Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hey,

I took delivery of four v1 Einstein a while ago and use them in our reasonably busy wedding and portrait work. I've been waiting for my V2 email (got the first one, haven't got the second one yet) to tell me I can ship back my unit and get the replacements.

I've got a concern about the lights occasionally smoking after moderate use. It's happened twice now (that I'm aware of) during studio sessions. I've stopped using the modelling lights as suggested heat precautions email, but I continue to have overheating issues with my lights. On closer inspection all four of the lights had traces of smoke on and around the front faceplate.

Any suggestions outside of the earlier email to help me keep things cool while I wait for V2 lights?

Cheers, Greg

PS: Showed my assistant the Vagabond mini and she wanted to kiss you. I'll be getting a couple of those in the near future.

Mine smoked for a little while when they were "burning in". I think Paul had mentioned that this is normal due to residue on the glass burning away. As for the lamp, I just dialed mine down to 125w and everything works fine. I haven't had any overheating problems at all. I think you're fine :)

by "traces of smoke" on and around the front face plate, do you mean wisps of smoke or smoke residue accumulated on the unit? Also, when you say the unit is over heating, is that deduced from the smoke, or other reasons?

Yes, I mean soot on the edge wear the case meets the faceplate. By overheating I mean a client or an assistant has told me the the light is physically smoking.

is it possible to email us a photo, particularly where the soot is? Are you running the model lamps at all? Are you using a modifer, if so, what kind?

I had the same symptoms when I ran the modeling lights at full power in the wrong configuration. Looks to me like the plastic case is slightly melted where it touches the faceplate, and there was definitely visible smoke coming from that area.

The lights still work fine, though.

I'll try to get a photo for you, but I'm particularly swamped right now. What it will show is as bobk mentions in his post: some areas where the case has melted where it touches the faceplate.

As for modifiers; Typically they are softboxes but I also use the 8.5' HO reflectors (occasionally with grids) and 22" beauty dish open. As you would expect, these are normally pointed down to some extent. All the modifiers are PCB gear.

Since the modelling light email I have not used the modelling lights at all. They have come on, on occasion, when I've gotten a bad refresh off the CC. I find that using the modelling lights at half power is of little use, so I'm waiting for my revised lights when they will be able to be safely run at normal power.

pretty much every modeling light i have installed will smoke a bit when its used for the first time after heating up. ive just assumed that its a bit of the glue holding the bulb to the metal base burning off. after the initial smoking i never see it again. but this experience is with other strobes, not PCB lights, so it may or may not be the same issue.

Yeah,

Just to clear this up: the modelling lights were not in use when the smoke was reported.