Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I am brand new to this forum and hope someone here can give me some help.
I have two CSRB Receivers and a CST Transmitter and use two Flash Zebra #0138 hot shoe adapters. Use a Speedlite 430EX and 2 Vivitar 285HV flashes.
Pulled all my gear out sunday to shoot some X-mas pics and could not make my triggers fire.
I changed every battery and checked my connections 10 to 12 times. I am getting green light on receivers and when I push the test button it burns orange. CST is testing red...
All the flashes work fine on hot shoe of the camera...
I have run out of troubleshooting ideas. It is either the hotshoe cords or the cyber syncs.
Any thoughts on why I am not flashing??? I have two shoots this weekend and really dont want to go back to the old Cactus triggers. Thanks for reading...

If the flashes are not firing from the reciever's test button, unplug the cord from the reciever (with everything on and connected). The flash should fire. Also, try jumping the plug with a knife blade or paper clip. You may want to dial down the flashes' power so that recycle times do not interfere with your tests. You can also test by placing the CST in the adapter, and make the reciever trigger it. If the CST fires, then the CSRB is outputting a signal. The cable may work with the CST but not a speedlite. You may want to contact FlashZebra regarding polarity (this may or may not be an issue). If there is a polarity issue, the untis may not trigger the strobes, but may trigger other flashes or the CST.

The CST did not fire on the Zebra cord nor did the flash fire when cord was pulled with everything on. However when I jumped the flash w/ a paper clip connected to the zebra cord, the test button on the CSRB fired the flash.
So this means it is a contact issue between the hotshoe adapter and the flash, correct?

Something does sound amiss. If you are familiar enough to do a continuity test, the tip of the plug and the center pin of the hotshoe should test together, and the sleeve and side rail should test together. Either way, Lon at FZ will get you straightened out. Also, try pressing down on the speedlite as it is mounted in the adapter and while attempting to trigger it. Do this with any locking mechanism loose. It has been my experience that Canon foot interfaces are more finicky than those of other brands.

Got new zebra cords and everything is good.
I returned the old cords and had to buy one because
both were out of warranty but I received one for no cost.
Thanks for the help!