. For that I get to shoot at f/10~f/13 with these units as follows: 3 into a 48inch silver reflective umbrella w/ sheer drapery material as a diffuser in front as the main light; 2 into a 60in white umbrella with sheer drapery diffuser in front for a fill light; 1 as a hair light in a small soft dome; 1 as a kicker in a small dome; 1 in an over head boom as a top light into a snap on dome diffuser; and 1 in a 20x30 soft box as a floor light below the camera position when needed. That is a standard set up, but can be easily changed to any light arrangement I choose for the shoot. The lighting I get with this set up is smooth wrap-around in front and can be shadowless or, with removal of the rear hair light or kickers softdome into a front backlight with strong shadow cast forward.<br>

I am handicapped for balance so making as few lighting changes as possible is what I am after.</p>

<p>It will stay in the 3-5 sec range for much longer. The time increases you see now is due to the draining of the batteries. 3 sec is the min recycle time in the manual, it might go slightly lower, maybe 2.5 sec for a full recharge, only one way to find out.</p>

<p>If you really want high capacity, you could connect two 6v gel cells in parallel on each flash head.</p>

<p>The factory nicad packs you have use 4 1800 MAH or 1.8 AH cells, so you have a 4.8 volt 1.8AH battery pack when fully charged and relatively new cells. As the nicads age, their capacity drops. The higher voltage 6.6V and higher current capacity 12AH of the gel cell is what you need to keep your recharge times low.</p>

<p>I have one of these flashes too, and several heads for it, inc the ring light.</p>

 

<p>I use 622's occasionally and use 5000mah nicads. These work really well and are convenient, but you would still encounter needing to change these during prolonged use.<br>

There have been some interesting 7.2v conversions of 622's using RC powerpacks which seem to work OK..:<br>

<a href="

<a href="

<p>Alternatively.. you might chose to add one of these to your 622's:<br>

<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/52856-REG/Sunpak_1168_CV_1_Conversion_Plug_for.html">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/52856-REG/Sunpak_1168_CV_1_Conversion_Plug_for.html</a><br>

Which will then provide you with an easy plug-in interface to your 622 power socket. After that, whatever battery you put on the end of it would be up to you.<br>

There are adapters similar to the above with cables which allow Quantum batteries to be used. I've used adaptions of these to use the Quantum Battery2 (9v) with the Sunpak 622. This works OK, but 9v might be pushing my luck as there is the faint odor of heated circuitboards with 9v even though they have never shown signs of failing. I think Quantum make 6v solutions which might be worth looking into too.<br>

<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/43267-REG/Quantum_Instruments_CS6_CS6_Cable_for_Sunpak.html">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/43267-REG/Quantum_Instruments_CS6_CS6_Cable_for_Sunpak.html</a></p>

<p>RC batteries are pretty common and you should be able to purchase a full 7.2v battery and charger solution for low cost and just use a plug adapter into the 622.</p>

<p>The Sunpak search page at BHP offers some other possible solutions:<br>

<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=sunpak+622&N=0&InitialSearch=yes">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=sunpak+622&N=0&InitialSearch=yes</a></p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>The only other way is a 510 volt battery pack that bypasses the internal charging circuits and connects directly to the main capacitor.</p>

</blockquote>

<p><br />You will want a resistor in there so the power supply charges the main capacitor via the resistor. When the gas in the flash tube is ionised, it will draw current from the capacitor until it is dis-charged.</p>

<p>It is kinder to the power supply if there is a current limiting resistor in place. </p>

<p>Didn't realize those connectors were still available, I have one sitting in the drawer. <br>

The 7.2V RC batteries look like a good idea, I've never played with newer RC stuff, but I had a 6V gel cell sitting around and have used it once in a while. I was thinking about making a holder to fit five AA Eneloops in the C cell holder, but haven't bothered yet as four cells and the Sanyo sleeves work ok.<br>

The internal charging circuit has a decent sized heat sink in the flash head which helps it survive the fast recycle times, but . . . . . . . . .<br>

Steve, I was referring to the two factory 510V packs, one uses rechargeables and the other the older and I think unavailable 510 volt dry cell battery.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Steve, I was referring to the two factory 510V packs</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I understand now. Something which exists already rather than something to be made.</p>

<p>Rather than create an alternative power pack solution, you might find it more convenient to try the 5000mah NiCad option. The original Sunpak Nicads were 1800mah, so the modern day battery improvement might suit you better.</p>

<p>Thanks one and all for your input and suggestions. I think that I will investigate the gel cells as they seem to be the easiest and quickest way to achieve what I want. Thanks again.</p>

