Vivitar 285 - bad foot? Why?

[tomweis]

<p>I have a Vivitar 285. It fires fine when I push the test button, and via the

PC cord. It will not work on the hotshoe of a camera. I removed the two screws

and took a look inside. The foot *looks* fine: solder is fine, wires are fine...

looks brand new actually. So what the heck causes a flash foot in practically

new condition to go bad like this? Or am I barking up the wrong tree? Could this

be a circuit board problem inside the flash, or does the fact that the PC cord

works preclude this sort of problem?</p>

<p>Where in NYC can I get this flash fixed? I don't want to send it to

Vivitar... let me explain. I work at a university in the photo department. I

mailed three 285's to Vivitar in February... they still have not even mailed me

a quote for the total cost. I have called them multiple times and each time they

have a hard time finding me in their computer. Those Vivitar guys are either

really disorganized or are real idiots. Either way I want to have mine fixed

locally if possible.</p>

<p> Thanks in advance for any advice.</p>

[eric friedemann]

If the foot is the problem, you could replace it yourself with this metal hot foot:

 

 

http://www.micro-tools.com/store/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=VIVFT<div></div>

[eric friedemann]

Also, I wouldn't send a 285-variant flash in for repair if it was out of warranty. The flash only costs $90 new, and I would expect a competent technician to charge over $90 to open, fix and close a flash:

 

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=61441&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

[tomweis]

Thanks, Eric. The Micro Tools site is great! For $9 I'll try the new foot.

[martial_baribault1]

Likely the PC cord 9 out of 10. If you want to test it replug it ans use a screwdiver at PC connector end to gently make contact with inside pin and outer metal contact. If flash fires, PC connector is not making contact with camera, if it doesn't then cord is likely bad.

[craig_shearman1]

If the hot shoe doesn't work but the PC cord does, what's the problem? I have one that has the same problem and I just use the short PC cord that came with the flash, wrap it around the foot a time or two to shorten it, and plug it into the PC contact on the camera. I agree that a Vivitar isn't worth paying to fix -- they're great flashes and I have four or five, but the repair cost exceeds the replacement cost.

[martial_baribault1]

I guess I initally misunderstood, Interfacing flash with camera on the hotshoe only has oftenly been a problem for no clear reason. Personally I always use PC cord anyway for those reason.Sometimes the problem is erratic wich makes things even worse .Personnally I would never trust the shoe and would stick with the cord anyway .Even if it succesfully work at some point, it is almost sure to fail you Here & there in the long run.Of Course for the best shot....

[steven_thompson]

I am new to photo.net but experienced the same problem with my 285. The hot foot contact is seperated by the sync cord pin when plugged into the flash shoe. Over a period of time these contacts lose tension and fail to close completely when the cord is removed. It is a simple matter to remove the shoe and work the contacts to increase the tension so they will close firmly when the cord is removed. It isn't necessary to replace the shoe unless you really want to.

[shaun_kelly1]

Hi Tom,

Did you order one of those replacement feet for your 285? I finally got around to installing the replacement metal foot (w/ external sync connection and test button) I had bought on eBay about 2 years ago! I opened up the 285 and found 4 wires (red, black, green, white), but the replacement foot only has 2 contacts! So, since no installation instructions w/ the foot, I searched all over the web and found 3 different postings in various web sites saying to connect the RED wire to the center contact and the BLACK wire to the other contact (negative) of the replacement foot and to tape up/not use the GREEN and WHITE wires. Did that and the test button fires the flash, but the external sync connection seems dead. Just wondering if you did this fix and had everything work?

[shaun_kelly1]

FYI

Turns out that it was a faulty replacement foot. Good thing I had bought 2 of them! So, looks like the Red to center contact and Black to the ground contact is the correct wiring.