Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hello Tech Forum,

I am a long time White Lightening and Alien Bee user, and I just experienced something strange. On one of my UltraZap 1600 the modeling light fluctuates going brighter then dimmer. If I remove the modeling light the strobe behaves normally. If it is left in and turned on, the will not fire sometimes when depressing the test button. I mainly use these lights with the Vagabond and the new Vagabond mini, so the modeling lights are not that vital too me. I am wondering if the light needs to be checked out and what this behavior means. Thanks alot.

Have you tried different bulbs to see if the problem persists? Which bulb do you ave installed now? Are you running the light off the VII when the fluctuation is happening? If so, try from the wall.

Thanks for the quick reply. I have changed bulbs and I am running from the main outlet in the wall. I switched the bulbs from the working light to the one with problems and I still experienced the fluctuation. I wonder if there is a short in the modeling light. Since I do not run the modeling light much, I am wondering if the strobe is ok. Thanks for all your help.