Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I presume so, but I cut and pasted that line from an email. No specific unit was mentioned. It would not hurt to reset your Mini/Flex.

Sadly, performing a factory reset on MC2 and TT5 had no affect - after a short period of activity where the MC2/Einstein worked as expected, it again repeated the behavior of the flash failing to fire. As before, powering down the flash, removing the MC2 and turning the Einstein on, the flash can not be activated via the test button, hard-sync or optical trigger.

It appears that there is some semi-persistent condition once the MC2/TT5 fails and in the Einstein only resets to flash when triggered after the power is removed for 5+ minutes. While the no-flash affect seems to be activated by the TT5/MC2, the semi-persistent nature of the Einstein's flash failure even after removal of the MC2 is puzzling, and I am not sure where to turn to next - any other recommendations from the sidelines?

==== update ====
Well, now the Einstein fails to flash reliably at all - MC2 has been removed overnight and the Einstein has been unplugged. Turning on the Einstein without the MC2 and it fails to flash (well it flashed once) using optical or the test button - so perhaps something is non-op on the Einstein and it's suffered from an initial component failure. What are the options to look at that?

Thanks again - I'm eager for this to work...

Does the unit act like it is firing (i.e. audible recycle, red/green ready light, etc)? Unplug the light and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. remove the dome, and inspect the tube. Are all legs still straight and intact? Press down on the legs (using a cloth) to ensure it is seated properly. Remove the tube and inspect it. Any charring on the banana plugs? If there is no charring, swap tubes with another light. Does the problem follow the light or the tube? If there is charring, do not swap tubes, as this can damage more tubes.

You have been fighting this a long time, and still no resolution. My suggestion is to order
another Einstein so that you can start getting a handle on the source of the problem. These can be returned for any reason within xxx days, so it's not like you would be stuck with something that you might not need. Having said that, 2 heads in this case are definitely better than 1, so you might decide to keep it. btw/I have a configuration similar to yours, and it works as advertised.

Yes - testing again, without the MC2, after a couple of flashes - it stops flashing. The light has *always* acted like it is firing (audible recycle, red/green ready light, dip in modeling light, etc) - just the flash stops working the first few initial flashes.

Removing the dome there is no visible indications with the tube that anything is amiss - it all looks brand-new.

It is my first, and only Einstein so I do not have other tubes to swap in, and the light works for a few pops after powering up - so I don't think it's the tube.

The light is 2 about 2 weeks old with the problems beginning at about the one week mark. I was thinking the light would be fine forever, so I didn't save the shipping box - however it seems that something is in fact not working for a new light and I'd like to return it for one that does. I'll call the mothership tomorrow to see what my options are.

I appreciate everybody's efforts to assist - thank you.

Update 7/16/2011
PB cross shipped a new light, and the new light is working in every way. Great and friendly support on the phone, and zippy service sending out the replacement. Thanks again for everybody's assistance.