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Sun Feb 12, 2017 8:11 pm

Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 6:06 pm
Posts: 11

On my last shoot my setup was CST2 in the Hot Shoe, Commander beside me. I soon after began to have many of the problems that other Cyber Commander owners are suffering from. Rapid firing from all of the lights, and the CC resetting itself often. Tried following all of the usual remedies I have read of in the forum. I tried several pairs of fresh batteries. I tried shooting with the MiniSD in, then removed the MiniSD and shot with my setup saved under Internal 1. I bent the battery contacts to ensure a tight fit. Nothing seems to work. The oddest part is, the lights will continue to rapid fire, even after I have pulled the batteries out of the CC. All of the slaves were turned off, what could cause all of this?

I wonder if it has anything to do with my setup? I have (at maximum) 4 White Lighting x1600's with CSR+'s, and 1 Einstein with CSXCV. Are the white lightnings or CSR+'s more problematic than Einsteins?

My CC was bought brand new from PCB within the last 3 months or so, so I am assuming it shouldn't need any servicing. I have been having issues with it almost from day one. I have to say I was incredibly enthusiastic about using this genius tool, but I am sorely disappointed, as many other seem to be. I am determined not to give up yet! Help me out Tech Support!




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Mon Feb 13, 2017 6:05 pm

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

Ok, there are two likely reasons you could be seeing this, but would only affect all the lights you listed if the slaves were active.

With the rebooting, I would expect the Einstein to trigger in a rapid sequence, but not the WL's, unless they have thier slave eyes active, and firing in response to the Einstein (its really the receivers that do not respond that fast).

The firing with the batteries out would tell me the White Lightings are connected to a circuit with dirty power or improper grounding, but the Einstein would only respond to this via the slave eye.

Ensure the slave eyes are deactivated by double checking the sync jacks on the WL's and the idicator on the Einstein (and remember, the setting in the CC overrides any setting on the light, so double check it too).

You can test properly working slave lock outs by test firing a single light. Sometimes, it is hard to tell if a light fires when other lights are also firing, so you can use the green ready indicator to determine if a light fired.

Once we determine what is firing spontaneously, we can resolve the specific issue.




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Tue Feb 14, 2017 11:33 am

Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 6:06 pm
Posts: 11

Technical Support wrote:
With the rebooting, I would expect the Einstein to trigger in a rapid sequence, but not the WL's, unless they have their slave eyes active, and firing in response to the Einstein (its really the receivers that do not respond that fast).

Each WL had a CSR+ plugged in the sync jack, which should effectively turn off the slave function correct? I will still do an individual test with each light as you described.

Let me describe my setup in the CC, I wonder if that may have anything to do with it (bear with me here). I own a maximum of 5 lights. My goal was to achieve a setup in the CC that would let me add or subtract WL's without having to "open studio" and "spec lights" every time I added or removed a light. I used the Internal 1 slot to rule out the SD card as an issue. My Internal 1 slot has CH1 as the Einstein, CH2-Ch5 with the WL's, and CH6 as other/undefined to use as an ambient light meter.

CH1 is always active. CH2-CH5 are always set on "Standby". When I add a light to the setup, I then switch its corresponding channel from Standby to On. If I remove a light, I turn that channel back to Standby.

Could the rapid firings/restartings have anything to do with the setup I described? Am I confusing the device with too many channels on Standby? I will test the other you've things mentioned within the week and get back to you. I greatly appreciate the help and advice. Stay tuned!




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Sun Feb 19, 2017 7:11 pm

Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 6:06 pm
Posts: 11

Technical Support wrote:
The firing with the batteries out would tell me the White Lightings are connected to a circuit with dirty power or improper grounding, but the Einstein would only respond to this via the slave eye.


Ok. So after running through some more tests, I still encountered the rapid firing. I can rule out at least a few potential causes.

1:All lights were plugged into the same power source, an industrial grade power strip. This power strip has two green lights labeled "Protected" and Grounded". Both of these lights were glowing, thus showing I am plugged into a clean and grounded power source.

2: All slave cells were deactivated through both the CC, and the CSR+ being plugged into the sync jack. With all lights on, I could still successfully take individual flash meter readings without setting off surrounding lights.

3: The rapid firing only occurred immediately after the CC would reset itself. The CC reset itself at least 4 times in around an hour.

4: With just the CST2 and the CSR+'s and no CC, I had no issues of rapid firing lights or misfires. Leading me to believe that the culprit is indeed the CC.

I still had fresh batteries with a tight fit, and was working through the Internal 1 slot to ensure the Micro SD wasn't the issue. I also Opened Studio and Spec'd Lights a couple times to see if that would solve the problem. No dice. Is there anything else that could cause the issue? Could it be time to try to reset my CC to factory default settings? What steps should I take next?




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Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:20 pm

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

It sounds like the CC will need to come in for repair, as the it is rebooting for no apparent reason.

This link will have all you need to know about sending the unit in. http://www.paulcbuff.com/repair.php




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Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:27 pm

Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 6:06 pm
Posts: 11

Technical Support wrote:
It sounds like the CC will need to come in for repair, as the it is rebooting for no apparent reason.


Alright thank you




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