HELP! I have a problem that stinks!

[linda guerra]

OK so I have these two Vivitar flashes that I mount on Bogen lightstands with

umbrella brackets and trigger with pocket wizards a la Strobist...I went to do

a portrait and I hear this really loud <POP>, twice, and a bad smell ensues,

this happened to both flashes, one no longer works (will no longer fire, but

does show a ready lite) and one does (but did make a weird pop the last time I

tried it) They have never behaved this way before and to have this crop up

with both of them today was beyond my scope of knowledge. Does anyone know

what happened and what the fix is (I know I probably need to buy new

flashes)...but I would like to know what happened so I can avoid that in the

future, if indeed there was something I did wrong.

Thanks,

Linda

[bob_sunley]

Well the bad smell indicates a blown component. Which models do you have? If older models, just replace, usually cheaper than repairing. Unless you were running them off an external power pack, I doubt you did anything wrong, this is how most flashes die by the way.

[davidlong]

I remember quite a few similar stories regarding new Vivitar 285HV's on the Strobist flickr boards. The collective impression they gave was that the reliability of the new Vivitars wasn't quite what one would hope for. It may, however, just be the result of having an awful lot of them out there because of Midwest's bundling them in the Strobist kits that they sell. Nevertheless, I resolved for future purchases to just stick with the older Nikons.

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

My Nikon 80-DX recently malfunctioned - the flash head continuously zoomed in and out and the menu was no longer visible. Nikon wanted $120 for repair - so that one is in the trash bin now. I suspect that your Vivitar flashes are destined to join my flash in a land fill.

 

I've concluded that I don't want fancy features, such as zoom, because it's just another item that can break. So now I own a nice pair of Alien Bee mono lights. Less portable, but very simple and well built. Plus I need the power for shooting 4x5.

[linda guerra]

Thanks for the responses, guys. It just puzzled me as to why they would all of a sudden start popping. As I said in 1st post, I used PW to trigger. I did indeed purchase as part of Strobist Pro kit from Midwest. I wrote them to tell them of my problem as they are hardly six months old. We will see what happens.

Linda

[russ_butner___portland__or]

I have a couple of the older Viv 285 poppers, and they're still going strong.

 

Russ

[davidlong]

With Midwest, I'd suggest picking up the phone and calling. E-mails to them seem to get low priority, but if you call, they're very helpful. I ordered an umbrella from them once, but they accidentally sent the wrong type. An e-mail went unanswered for several days, but when I called to ask how I should go about swapping it, they said "don't worry about it" and just sent the correct item out immediately. So I wound up with two umbrellas for the price of one, and no additional shipping charge.

[GerrySiegel]

Linda, I have owned two Korean manufactured Vivitar 285 HVs for over 15 years and used them with optical slaves,no problems ever-they seem to have built in protection circuits I suspect. The only product failure I had was with the connection of the two prongs for high voltage input.

 

But the power transformers inside should not "pop" nor would I expect capacitor failure in a fresh product. Can you hear the capacitors charging sound? I like you may begin to wonder about the quality control on of the renewed line of Vivitar 285 HV, which were discontinued for a while and back by public demand.

 

Sorry to hear of your situation. These flashes are,at least by design, a simple and rugged unit. I haven't spent much time w Strobist,but I am sure they sell a lot of Vivitars,thyristor simple and relatively high guide number... And I hate to think the flashtube element would burn out like that--ouch,that is always possible,but shouldn't be! Competitive units are made by Sunpak and some Metz models,as you know.

 

A good how to do it book I have used by a Vivitar plus other units user writer is this one in the event you haven't seen it,not current but a good basic reference I like a lot, called Mastering Flash Photography. Made for guys like me,lots of pictures:-)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Flash-Photography-Advanced-Techniques/dp/0817445455/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197848104&sr=8-1

 

 

Gerry

[GerrySiegel]

Also,If your are using AC power from wall outlets,that also could be involved,but it is a remote possibility only, voltage overload?. Bummer.