Strange Pop????

[smoke665]

Had an episode the other day. I had an AB800 and 2 AB400's hooked to a power strip with switch. Never had any issues with this, have actually run up to 6 lights before. Generally though I turn off the lights at the switch on the lights, and then turn off the switch. The receivers for the Cyber Commander plug inline so, to actually turn them off I need to kill the power. Anyhow the other day I forgot and left the lights on, and just hit the off switch on the power strip. The other morning, came in, hit the power strip switch, and thought someone shot me, there was a really loud POP. No smoke anywhere, nothing appears harmed, all the flash tubes are good, all the modeling lights work and the Cyber Commander works. I've used them 2 or 3 times since without issue (though I remember to turn the lights off so they don't all come on when I hit the main power switch). Anyone ever encountered this????? It's got me skittish now. LOL

 

[Designer]

Once I had an old speedlight pop, and it was toast.

 

[smoke665]

First thought a flash tube had blown or a capacitor but nothing appears to be harmed. No burnt electrical smell either.

 

[tirediron]

Do your lights automatically discharge when you power them down?

 

[smoke665]

Do your lights automatically discharge when you power them down?

They do when you hit the switch on the light, but not sure if they do when you kill the power.

 

[tirediron]

I'm guessing what may have happened is that by turning the power off at the power bar, rather that at the light, when you powered it back up again, the condenser tried to dump while it was charging. If you din't blow the capacitor, Id' say all is good, but I'd recommend against doing that in the future.

 

[Derrel]

I would suggest turning off the lights at their own power switch individually, rather than turning off the power at the power switch.

John might be right, that the flash units tried to dump the capacitors at the same time they were charging. Not all flash units dump their storage charge when switched off, but quite a few do

nobody likes to hear a mysterious pop!

 

[smoke665]

Considering I almost had an accident in my pants, when it popped, I'm pretty sure it will be a long time before I forget to turn them off before I kill the power again. When you get to be my age, those kind of surprises aren't healthy!!!

 

[compur]

Some power strips have surge suppressor circuitry in them. If that is the case with your strip, then when you turned it on with all flash units on there likely was a surge and you may have blown a component in that circuitry such as an MOV.

And, if that is what happened, your strip may still seem to work but it may not protect your gear from future spikes.

 

[smoke665]

Some power strips have surge suppressor circuitry in them. If that is the case with your strip, then when you turned it on with all flash units on there likely was a surge and you may have blown a component in that circuitry such as an MOV.

And, if that is what happened, your strip may still seem to work but it may not protect your gear from future spikes.

I wondered if the pop I heard might have come from it, because it sounded like I was right on top of the noise. Like someone lit a firecracker under me. I may just trash that one. I've got several anyhow.

 

[Original katomi]

For the cost of a new one it could be worth saving UR expensive lights

 

[RVT1K]

Some power strips have surge suppressor circuitry in them. If that is the case with your strip, then when you turned it on with all flash units on there likely was a surge and you may have blown a component in that circuitry such as an MOV.

And, if that is what happened, your strip may still seem to work but it may not protect your gear from future spikes.

I wondered if the pop I heard might have come from it, because it sounded like I was right on top of the noise. Like someone lit a firecracker under me. I may just trash that one. I've got several anyhow.

It's a long story but while working on a radar system, someone did what they were not supposed to do (we had safety interlocks disabled due to troubleshooting).

When the wrong switch was thrown, it sounded like an M-80 went off in the enclosure we were working in. I remember that a big, wire-wound power resistor blew its guts all over.

 

[JBPhotog]

Have you tested each head for full functionality? I would set up a stand to mount the head, place another stand at a fixed distance to read your flash meter and run through the output settings full to minimum power. Until you test them all under the same setup it may be hard to know if one or more capacitors are still working. Many strobes will still work even though a capacitor has popped but of course the full range may be compromised.

 

[smoke665]

Have you tested each head for full functionality? I would set up a stand to mount the head, place another stand at a fixed distance to read your flash meter and run through the output settings full to minimum power. Until you test them all under the same setup it may be hard to know if one or more capacitors are still working. Many strobes will still work even though a capacitor has popped but of course the full range may be compromised.

Hardly ever get to 75% of power, but I'll run them through the paces next time I set up.

 

[mrca]

I have always turn off the lights themselves using the cybercommander. Just select all and turn them all off. I also disconnect the power strips from the wall. If you have the lights off but plugged in they get warm, just doesn't seem a good idea to me although I have spoken with Buff and they say it is ok. Sometimes my lights are off for several days so I just pull power strips cords
from the wall outlet. I have been using AB's for over 10 years with out a single failure.