What do you suggest I do??!

[SabrinaO]

My light is broken. Snapped right of the light stand. I guess it happened because while the lever was tight i tried to angle the light up/down too many times. Those that have this AB's probably know what i mean. What do you suggest I do? I tried super glue and it didn't hold up long. Then my husband put PVC glue on it and I thought it was holding up until i went to my studio to see my light on the floor. Right before a shoot too. Any suggestions?? Here is where its split:

 

[Overread]

*moving to lighting subsection*

I would contact AB and see if the mounting section can be dismantled and the broken component replaced. I think various forms of glue on a contact point like that simply won't work (at least with commercial glues, some super industry glues might but you won't be able to get them I suspect) though you might have luck if you pin the join, but still I'd rather replace the part than risk it breaking again.

 

[SabrinaO]

*moving to lighting subsection*

I would contact AB and see if the mounting section can be dismantled and the broken component replaced. I think various forms of glue on a contact point like that simply won't work (at least with commercial glues, some super industry glues might but you won't be able to get them I suspect) though you might have luck if you pin the join, but still I'd rather replace the part than risk it breaking again.

Yay!! I just called them! They are shipping another out, no charge. I don't know why I didn't think of this before! Thank you! My husband is a plumber and has pvc glue/cement and i thought that would have held up.

 

[cgipson1]

I would contact Buff and see if you can just buy another housing for the AB.. shouldn't be too hard to change out.


Or : If you get a standard umbrella / strobe adapter that will fit on your lightstand.. you may be able to drill a hole at the top and mount the AB to it with the bold that is above the split. You can then used the adapters angle adjustment to aim the light.

Something like this one.... pull the silver bolt.. and drill there???

Manfrotto 026 Swivel Umbrella Adapter (Lite-Tite) 026 B&H Photo

 

[Derrel]

I think a repair part can be fitted to the light by the Paul C. Buff folks. As far as a repair, my suggestion would be to glue it into place, and allow a day's drying time, and then, wrapping the broken pieces with high-quality fishing rod guide wrapping thread, and making a simple whip-finish knot to finish off the wraps. As Overread suggested in his British English, you could "pin the join", yeah, but that requires some skill and some luck as well. My experience has been that broken plastics and PVCs respond quite well to "wrapping". One easy material to wrap with is 4- to 6-pound test monofilament fishing line, which is easy to find anywhere in the USA, even at WalMart. FIshing line has some stretch to it, and once more than about 10 wraps have been applied, the stuff begins to exert considerable, and I really mean *****considerable****, inward pressure.

 

[Overread]

Derrel - just trying to get my head around this - you would wrap the wire around the join/break point itself or would you be wrapping top to bottom (ie so that the wrapping pulls the broken parts together). If the latter I can fully understand what you mean, but if its the former I'd be confused as to how that works simply as I would have thought pressure around the join point would be more likely to weaken the join.
The only other problem would be that either way up you've got the points interrupting the wrapping (the tripod mount if going vertically and the pressure screw if going horizontally.

 

[Derrel]

I am envisioning that the breakage occurred in the female part of the fitting, where the 5/8 inch male spigot goes into. I would not use wire, but rather a semi-stretchy NYLON-based thread, like the aforementioned fishing rod wrapping thread, such at that made by the German thread-making giant Gudebrod. OR, using 4- to 6-pound nylon monofilament fishing line. Semi-stretchy (from 2% to 24%) wrapping materials like fishing rod wrapping thread and fine-diameter fishing line are very easy to wrap around obstacles, and exert considerable pressure when applied more than 10 wraps or so...plus they are almost invisible...they also can be extended beyond the broken area, where they can add some structural support. The idea is to apply pressure that will pull the broken points together. Used in combination with a top quality glue or cement, "wrapped" breaks on many substances can be patched with rod-wrapping thread, or fishing line, and the repairs last for years. Wire, on the other hand, does not exert much "inward" force, compared with the way semi-stretchy filaments like fishing line do. Wire tends to loosen its grip over time. THread and fishing line can be sprayed or painted with fishing rod building epoxy coats, and the repairs become in fact stronger than the un-broken material.

This all seems to be a moot point, however, since the Paul C. Buff people can fit a new, replacement mounting foot onto the light...a part that for example, Speedotron makes out of UN-BREAKABLE metal pipe...and which might add 50 cents to the cost of the light...

 

[Village Idiot]

PCB is good about replacing parts, even when it's user error that causes the breaks. I had the reflector for my ABR800 that I used to own have a piece broken from it when the reflector fell and I told them that it was while on a shoot and that it was my fault. They still sent out a replacement as a warranty item for no charge.