Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hey everybody,

I have this "tiny" problem with my ABB800 which I have no idea what to do about. Since I live in Europe it's not as easy to send the flash to PCB service (I got these flashes from somebody who brought them from States and then decided to give up on photography, etc.).

One of the flashes started to act weird - flashing on different levels (even if the slider was set to minimum) and almost exploding at full power. I noticed the longest leg in the flashtube was broken. I got a spare flashtube from a friend, installed it carefully but the same thing happens - loud crack once i turn the flash on and that's it (tried it just once, don't wanna repeat).
Since it was smelling like burnt electronics a little, I opened up the flash and found these burns in the circuit plate:

Despite the burnt look, the flash still works, just not the way I'd like it to ;)

Soooo.. What do I do now? Sending the whole thing back to US will probably cost more than a brand new flash... If anybody knows what's going on here I'll be grateful for any info.. :(

Well, the flashtube has arced at least, and it is hard to tell if there is anything else wrong. That arcing is what is making the zap sound. The eyelet has become damaged and would need to be repaired (at minimum). This would require the light to come in for service. Repairs are generally $40 (subject to inspection and re-estimate), including domestic ground shipping, and we would have to ship it to the U.S.. I would recommend contacting our repair department directly for full details on the process of returning the light to you.