Repairing SB-800 broken off wide-angle diffuser

Anyone know what's involved in fixing a broken off wide-angle diffuse

on an SB-800. I accidently grabbed and snapped off the diffuser the

other day and would sure like it back.

 

I do know about changing the settings so that the auto-zoom still

works and that has been done. Is this a part I can order and snap

back in place myself or will it require an expensive repair job at Nikon?

You can inquire through

 

 

 

www.nikonusa.com

 

 

 

via e-mail for a free estimate on getting it repaired.

Thank Gerald, but I'm interested in first hand experiences. The cost of shipping, repair, etc will be relatively high I'm sure. I'd prefer a 'do it yourself' repair if someone is aware of that option. Likewise if someone can confirm that it can not be done outside an authorized repair facility that would be useful as well and I could break down and contact Nikon USA...but frankly I consider that a last resort.

It costs about $35 at an authorized Nikon service center, and the turnaround is about a week. You can't get parts from Nikon, and probably have no business working around high-voltage systems than can kill you.

Thru personal experiece I advise DO NOT attempt repairs yourself by taking apart the flash. You are playing around with HIGH voltage. Pay the $35.00 and chalk it up to a learning experience. The capacitors store up a lot of voltage even with batteries out, make the wrong move and you have a melted flash.

Besides the potential danger to yourself and the flash, the SB-800 is a complicated bugger. The wide angle diffuser, snap-on dome diffuser, head tilt and swivel angle all control microswitches that affect the performance of the flash. It's a great flash but pretty much beyond the realm of DIY repairs.

Ok, thanks for the advice...guess I'll send it in. FWIW, I'm not really concerned about the high voltage thing... voltage alone is not the issue..TASERS use about 50,000 volts. It's the amperage that kills you and the amperage from a few AA batteries is going to be extremely low. Also, the capacitors are easily discharged by a hit or two of the 'test' button after removing the batteries.

 

The micro sensor issues and such are a bigger concern. I guess what I was hoping for is that someone would say "sure, the new diffuser snaps right in place just like the battery door without taking anything apart and costs only $5."

 

Since that is not the case I'll send it in at some convenient point in the near future.

Edward,

Can you tell me where you got the price of $35 for the repair? I did, indeed, contact Nikon Service and the first reply suggested a minimum cost, with shipping, of about $120 for a "moderate repair". When I replied and enquired as to that high cost they replied: "The least amount is $71.00 (which is a check and clean)". That did no include shipping.

 

I'm not a complete cheapskate, but, again, this is a very simple piece of plastic that simply slides in a groove and $81+ is steep for such simple and commonly broken part...IMO.

Evan, if you don't mind, you can check with Authorized Photo Service (APS) and see how much they want to charge. In fact, Edward was one of those who suggested APS to me. Nikon USA repair cost is always sky high although APS is not exactly cheap either. I am curious about how they compare.

 

See this thread on info on APS:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BxJs

Good Idea Shun....

Or maybe not.... APS phone estimate is $99! Looks like I'll be skipping my mocha for a few days to pay for this. ;-)

Yikes! I'm sorry to hear the repair rate for the SB-800 is so high. I really like mine and have considered buying one or two more. I guess I'll have to consider buying accident insurance as well, or reconsider and put the money toward studio flash.

If repair cost is indeed that high, maybe you can spend a little more and get another one, and use the slighly broken first one as a backup or slave flash. Of course, you'll end up spending even more ... :-) Maybe I shouldn't have gone there.

Yea, Shun, that's the quandry. I have an SB-28 and the SB-800, plans to buy a D2X this summer and a fully functional speedlight would be nice (I love using the uptilted head with that little built in reflector), but $100 for something so minor is hard to swallow...still, a replacement SB-800 isn't cheap either. Perhaps I could get a SB-600 as my new 'on-camera' unit and make the 800 the slave to save a couple bucks.

 

Oh well, thanks all for the advice. If the saga has an exciting ending I'll post it here.

In my case, I have an SB-80DX for my D100 and recently added an SB-800, even though I don't have an iTTL-compatible SLR yet. I'll add another DSLR soon and am indeed have a second SB-800 in mind, hence the earlier comment.

 

The SB-800 (and the SB-80DX) comes with a dome type diffuser. Maybe you can just use that instead of the "pull out" diffuser built into the flash.

 

APS did a fine job fixing my 200mm macro. Their main advantages are (1) much faster turn-around time than Nikon USA repair and (2) willing to fix gray-market products. However, they charged me $200, which is probably just a bit lower than what Nikon USA would have wanted, which tends to be around $250 or so for that type of fix.

