Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Well, my 2 Einsteins came today, and here are the results:

1st- Einstein works fine. Sure, it can't be 100%, the umbrella holder knob is missing (its not in the bag or box). Easy fix! Steal the knob off of number 2!

2nd- Einstein works up to 3.0 EU, at 3.1 EU and above the ready light never becomes ready. The lights power seems to increase a bit but not at the same power as Einstein #1. I swapped power cords. I plugged it in to a different switch on a different breaker. I swapped the fuse. Reseated the flash bulb. Nada. The ready light wont turn green above 3.0 EU. It flashes and recycles at 3 and below, but only flashes above 3 and never recycles (its not at the correct real power anyway).

Searching the forum is pretty useless (as usual) as everything returns a "...search query were ignored because they are too common words..."

I will put myself out on a limb here, flex my great technology knowledge muscle, and decide "It's broken. Call customer service for a return."

Other thoughts:

The "manual" or, "glossy sheet of paper folded in half" is the usual PCB manual. A lot of engineer-speak, written by someone who obviously knows the intricate workings of the strobe, which of course means its hard to follow and understand. Your eyes will cross and water.

Hire a tech writer! He will take the mumble jumble + all the assumptions an engineer writing a manual assumes and magically make it easy for the novice to understand. Seriously.

Luckily, I have been through this before with other PCB manuals and I tossed it, and figured it out by pushing buttons. It aint rock science though some may wish to trick you into thinking it is.

Remember, it's easier to understand the strobe without the manual.


Now the cybersync manual which came with my 2 CSXCV transceiver modules-

What do I need this for? It tells me nothing about using the transceivers with the Einsteins or the CC. Their was no addendum sheet of paper included.

Luckily, again, been through this before. Chuck manual. Fiddle.

The End-

In the end one Einstein working with my CC (well, so far. You can read all about my CC woes in other threads) out of 2 Einsteins ordered.

My original order was on 09/08/10.

Today is 1/31/11.

I hope my return doesnt take as long...

Still, I am hopeful! PCBs customer service is truly amazing and revolutionary (OK its not as good as Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but still). The whole time I have been able to use and make money from 2 x 1600s that I had ordered and exchanged for the 2 Einsteins. Pretty amazing...

-Steve


Note-While some may think I would need a higher number of ordered Einsteins to come to the conclusion of 50%, you would be wrong.

I had a 100% chance of getting one working one and one broken one, since thats what I got :)

Bad luck on your part Mate.

While i definitely sympathize with your plight, before you go all chicken little on us I think you need to take into account that a whole lotta folks have receive their Einstiens without any defects.

I've got seven of them and they get a lot of constant use. Every single one of the Enistiens that I've received has performed flawlessly.

Don't buy any lottery tickets for a while.

Thanks Photoflight.

I understand that there are X number of units made, and inevitably there are y number of units that dont work correctly, and that Z number of customers get them.

I just hate being a Z number is all.

Anyway I will start buying lotto tickets now. I figure I must have used up my bad luck by now!

Also, I hear 7 is a lucky number. I should have ordered 7.

You have an email regarding this light and its exchange, as well as other information about other orders.

Replacement on its way and call tag for return to be emailed. And I didn't even need to pick up the phone!

Even without the amazing customer and technical assistance that PCB offers I would still buy my gear from them.

The customer and technical support is the icing on the cake. 2 layers of icing!

3 layers even!

Maybe 7!


Perhaps the cake can be submerged in a large vat of icing, and dipped a few times, until the whole cake is covered with an extremely thick layer of icing?


And then dip it a few more...



Thanks PCB!

We strive to make every effort to ensure you have the advertised product you purchased, and have no problems with that. However, we do feel the title was misleading in that the overall chances of getting a working Einstein are far far greater than 50%, even though we understand you had a 50% sucess rate, so far. In light of this, I did change the title to more accurately reflect the nature of the post.

Thats fine. I only did it to get attention anyway :)