 

<p>OK- I have purchased one 6v12ah battery and one universal charger, $30 for both. If this works out for 8 sunpak 622s the total costs should be $30 x 4 and $19 x4 = $195. If this will give me consistent 3-5 second recycle times, you guys gave given me the cheap, fast, easy, and reliable solution to my problem. I'm going to say thanks ahead of time.<br>

Richard</p>

<p>Don't burn out the flash when testing it. :)</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks Bob! It is a success. Got the battery and the charger, charged up the battery for 24 hours, let it rest for about 12 hours. Made the "fake wood" batteries, attached wires with spade connectors, fired it up.<br>

Wow! I don't know how many extra shots I can take, but the RECYCLING TIME was down to 2 seconds for 10 consecutive FULL POWER bursts. Counted as one thousand, two thousand, and the full power light came on right at that time. Super happy.<br>

The hardeest part of the construction was the fake batteries. I bout too large a diameter clostet poll and had to shave it down. It is easier to use something too small and then add some tape that shave off wood! Live and learn.<br>

Thanks again to everyone who participated in this discussion!<br>

Richard, the Rad Rascal</p>

<p>Thought you would be happy, I didn't want to give optimum times due to differences in gel cells internal resistances which limits the max current output.<br>

I did hint at it in my last post, and that caution applies when using it in real life too. :)</p>

<p>I don't remember where I heard it but if I charge the battery for 24 hours I have to let it rest for 6 hours, why? The charger I bought was a plug into the wall, no lights, it does switch between 6v and 12v, but that is it. Would a different charger tell me when the battery is fully charged? Do I always have to charge for 24 hours? What I do now is charge the "C" cells, 6000 over night and the next day and are usually fully charged in 24 hours, 4 chargers and 8 sets of 4 cells, one additional is the internal battery type and I have two of those so everything is done in 24 hours so I am ready to shoot every other day. Any recommendations?</p>

<p>That is to allow the surface charge to dissipate. Fully charged, the battery would be at 6.6 volts, It will measure just over 7 volts when finished charging. this is normal for lead acid batteries. Buy yourself a $10 digital voltmeter, that way you can monitor the charge voltage or current and see what the voltage is before you charge it up. A quick google on charging lead acid batteries will find lots of info, just remember the voltages for a 6 volt cell will be exactly half that shown in table for 12 volt batteries. I'll see if can find the graph, done. :)</p>

<p>Good info on these pages<br>

http://www.powerstream.com/SLA.htm<br>

http://www.evdl.org/pages/hartcharge.html<br>

Here is the nice graph on this page, just divide the voltage scale by 2.<br>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93acid_battery</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thank you Bob Sunly! I have set up all nine Sunpak 622s and Friday was my first shoot with them all hooked up to their own 6v12ah batteries. Worked like a charm, great recycle times and consistency. I am not recharging them, as I want to see if they last from shoot to shoot. I have disconnected them from the battery and shut them off. I have a volt meter now and was wondering if you could tell me at what volt reading I should recharge and possibly for how long?<br>

Once again thanks for everything.<br>

Richard</p>

<p>There is a chart near the bottom of this page that shows state of charge and voltage</p>

<p>http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks again Bob Sunley for all your help. I have good news, so so news, and some bad news. First the good, I have 13 6v12amh batteries, I use 8 at a time and hold 5 in reserve which means that while I am using the 8, 5 are already charged so only 4 more need recharging which will take 24 hours plus a 6 hour rest. Recycle times on full power are about 2 sec. (shooting at ISO 100). Very happy.<br>

So so news is that the 6v12amH last about 170 pics before recycle times become excessive. About the same as the 4 heavy duty rechargeable C cells I was using. So I bought battery holders for the C cells and now they are interchangeable with the 6v so that My shooting goes out to about 320 pics. Still the same turnaround time. Great.<br>

Bad new: My assistant plugged one of the C cell packs into the 6v battery directly (probably reverse polarity to boot). Lots of smoke melted part of the C cell holder. That 6v now seems to be at 4.8 volts. Did she fry both batteries? Salvageable?<br>

Now another question. I have set up a separate light tunnel framework with a 5' octodome on top, two 4'x6' softboxes on each side. The top octodome has 1 Nikon SB-600 and each of the softboxes has 2 SB-600s. To recharge batteries I have to take apart the framework and bring down the octodome. A pain in the butt. Can I rig up a holder for 4xAA batteries and connect with wires to supply the juice to that one only? Cam I put 8xAAs together for it?<br>

Thanks</p>