[runintotherain]

Hi everyone,

I'm a 4yr Pentax user now and my buddies are Pentax users too. They asked me to figure out why their K100 battery was draining - I think I know the issue; the flash blinks as if charging even when it's not popped up. Anyone know why? When I pop it up, it still never stops blinking and wont fire as if it's not charging or the bulb is burnt out.

Doesn't anyone know if a bulb burns out, does the camera malfunction in this way, that it always thinks the flash is popped up and constantly tries to charge it?

Any hints may be helpful.

[OregonJim]

The flash tube (bulb) doesn't matter. What gets charged is a capacitor. What tells the camera if the flash is up or down is a microswitch underneath the hinge of the flash.

Note that the flash symbol will blink if the shutter speed is slow. It is not trying to charge the flash at this point - it is just suggesting that you might want to use flash under the current lighting conditions.

If you pop the flash up, the flash symbol should disappear. NOW it's charging the flash. Once the flash is charged, the flash symbol will come on solid, meaning it's charged and ready.

Since you say it continues to blink even when popped up, it sounds like the microswitch under the flash hinge is broken.