Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I did a search, but couldn't find anything. I have an AB1600 that's about 5 months old.
The flash tube stopped working during a shoot, so I pulled a known good tube from my AB800 and it works fine. I found a dimple on the tube that looks like a (pimple) deformation.
The top of the deformation popped off. It's kinda discolored around the base, like it blew off while it was operating.
My main question is, what's the warranty period on flash tubes ??? Thanks.

The flash tube is under warranty for the warranty period of the flash (2 yr for Alien Bees). The "pimple" itself is normal and does not affect the tube. If there is a hole that goes all the way trough it, that is abnormal. Also check the legs of the bad tube to ensure they are not charred. If they are, then there is more going on than a bad tube. Carred legs indicate arcing in the head from a misseated flash tube, and the head will have the same charring and will need to come in (and will damage new tubes). Also, broken wires and legs will cause a flash tube to not function properly.