FlashWave 2 dies - is it batteries?

[WMBP]

I've been practicing with the FlashWave 2 radio triggers in the last month or two since I got them and I've been really pleased with their reliability. Had fun shooting a haunted house the other day (see attached shot, which was taken while I literally held the flash between my knees).

But just as I was wrapping up the shoot the other day, after a long run of just about 100% reliability, the FlashWave system pooped out on me and stopped working. For a short while, I'd take the photo and the flash wouldn't go off; then it would go off next time. Then it would go off about 5 seconds after I took the picture.

I guess it's the batteries. Could it be anything else? How many photos can you hope to get with these triggers? I haven't changed the batteries since I got the triggers many weeks ago but then I haven't used the triggers that much, either.

Do you just take spare batteries for the radio triggers to an event, just like taking spares for the flashes and the cameras?

Will

[vizjerei]

How about your flash batteries? It sounds like the flash is not getting enough power from the AA after the long run

[WMBP]

Originally Posted by vizjerei

How about your flash batteries? It sounds like the flash is not getting enough power from the AA after the long run

Thanks for the thought. I did replace the batteries in the Metz, that was my first thought.

Yesterday I played around with all of this a bit more and discovered something weird. I could trigger the flash unit by pressing the test button on the FlashWave2 transmitter (in the camera's hot shoe). Pressing that button reliably caused the flash attached to a FlashWave2 receiver to fire. But clicking the camera's shutter was NOT having the same effect. To be honest, I can't make sense of that at all.

I replaced the AA batteries in the FW2 receiver. I have just played around a little more with the system and everything seems to be working reliably again. So at the moment I'm going to guess that there were weak batteries somewhere - perhaps inside the receiver. I'm very good about carrying extra batteries to a shoot and will start carrying even more, knowing that I might be replacing batteries in the receivers as well as the flash units themselves. I'll also get a couple new spares for the transmitter. That's an odd battery, though. A23S 12V. Never seen one like it.

Still not sure why the test button would trigger the flash when the camera's shutter would not. Made me think there must be a connection problem between the camera and the transmitter. But maybe not. Of course I tried taking the transmitter out of the hot shoe, then putting it back in and tightening the connection. Made no difference.

So I guess it was batteries.

*

Last question. Can anybody give me an idea how many shots the batteries in the transmitter and/or the receivers should be good for? I can easily take 100 shots doing wedding formals, and if I start using these units at wedding receptions, well, that could be quite a few more shots - hundreds.

Will

P.S. Note to anybody lurking here: The testing and practicing I've been doing is what I always do with something new like this and I recommend it to others. I don't get new stuff like this and then count on using it at my next paid shoot. It seems like a good idea to become thoroughly comfortable with new gear before relying upon it in a "combat situation".