Thanks for a more technical and thorough explanation.
-----Original Message-----
From: William Sommerwerck <williams@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sunday, January 07, 2001 4:03 AM
Subject: [OM] Will high-capacity batteries harm my flash?
>Although the question about the use of NiMH cells in flashes designed for
NiCd
>cells shows the normal confusion about how electrical devices work (the
battery
>simply supplies current -- it doesn't "force" it into the device), the
>surprising answer is that rechargeable batteries >>can<< harm some flashes.
>
>Alkaline cells have a higher internal resistance than NiCd or NiMH cells.
Some
>flashes (mostly cheaper units) are designed to use this resistance to limit
>current flow to the oscillator. If NiCd or NiMH cells were used, more
current
>would flow and the flash might overheat to the point of damage.
>
>I know of no "quality" flash with this problem. My experience is that NiMH
>cells have a significantly shorter recharge time than NiCds. I emphatically
>recommend them.
>
>Oh, yes... The F280's "cutoff" voltage is too close to 5V to work well with
>NiCd cells. If you get ten flashes out of a charge, you're lucky. (I
haven't
>tried it with NiMH cells, but I assume you'd have a similar problem.)
>
>Coming up... a definitive answer to the f/2 question.
>
>
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