Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hello Folks,

I have 3 of the AB 800's. I am a part time user and really invested in these lights for the future so they get really light use right now. However.... I had them out yesterday. One of them I had actually not even used so it was a "new" light. And I think it is also the one giving grief. Anyway... It wont fire the strobe, all lights on the back are working right including the dump light when I crank it up and then bring it down.... the model light works fine. But it wont fire, and the test button does not fire it either. Additionally one of my other lights in the setup was needing a strong output from the primary light in order to fire. I dont know if that is related to the one not working right or if it was just my setup but... any ideas.

I was using a cybersync remote to fire the lights and ended up doing the shoot with just the two lights as that one I could not get to work.

Thanks for the replies in advance.

I would ensure the flash tube is fully seated. To so this, unplug the light and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

Use a clean cloth/glove/tissue to unscrew and remove the model lamp. Then remove the flash tube. These remove by pulling straight out, though some rocking may help.

Once removed, inspect the flash tube for any physical damage. Look for breaks in the glass, wiring, or the legs. Look for charring in the legs (note, there will be some black soot inside the glass. This is normal, and not a concern.)

If that all checks out, replace the tube, ensuring all three legs go back in to their respective holes, and the milky white insulator tubes are installed as well (if provided. Very recent tubes have insulators installed).

Check the performance at this point. If the flash does not work still, you can swap tubes with another flash head. If the problem persists, there is an error in the head that needs to be replaced.

If the problem goes away, a new flash tube will correct the problem.

Thanks, I will take a look later today.

Ok so the results of the troubleshooting.

I took the strobe bulb out of the "bad" unit and tried it in a good one.... no go.

I put a good strobe in the "bad" unit and it worked... BUT

I think that the unit is faulty as the two good units have a fan running in them when turned on but the "bad" unit does not. So I am wondering if it burnt out the flash bulb and will just continue to destroy bulbs as I use it?

Ideas?

While the fan is important, it would not cause a premature failure in a flashtube. However, some fans are noisier than others, so it may simply be hard to hear.

Again, make sure the legs of the bad tube are clear and not burnt. If they are, then you can spread the issue to other lights or other tubes.

If they are clear, then it is a matter of a bad tube.

Sorry for the delay and thanks for the response. They look ok to me. I will try to upload a quick i-shot.

The third peg (top one by itself) seems quite loose but it does have contact with the wires so I assume that it is correct.



Let me know what you think. I think I was not getting a great firing on the lights as well using the cyberlink so I might switch to the command link. Will it work ok with the B's (800). I will order a couple of bulbs then I guess if you think that is all that it is.

It is hard for me to tell if the far leg is charred between the glass and banana plug. If it is, then a replacement tube should be fine. If not, then maybe it is a tube maybe not. There is no indication of arcing at the banana plug/eyelet connection, so that is good. It may be a hairline crack in the glass, or it may be internal.

If you have another tube (even in another light) you can swap them to see if the known working tube works in this light.

If your lights have the milky white straw insulators, make sure they are back in place.

It does work with one of my bulbs from a working unit. I guess I will make an order later.

Cheers