Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Really sorry to post this kind of message.

In may 20011 i have ordered 2 einsteins 640, 1 cyber commander, 1 VML, 2 cyber command transceivers and a large octabox.

As i live in Moldova, i had to order my equipment with a help of a friend who lives in US. I have received my flash units as well as the rest of my equipment in august 2011.
First einstein stopped working in october 2011, just simply stopped flashing, the screen was on and the flash counter continued to count flashes but the lamp didn't pop. I have changed the lamps and fuse but nothing helped. Brought it to the local service where they repair different kind of flashes of different brands but they were enable to repair my flash unit.

I didn't wanted to resend my flash unit to Paul C Buff because it would take to much time, and it cost's a lot of $$$ to send something in US from Moldova. Plus local customs asked me to pay some extra fee about 120 $ which makes no sense.

My second flash unit started to have a strange behavior in Nov. 2012. It counts about 2000 pops (dont use it a lot). Now when i plug it in the VML the screen is blank and it's blinking. I was unable to shut it down as it didn't respond to any button.
I managed somehow to shut it down and it started working but the modeling lamp is blinking slowly... some times it's just dimming slowly and then comes back to normal.

Here is a video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdH6P1uHIqA
Watch it till the end to see the modeling lamp behavior.

Today it completely stopped working. The screen is blank. I can't shut down the flash unit pressing the button. Nothing works. Only unplugging it from the VML makes it shut down. But when plugging it back the screen is simply blank.

Now i don't have any flash unit that simply works.
The problem is that i have a some wedding photos to shoot in February and i really need at least one flash that works.

The only semi- normal reason for the screen to flicker is if the unit is attempting a firmware update. I presume there is no SD card in the light?

Otherwise, the lights will need to be sent in to us for repair. We will fix them under warranty and return them to the original US destination. You can contact our repair department for turnaround times from when we receive it to when it is shipped out. We cannot control any costs related to customs/duty.

Well i didn't ever attempted any firmware update, i have used both items with the firmware installed on them. There is no SD in the light.

I will contact your repair department this week. For sure you cant control any costs related to customs, but i will find a way to avoid paying any customs fees.

Hi.
I found the solution.
As i previously mentioned i had 1 Einstein unit wich did not pop a all and the screen was working fine.
Second flash unit wich had this blank screen problem.

As i live far from US and needed at least one flash unit working i decided to dismount them to replace some parts.

So i tried different combinations and finally found a solution.

Link for the pic. http://d.pr/i/O2F7

Just took the part number 2 from the first flash wich doesn't flash at all, and placed it in the flash unit wich had the blank screen problem.

Now my flash is working fine. So i came to conclusion. That the part numer 3 from the first flash doesn't work and the part number two from the second flash unit is not working fine.

Typically, opening the lights voids the warranty, so we do not recommend doing so. Additionally, if the lights are of different iterations, it is possible the boards are not electronically interchangeable, and doing this can cause further damage.

At this point, if you still need information on repairs, you can contact our repair department, or the distributor from whom you purchased the lights.

For sure i know about warranty.
But as i told previously, at least i got one that works now...