Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

We did suggest to continuously charge the Vagabond when not in use. However, we have recently found it to be better to fully charge the VII and store it unplugged (including unplugging the charge cord from the inverter). If not used (and therefore not charged) for about a month or so, top the charge off. If unused for longer periods of time, put a load on the Vagabond to drain the battery somewhat, then fully charge again. Rinse and repeat as needed. 8-) This is reflected in new manuals. If you have been charging constantly, it is doubtful any damage has been done to the battery.

Thanks

Leaving Vagabond plugged in all the time is fine, but with one caveat: The circuitry in all high power inverters and chargers is capable of very high current. If a fault should develop and the unit is left unattended in a non fire safe environment it's not impossible for it to overheat and become a potential fire hazard.

I recommend recharging overnight immediately after each use, and once per month if it's not being used. Safest procedure would be to charge in fire safe location . . . not sitting up against curtains or other flammable materials. This would apply to any similar electronic equipment.

There are a lot of things in this post that should be in a faq.

I think the beauty of a forum like this is that it is a FAQ in progress. It's happening in real time, and we have to pay attention for twists and turns along the way, but it is as dynamic as it can possibly be. Most importantly, everyone with a question, an answer, or a "what if" side thought has the attention of everyone else who has a sincere enough interest in the general subject to read these pages.

Unlike a typical FAQ written in PDF format, and posted years too late to matter anyway, we have a group of folks here who use this stuff, dream about it, push it, pull it, abuse it, maybe even use it to keep their dogs in line, and do so every day, year in, and year out.


No FAQ could compete with the broad level of product specific talent on tap here, and no person responsible for keeping a published FAQ both detailed in content, and reasonably up to date could ever stand a chance to succeed against the dynamic backdrop of this forum. It simply isn't going to happen.

It takes a bit more effort to search for answers, and to follow a narrow topic to satisfaction in a forum like this, but the reward for being a bit patient, and offering your own pearls to the resulting discussion along the way is that you are more likely to have your exact question answered here than in a posted FAQ. You are more likely to help answer the question of another forum member here than if you just passively read a FAQ anywhere. Even more important, you are far more likely to understand what used to be a mystery by participating in a forum like this, than by just accepting the answers offered in a FAQ as a matter of faith.

This is the place. Everywhere else is just the Cliff Notes version....

Voyager

Adding this to the FAQ is a good idea. I will take a closer look at it.

For what it's worth, I ordered my Vagabond II on 3/11/10 and received it on 3/19/10. My Vagabond II came with the old instructions that say to leave it charged in at all times when not in use. There is no mention of charging it fully, unplugging it, and then charging it once a month.

Thanks for noting that, I will look into it.

Not really. It is extremely important not to allow the battery to sit for any length of time in a partially discharged state. I'm talking as little as overnight. When you get home late at night from a shoot, do not wait until morning to plug it it--do it before you go to bed that night. A few hours sitting at low charge can knock a year off the total battery life--if the battery is at very low charge, it could become a paperweight by morning.

After it has been fully recharged, then you can allow it to sit off the charger for a week or three. Presuming you're using a smart trickle charger, the precaution of connecting it only often enough to maintain the charge is not for the sake of the battery, but just a general principle of electrical safety.

I appologize, it does still state in the manual you can leave it plugged in. However, as RDKirk stated, plugging it in often enough to keep it charged is a general principle of electrical safety.