Switching on flashes for long disuse?

[New Daddy]

I've read about this somewhere but can't find it now.

Is it advised that you switch on your flash if it hasn't been used for long? The material inside a flash is said to decay or something, if I remember correctly.

[IzzieK]

I had one Yong Nuo I had not used for over two years. I recently brought it out to join my new Yong Nuo so I can use it off flash. It still works. The only difference that I have always done is that, when anything has a battery, I removed them before storing the accessory. It makes a lot of sense and difference when taking care of anything really because you'll never know if a certain object is going to be useful again.

[New Daddy]

I had one Yong Nuo I had not used for over two years. I recently brought it out to join my new Yong Nuo so I can use it off flash. It still works. The only difference that I have always done is that, when anything has a battery, I removed them before storing the accessory. It makes a lot of sense and difference when taking care of anything really because you'll never know if a certain object is going to be useful again.

I don't think long disuse will wreck the flash. I think the argument was that the thing that sets off in the flash needs periodic refreshing, or its power will diminish. So, yes, after long disuse, the flash will work but not quite up to the same level as before.

[inkista]

I've read about this somewhere but can't find it now.

Is it advised that you switch on your flash if it hasn't been used for long? The material inside a flash is said to decay or something, if I remember correctly.

Prolly was the Strobist post, "How to Keep Your Flash From Exploding". While stored and not used, the aluminum oxide layer inside the capacitor can deteriorate and when fully charged, you can get current leakage. With studio strobes you can reform the layer by popping the flash 5-10 times at the LOWEST power setting. Doing it remotely will keep you out of the range of possible explosion. And gradually working you way up to full power will ease it back to use.

With speedlights, however, because the capacitor is designed to be fully charged all the time, if you start at low power, then the capacitor is "full" most of the time, so you start at full power and repeat, stopping every now and then to avoid overheating.

Or at least, that's what Hobby says in that post.

[Manfred M]

The concern with flash was always that the capacitors; the component of the flash that holds the electrical charge that is used to fire the flash tube. In the past, there was a concern that these components would deteriorate over time, especially if they did not go through the charge / discharge cycle.

Some of the older style rechargeable batteries had "memory" issues, i.e. if they were not fully discharged before recharge, they would no longer hold their charge as well as desired.

Technology has changed / improved and the Nicad batteries that had "memory" issues are no longer used, primarily replaced by lithium - metal hydrid (Ni-mH) or in some cases lithium-ion batteries (Li-on). As for the capacitors used, I can't say if better technology has improved; I'll leave that to the electrical / electronics experts in the group.