Do use care if you disassemble the SB-800. Getting shocked by a flash capacitor, even a tiny one in a disposable camera, is very unpleasant.

Hi all,

 

Just had my SB-800 returned from Nikon UK after being repaired for the very same thing,

cost all in all with postage came to ?50, which is about $90 roughly.

 

Mind you, it took them a month to do it!

 

Hope this is some use

I thought I read somewhere that pulling the built in diffuser trigers the flash to adjust itself.

 

Is this why I am reading these prices to fix this thing - I mean don't we all use other types of filters anyway?

 

Also, I just bought one from ebay and the guy didn't indicate it was missing this, I need to know how much of a big deal it is, which will guage my recourse actions.

How easy does this thing come off anyway, I'm wondering b/c of what could have happened and what else could be wrong with this item. Thanks<div></div>

<p>I know it's been a while since this question came up, but I just broke my wide-angle diffuser last night. I did see that they can be purchased for $20.00 at <a href="http://www.sdcamerasolution.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=22&pg=1">http://www.sdcamerasolution.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=22&pg=1</a> I'm a little concerned about installing it, but I think it might just snap in. Also, the small spring will have to be held open while installing. Does anyone have an idea how this mounts?<br>

Thanks,<br>

Jack</p>

<p>I know this is an old thread but I wanted to share my experience repairing the wide-angle deflector. <br>

I recently purchased a used SB-800 on EBay. The doofus who sold me the unit failed to mention that the wide angle deflector was broken off and feigned ignorance. I told him to pony up for the replacement part and we'll call it even ($19). Functioning wide angle deflector is necessary for movement of the zoom head in the flash. When deployed, it prevents the flash head from zooming in response to user input.<br>

I stumbled upon photo.net thread warning DIY repair of flashes and risk of shock when opening up one of these units. Undeterred, I took nearly depleted AA NiMHs and set the flash to full manual and once the ready lamp came on, I manually discharged the flash and quickly turned it off. I set it aside for a day and took it apart. I was over-confident since I had successfully taken apart and reassembled laptops on numerous occasions.<br>

What a pain. Nikon engineered this thing so it would be difficult to take it apart. I had to remove the rubber parts first (push button for repositioning the flash head and the rubber cover the other side), then remove four different sets of screws of three different sizes before I could access the back-end where the deflector assembly can be re-inserted. In the process, I had to partially expose the mother board in the flash head. The main motherboard is in the body and you do not have to unassemble that part of the flash. I didn't have a manual; therefore, I ended up taking apart the swivel part also. It is also not necessary to do so for repairing the deflector. I had to retrieve the holder from the inside of the slot before I could re-insert the reassembled deflector. fortunately, the holder was not damaged. You also have to be careful not to disturb the spring assembly that is covered by the rubber part. Well, that thing popped out when I was trying to put it all back. It took me a bit of trial and error to put the spring and the metal plate back into correct position. The adhesive on the rubber part, once peeled off is useless. I was too cheap to spring for new rubber parts, around $20-25 if and when you can even find them on EBay. I MacGyvered it by cutting small strips of double sided golf grip tape and strategically positioned it inside the rubber parts and then reattached them to the flash. I crossed my fingers, hoping I didn't loosen up any wires in the process and fired up the unit. I am happy to report that the repair was succesful. Since then, I put the flash through rigorous pace and it has held up OK thus far. In hindsight, the repair was more trouble than its worth. Still, I am glad I did it since the thought of having a broken deflector on a recently purchased SB-800 was driving me bonkers.<br>

But, if the flash tube blows ...</p>

This thread pops up almost top in a Google search for "SB-800 diffuser repair"; and having just replaced an SB-800 diffuser I can now say it's not too difficult, nor dangerous. Hence the resurrection of this old thread.

 

So here are step-by-step instructions:

1. Safety First - remove the batteries from the flash and leave it for at least 48 hours before attempting the dismantle.

 

2. Safety Second - you'd be advised to obtain a wire-ended 1/2 watt resistor with a value between 200 ohms and 1Kohm, well insulated, such that it can be handled without touching the 'legs'. This is in order to follow Nikon's instructions, given later, as to how to safely discharge the flash capacitor.

 

3. In addition to the above resistor, you will need a size 00 cross point screwdriver, a dish or tin to retain removed screws and some contact adhesive. Long fingernails might also come in handy, and it helps if the screwdriver is slightly magnetic.

 

4. The dismantle: Make sure the flash head is in the forward horizontal position, i.e. at rightangles to the flash body before proceeding.

