How to repair and build a camera flash power pack

This article explains how to save money by repairing or building your own power pack for a camera flash

Powerpacks are small, portable devices for storing electricity. When the powerpack is fully charged and connected to a camera flash the flash can be used to take a large number of photographs over a long period.
Most flashes are powered by batteries, and although battery-powered flashes are fine for most situations they are not capable of taking a large number of photographs over a long period without replacing the batteries.

Professional photographers and camera flash power packs

Powerpacks are mostly used by professional photographers, especially wedding photographers, who may take many flash photographs during the wedding ceremony and the wedding reception which follows.

Amateur photographers and camera flash power packs

But they can also be useful for amateur photographers who do a lot of flash photography.
Probably the main obstacle for amateur photographers who would like to use a powerpack is justifying the cost. Powerpacks can cost around $300, depending on the specification, and it’s probably difficult for amateur photographers to justify spending this kind of money on a flash accessory.
Professional wedding photographers on the other hand can justify it, because their power packs are helping them to make money.

Save money

But it should be possible to build a powerpack similar to the one in the photograph for around $100 or less rather than $300, a figure which might make a powerpack a more attractive proposition for amateur photographers.
Naturally, there’s no reason why professional photographers who want to save money shouldn’t build their own powerpacks either.
$100 or less should be enough to cover the cost of the batteries, a strong metal or plastic box to contain the batteries, sockets and cables.

Diy repair and build camera flash power pack

The batteries in this powerpack are four `D’ type 2 volt 2500 mAh lead filled rechargeable batteries, and when wired together these are powerful enough to power any flashgun.
The reason for repairing the powerpack is, the existing batteries no longer retain their charge.
Replacing them is a simple matter of making a note of the wiring connections to the batteries, de-soldering the connections and re-soldering them to the replacement batteries. The batteries are `tagged’ to make it easier to fix the wires to them.

Camera power pack transportation

Camera power packs usually have a belt clip, so that they can be clipped to a belt (well, there’s a surprise).  The good news is, if you’re building your own power pack it isn’t necessary to fix a belt clip to it.
Sure, it can be done. Get hold of a short piece of strong steel, bend it double, screw it to the case - at the top end or short end of the case,  and voila, you have a belt clip. A piece of steel angle, the kind of thing that’s used to join two sides of a box, might be ok for this. 
But in practise these belt clips are a pain. This power pack must weigh, well I haven’t weighed it but it must weigh a couple of pounds.  Clip something that weighs a couple of pounds around your waist and after a while you might have problems. 
This power pack gets around the problem by having a couple of lugs at the top or short end of the case.  These lugs are similar in size to the lugs on cameras, and they are designed for the same purpose - for fixing a camera strap to them.
Anyone with any diy skills should be improvise a couple of lugs. A couple of strong `spring rings’ (is that what they’re called? - the kind of rings that are used on key rings, could be adapted as lugs. Just drill a couple of small holes in the top of the case, thread the ring through, and fix a camera strap to the part of the ring that protrudes from the power pack,