Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

My AB1600 is 2 weeks old today and I've noticed this -

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e163/ ... eeTube.jpg

what seems like burn residue at the start of the flashtube, is this normal? My 6 month old Interfit Stellar is completely clean at the same place on the tube, I'm a bit worried that there was a short somewhere in the system causing this and that it might fail on me during a wedding gig.

TIA,

Chris

completely normal. The squat round pieces inside the tube are collectors. They are designed to collect impurities in the gas inside the tube, as it is impossible to completely eliminate them. Once collected, they will burn and deposit in the tube at that location. In some cases, the tube may have those marks when shipped from production, due to our burn in proceedures.

Excellent, thank you :) one less thing to worry about.

I noticed this too a while back after getting my Einstein(May), that it too had blacken in that same area. My WL X2400s I've had and used for years have a clean and clear tube in the same area. Glad to hear it is nothing to be concerned about.

RMS

Our flashtubes are made in Germany by an American company both high quality companies. To elaborate on Techs comment, there is a device at the ends of the tubes called a "getter". When the tube is produced it is blasted with high energy to purify the Xenon gas.

If there are any impurities, the getter causes them to collect as a black area at the base of the tube where they have no effect on the light output or quality. Without the getter, impurities can collect on the active portion of the tube and cause darkening over time.

The degree of blacken at the ends can vary from tube to tube and is of no consequence in use.

Paul, this isn't an issue for me, but I thank you very much for your clear, lucid explanation. Today, I learned something new!