Strobe head problem..

[Don Kondra]

Greetings,

I have a new 200 w/s head, I charged it for one hour before using as per instructions and the first test fire produced a loud pop.

Flash worked fine after that with no popping but ~ every dozen discharges, the modeling light would flicker and the unit took five or six seconds to charge, one second is normal.

The second time I used the unit, same infrequent longer charging time and I noticed if I set the power to 1/2 the red ready light and the green indicator light would dim and brighten repeatedly.

Third time I used it, it flashed once and would not recharge.

Fuse is good, bulb looks fine under magnification.

Contacted the manufacturer for exchange, their answer is they are sending new bulbs.

It is my understanding the condition of the bulb has nothing to do with whether or not the unit will recharge????

Is that assumption correct???

Cheers, Don

Edit. Just tried it again, turned off for a period of time and turned on. Unit charges and doesn't flash, it does appear to be the bulb, still...

 

[Early]

I don't know if this will help, but I have a Norman head that would fire intermittently and found that the capacitor came loose from the mother board and wouldn't always make contact.

 

[Don Kondra]

Thanks, I'll check that when I have it apart to solder on the new bulb

Cheers, Don

 

[JerryPH]

Don, unless this thing is used and has no warranty, do NOT futz with the wring leading to the capacitor. A wrong touch and you could have some serious damage done to you... I'm talking things like blown a finger right off or a very serious burn or... even get hit by a charge strong enough to stop your heart. Battery powered caps can hold a 300V charge that will do some serious damage. It takes only 5-10 volts to stop a human heart.

If it is under warranty, don't futz with it. If you are no longer under warranty, give it to someone that knows what they are doing. Hitting the flash button even after the power is turned off only empties most caps down to about 50V and if left for a few minutes, most recharge up a bit more... enough to still give you a nice serious burn or toss you off your chair.

Unless you are really comfy with electronics, Don, please be very careful.

 

[Don Kondra]

Thanks for the reminder Jerry, I'm well aware of the danger.

You will get a kick out of this though, the manufacturer recommends you remove the head assembly from the body and short the two legs of the lamp to remove the stored charge :mrgreen:

Cheers, Don