I had the same experience of buying two clamshell batteries for $30 each that turned up DOA. I bought the VST charger and got the flashing red as well. I removed the battery and reinserted it. Both batteries came back to life after charging all night. Leave them in there; the VST will do the job. Gary > I ordered one of these chargers. Missed the discount & had to pay $40 sans > adapter. Anyway, I hooked up the battery, it cycled through some light > colors, turned yellow for about a minute, then went to flashing red. Is my > battery 100% dead?