JTL LIGHTS: I was gifted some older JTL 300 mobile lights. I have them in working order and they can be hard wired. What I need is information on battery packs. These are old, and only...

roxiemarty Loc: Florida

I was gifted some older JTL 300 mobile lights. I have them in working order and they can be hard wired. What I need is information on battery packs. These are old, and only 4 of the 6 are charging.........for how long only God knows. They are firing the lights, but does anyone else on here have these? We used these lighting kits at sports parks, for flag football, softball, soccer, and cheerleading. (I worked for TSS Youth Sports Photography.) I intend to use them for products or other setups here at home. But if I wanted new batteries, where would I find these?

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

roxiemarty wrote:

I was gifted some older JTL 300 mobile lights. I h... (show quote)

If you can access the batteries and tell me the specifications, I can probably tell you where to find replacements Most batteries have this information printed on the right of the battery itself. The specs are voltage and ampere/hours. If you can measure the batteries by height, width and length, that would be helpful. A picture of them would show the location of the contacts. Some batteries will also show the manufacturer's name and model number.

If their batteries are no longer available for some reason, substitutions or adaptations can be made.

My usual source of user and service manuals does not list these flash units. I do have, in my files, many sources of battery information. If the pow pack is external to the monolight, a replacement or workaround shoe not be difficult to find.

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

roxiemarty wrote:

I was gifted some older JTL 300 mobile lights. I h... (show quote)

Hi there roxiemarty
Your title caught my attention as we used to use JTL way way back. Yours are different to what we had but a quick google brought up this article from 2006. https://www.shutterbug.com/content/jtl%E2%80%99s-mobilight-300-powerful-and-portable
Hope that is of interest.
Good luck.

roxiemarty Loc: Florida

TonyP wrote:

Hi there roxiemarty
Your title caught my attention as we used to use JTL way way back. Yours are different to what we had but a quick google brought up this article from 2006. https://www.shutterbug.com/content/jtl%E2%80%99s-mobilight-300-powerful-and-portable
Hope that is of interest.
Good luck.

Thanks! Those are definitely the same. The lights are still fully functional, and the battery packs work for now. I suspect they won't hold the charge for long though. Hopefully I can find a replacement. (I was given two sets of the lights.)

roxiemarty Loc: Florida

E.L.. Shapiro wrote:

If you can access the batteries and tell me the sp... (show quote)

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The black end attaches to the flash unit, the prongs to the battery.

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E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

OK! The measurement you made shows the all-over size of the battery pack casing. You need to open the case and find the batteries within. There is o high voltage in that cases so there is no danger. The voltage is stepped up in the monolight- the battery is likely around 12 volts.
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All of the published literature does not specify the exact batter specifications. It mentions that they are Nickel Metal Hydride types which I assume were the lates back in the day, in that here were the type to be used in electric vehicles. They are still available but if not, NiCads or Gell-Cells can be substituted, depending on the size and space.

When you open the case you may find a single rectangular cube shape cell or a cluster of cylindrical "C" or "D"size cells.

If the unts are working but do not hold a charge for a normal duty cycle, the batteries will need replacement When they are replaced, if everything else is in working order, you should get many years of service from your units. You should make certn that your chargers are in working order. If the charging circuitry is in the power pack, it is important that you replace them with batteries with the same charging rate requirements. Battery replacement may involve a modest investment so make sure the units work well aside from the worn-out batteries. Check to see that the flash tubes are not carbonized, that is. backend near where the electrodes enter the tube.

When you open the case, you might find some things that look like the batteries in the attached images. The specs may be printed in the batteries and you can measure the space requred as well.