A tip for AF360FGZ users

[mannesty]

You've probably heard of, and may even have experienced, the problem of broken battery door latches on the AF360FGZ flash. Whilst Pentax won't admit it, this is probably the worst door latch design they've ever produced. great flash, shame about the battery door.

As the lugs are on the flash body rather than the door itself, this will be an expensive repair job. I can't help with the repair of already damaged flashes but I can help avoid the problem.

I'm sure most of us use rechargeable batteries for our kit rather than the 'use once and throw away' type. I came across Sanyo's Eneloop batteries some time ago and whilst they don't yet have the power capacity of currently available NiMh cells, I find they last just as long as 2500mah NiMh cells. They also have a very low self-discharge rate and are said to retain up to 80% charge after a one year period of non-use.

Their main benefit to AF360FGZ users however is that they are very slightly shorter in total length than most NiMh cells and therefore they don't place as much strain on the battery door lugs when the door is closed. If you switch to these cells, you'll not have to change them as frequently for charging and you'll be able to close the battery door more easily thus minimising the chance of damaging the lugs in the first place.

[calsan]

Good tip.  Thanks for this.

[Mike Pearson]

Peter,

Many thanks for the information.

My AF360 has had the battery door replaced once and I switched to Sony rechargeables which seem a tad shorter - I will have to investigate Eneloop's. My AF540 has a much better battery door.

Mike

[mannesty]

Mike,

I agree the AF540 battery door is of a much more robust design. I find the biggest benefit of Sanyo Eneloop batteries, apart from their slightly smaller size, is the fact that you can charge them and they stay charged. You can put them in just about any gear and not use it for a month and still rely on the batteries. Many NiMh batteries I've used, with very few exceptions, self discharge in a very short time.

Regards,

[TropicalFocus]

Hi -

I wish I read this before I ordered a battery replacement cover.  The cover does pop open on me, even when duck taped well.  So I ordered its replacement.  Even though it probably doesn't need it could someone explain how to replace it.  It's not obvious how to do without breaking something.

Since Pentax parts has everything available to fix this flash it probably would be worth finding out how to replace the part the battery cover hooks in to.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best wishes,

Bob

[calsan]

It's possible that cells are a slightly different length in Japan because of the difference between metric and imperial.  I measured an eneloop as 50mm which equals 1.97 inches, so I'd bet that they actually make AA cells 2 inches long in the US which is 50.8mm.  Hence the cells made 2 inches long don't fit the Japanese flash unit.

Even still, that doesn't explain why the door doesn't stay shut, just why it might break if forced to fit 2 inch cells...

[Mike Pearson]

When Pentax Canada repaired my AF360 they had to replace a complete portion of the flash casing as well as the battery door. In my case it was the two plastic pins inside the back cover, that lock the actual cover, that had worn down. My unit was out of warranty and Pentax agreed to charge for the parts and only half the labour.

Not sure how easy this would be to replace at home. 

Best of luck.

Mike

[mannesty]

The only battery door I've ever changed was on an AF280T flash, which was simple enough. But as Mike says, it's the lugs on the flash body which break or wear and replacing only the door might not fix the problem.

[spyglass]

I had to fix my 360 flash due to the door issue. I cut thin small piece of sheet metal, heated it til near red hot, and inserted it into the plastic (like a hot knife into butter). The little metal tab quickly cooled in place and has been rock sold and functional. It is a fairly easy repair. When the original tab breaks off it leaves a line or mark (a slight ridge). This indicates how long the new tab needs to be and its exact position (which is on a bit of an angle). You could also use a soldering iron to heat and push the tab into place. A small wire can assist in holding the tab. Practice on another plastic object like a kids broken toy first to get a feel for this type of repair if you have not attempted this before.

The door design is incredibly poor. There was no reason to make such a delicate or flimsy design. I wish they would have used a turn latch like the one found on the battery door of the K20D

Spyglass

[blackcloudbrew]

Could you provide a picture of your repair? It's hard to visualize what you did.

Thanks.

Tim

[spyglass]

Hi Tim,

I will take a picture of it tonight and post it here.


Spyglass