Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I was on a shoot yesterday where after about 3 hours of use I was moving my lights for a new setup. I reset the lights, increased power to full and cleared it. When I pushed the test button a loud pop, like a gunshot went off which left my ears ringing. I immediately turned the unit off, unplugged it and retired it for the day.

I thought maybe it was the flash bulb blowing, even though I've never had one do that. Upon testing this light again tonight with the same flash bulb, everything seems to be working fine. My concern though is will this happen again and why did it happen? Most importantly, is it a safety issue? As a professional photographer, I can't have my lights seemingly exploding during shoots.

Has anyone had an experience like this? If so, any advice? I've been using these lights for over 4 years and have never had this sort of problem.

Thanks!

Probably a blown flash cap. This can and does happen with any type flash. Repair will be about $40 and customer service will be happy to arrange the service or you can use the repair page on our site

That makes sense to me, but if it's a blown flash cap why then can I still fire the flash? It seems like I should send it in for repairs regardless, but I'm just curious why it still works.

It could be the light is running on the other three caps or it could be the bang came from a cap that reformed. After it reforms, the cap can continue to work normally. While it may continue to work normally, we do encourage you to send the light in for service.

Thanks for the help! I'll be sending it in for repair soon.