My date with a 540ez flash

[j-dogg]

so my flash I bought like 3 days ago stopped working. hmmmm. so I pulled it apart and found a broken battery contact. didn't think to grab the camera until i had it all apart. I re-soldered a wire from the broken contact to the PCB. (red wire at the bottom left)

starting to look like a flash again.

almost got it back together, lining up everything. the black tape roll on the right of the flash inside is to keep the broklen contact in place, it rests between the wall of the flash and the contact keeping it in place.

and if you do it right, it looks like this. :thumbup:

 

[Davor]

i suspect you bought this used hence tackling the fix yourself. Lucky you having electrical knowledge

 

[LarissaPhotography]

Wow - you've really invested some time into the project of fixing vs just buying another one. You must enjoy electronics work.

 

[j-dogg]

i had it apart, fixed and back together again in 20 minutes. I used to do this for a living with non-photography-related electronics. I also have a few repair and soldering certifications so that helps. no sense in buying a 430ex / 580ex if I can fix the 540ez I have and save like 300 dollars.

I also have some other Canon gear under the knife, I'm doing a shutter replacement on my Rebel XTi on my own, and I have a 24-70 f3.5-4.5 macro I just found the necessary part for and should be ordering it this week. I'm not afraid to rip stuff apart. I'm a car guy I do engine swap,s transmission builds, do-it-yourself FTW

 

[Big Mike]

Well done.

Of course, you should include the warning that taking apart a flash shouldn't be done by those who don't know what they're doing. Flashes contain a capacitor, which stores a charge and could give you one heck of a shock.