Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I have serious issues with my CC since updating to v36 and have tried to reload v26 off the SD card but it doesn't obviously appear to backdate firmware. Is there any way this can be done?

My CC with v26 was chewing through batteries but otherwise worked without issue so this is the only reason I upgraded to V36 as it apparently fixes the battery problem.
Under v36, CC reboots itself regularly and loses connection to the lights causing major issues during a shoot. It does it often making it unuseable now. I am definately on v36 as it shows this when booting up and during installation everything went well with the update going as described on the PCB website so there were no issues in the firmware updating itself.

I was going to try and go back to v26 and call PCB Aus for a possible replacement after the next few days because I have 2 big shoots over Saturday/Monday and without the CC is going to really slow things down in a big way!

I'm looking for some possible solution for the two shoots ahead of me as time is already going to be pushed to get these done without losing wireless control of the lights.

What is the serial number of your unit?

003405

The power draw that was corrected by v.36 firmware was due to a part that was not introduced until early this year, and would not address your unit. Otherwise, power draw is not an issue, unless you have an isolated hardware problem. In this case FW would not correct this. Please describe the timelines you are getting, including screen on or off, the types of batteries used, and the screen brightness level you are using. From this I can determine if this is expected behavior.

As for the reboot issue, as long as you are not using rechargable batteries or low batteries, this is likely a hardware issue. You should contact PCB AU for warranty service. In the meantime, increasing the screen brightness to 40-50% typically helps, though higher may be required. This is independent of firmware (unless the firmware update should revert the screen brightness to 20%). Just keep in mind, the higher the screen brightness, the more battery consumption. Also note: the screen does not need to be on in order to trigger.

I have the first shoot in a couple of hours so will keep a close eye on what goes wrong.
I'll have to check settings for screen brightness, I think the default 20% is the highest I was using, I turned it even lower if anything. I'm using alkalines and I was at times using the CC for one or two sessions and the batteries were dead. Sometimes it lasted longer but sometimes I got one session out of it, went to use it the next session and it's dead. I'm talking about a 2 hour session with CC screen on maybe 5-10 minutes absolute maximum in total and actual triggering via CST so in no way was I getting normal battery life. No buttons were being pushed during storage.

I'll up the screen brightness for tonights shoot and see if it makes any difference otherwise I'll chase up warranty.

Thanks. :)

Just an update: I just finished a 2 hour session tonight with zero issues!
I did two things:

1. Removed all Einsteins from the CC and then opened all again from studio. (I "think" I had already done this since the issues but not certain)
2. Changed screen brightness from 20% (setting I did have it on) to 40%.

No issues for more than 2 hours at all after previously having constant issues every 10-20 minutes or so with CC rebooting and loss of communication with lights.

I have a full day shoot on Monday but after tonight, it's looking like one of the two changes has solved the problem. Thanks to TS for the screen brightness tip, very happy! ;)