 

5. Prise off the two rubber grips on the flash head, using just a fingernail or a thin and sharp plastic pry.

The rubber marked 'PUSH' is held on with quite strong adhesive, so be careful not to rip it - slow and easy does it.

The plain rubber cover should come off more easily and four small screws should be revealed under each rubber.

 

Here's what the 'PUSH' side looks like under the rubber cover -

6. Here's where the safety discharge resistor comes in; bend the legs of the resistor to align with the two small holes indicated in red in the above picture. Being careful not to touch either leg, push the resistor legs one into each hole, for as far as they'll go. There might be a small visible or audible spark as you do so. That's normal. Hold the resistor in place for at least 30 seconds. Now the flash should be discharged and safe to proceed further.

 

7. To avoid the metal plate coming loose later, use adhesive tape to stick it to the lower plastic half of the flash head. It's spring-loaded, so well worth taking this precaution. I didn't and got away with it - your call.

 

8. Undo and remove only the top two screws on both sides of the flash head where the rubber covers were.

 

9. Undo and remove the two flat-headed screws on the underside of the flash head.

 

10. The top part of the flash head should now come away from the rest of the flash at the joining seam. It may need a bit of jiggling to separate it. The top plastic cover, flash tube circuit and Fresnel lenses will come free as a unit, but still joined to the flash body with a wiring loom. Carefully twist the unit to place it next to the rest of the flash. Like this -

 

11. There are two recessed flat-headed screws holding the whole tube and motor assembly to the top plastic cover. Locate these and remove them.

The second screw is quite well hidden.

 

12. Lift the plastic top-plate away from the tube assembly. There's a microswitch wired to it, so it won't come completely free, but enough to gain access for the final stage of disassembly.

 

13. You should now see the bare underside of the top-plate -

 

14. Nearly there!

Undo and remove the two smaller flat-headed screws. The cover 'hood' for the diffuser-slot will now slide forward and give access to the remains of the broken diffuser slide.

 

15. Put the replacement diffuser and reflector card into the slot-cover, slide the cover, diffuser and reflector card back onto the top plate and screw the cover back securely.

 

16. Reverse steps 14 to 8, being careful not to twist, break or trap any wires.

 

If the screws have got mixed up, there are only 3 variations - Four larger diameter flat-headed screws, two of which retain the flash-tube assembly and 2 that fit in the bottom of the flash head. There are two smaller diameter flat-headed screws that hold the diffuser cover in place, and four small countersunk screws that go under the rubber head-grips.

 

Do not over-tighten those countersunk screws. The back of the plastic head cover is prone to cracking. Just nip them up until there's no play - the rubber grips will stop them coming undone.

 

If you're lucky the plain rubber grip will have sufficient adhesion left to just push back on - although it has a little 'pip' that needs to be located in a corresponding small hole.

 

The 'PUSH' grip will need cleaning off and some contact adhesive used. Be sparing with it and careful not to gum up the tilt-swivel release mechanism.

 

That's it! It took longer for me to describe than to swap the diffuser from a 'parts only' flash into one with a broken diffuser. Maybe 30 minutes in all.

 

FWIW, there's an official Nikon SB-800 repair manual lurking online somewhere. IMO it's near useless, since Nikon would have you disassemble the entire flash just to get at the broken diffuser.

 

Good luck with any DIY repair!

Thanks Joe. Hopefully I won’t have to use your detailed instructions anytime soon. I’ve got three of the beasts, all in good shape.

I opened up an old malfunctioning Coolpix camera. Just curious to see what it looked like inside. It had been lying unused for a while and I had taken out the battery - didn't occur to me that that little thing could give me such a hard slap over my fingers!

Lost all interest in exploring the camera innards further.

I can only begin to imagine what a punch you can get from an SB-800.

I can only begin to imagine what a punch you can get from an SB-800.

Yes, you can get a nasty nibble from any electronic flash, no matter how powerful or feeble. The thing is that a Xenon tube needs about 300 volts or more to work at all. And it really doesn't matter if that 300 volts comes from a 100 or a 1000 uF capacitor - it'll feel the same.

 

The 'lethality' of electronic flash is greatly exaggerated. The most dangerous electric shock is one that passes across the body and through the heart. For this to happen you'd have to touch one terminal of the flash capacitor with each hand. Not a likely scenario.

 

Much more likely, if you don't follow safety procedures, is you'll get an unpleasant jolt or a finger burn. As you've found out!

 

The fact that you can hop about mouthing expletives after the event, and later relate those 'dire dangers' to others, shows that no real harm was done!

 

Using a lathe, circular saw, routing tool or almost any other power tool presents far more risk IMO. But if safety procedures are followed, nothing bad happens.