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Mon Mar 21, 2016 4:30 pm

Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2014 3:08 pm
Posts: 4

I have four Einstein Units and they have been working great since I bought them a little over a year ago. Recently (yesterday) one of the units started to miss fire quite a bit (I would say about 60% to 70% of the time). I have pretty much narrowed the problem down to the flash unit itself (have done all kinds of trouble shooting including using different cyber synch triggers, different cameras in case it was a hot shoe problem, firing the unit for the trigger off the camera, switched cyber synch receivers, etc). It even misfires when I press the test button on the unit.

I have checked the unit and made sure the flash tube is seated tight and it appears to be. I am out of ideas on what it might be. Any other thoughts? Do I need to send the unit in for servicing? Could it just need a new flash tube? It has been one of the two units that I use as my key light.




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Tue Mar 22, 2016 9:41 am

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Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:43 am
Posts: 5266

It could be as simple as a flash tube, or it could be something internal.

Using gloves or a towel, I would first remove the tube on the mis-behaving light. Check for any visible fissures or cracks in the glass. If any are found, that is the likely culprit. Also, inspect it for burnt/charred metal prongs on the legs. If they are burnt, then the unit will need to be serviced, as this is a sign of arcing, which will also affect the contacts inside. Note: this is charring of the metal on the outside of the tube, not the blackened areas inside the glass. The blackened area inside the glass is normal.

If there is no charring, you can swap tubes with another light and see if the problem follows the flash unit or the flash tube. Be sure not to swap tubes with charred legs, as both a flash head and flash tube will be charred from arcing. This charring can cause arcing when swapped with a new flash or flash tube. Anything charred can "infect" anything it is swapped into.

Once flash tubes are swapped, if the problem follows the tube, the tube is bad. If it follows the head, then the flash unit will likely need to come in for repair.




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Tue Mar 22, 2016 11:43 am

Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2014 3:08 pm
Posts: 4

Thanks. That identified the problem. No charring on the contacts and no visible cracks or fissures in the flash tube. Problem followed the flash tube when I switched it to another unit and the unit that had problems works fine with the swapped tube from a working unit. So it appears to be a flash tube problem. Ordering a new one and a couple of spares.




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