Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Once again, I am new to Buff lighting gear so please be patient with a new user asking questions with answers that may be obvious to more seasoned users.

Why is the flash tube cover so long on the einsteins? Is it necessary to have that much space between the front of the dome and the end of the cover?

Will the short shipping cover fit the einsteins, or would I need to remove the dome and modeling light to use that cover?

I am looking at cases for transporting these lights, and I would like to get four heads in each case. If these covers were smaller, the cases could be significantly smaller and thus cheaper.

If the short shipper cover will not fit with the dome in place, I am considering cutting a section out of the middle of the cover and gluing the ends back together. It looks like I could reduce the length by at least an inch and a half. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks for the input.

Gordon

Most likely its because the same cover is used for all the lights that buff makes they must have a million of these

Molds for short Einstein head cover are being made now. These things take time. No release date set yet.

That's great to know. I'll keep watching for them to become available. Thanks.

In the meantime, if I want to perform surgery on the existing covers, can you give me any specifics on the plastic? Is it just a basic polycarbonate? I want to get the correct adhesive to put the pieces together again.

Gordon

If you do a search on the forum here, I know someone actually did modify the existing covers, posted details and pictures.

I don't think it was a simple as cutting out a center section and gluing the parts back together--that doesn't sound structurally sound to me, and the purpose of the covers is to be strong. His mod looked very solid, and a bit time consuming. I'll be waiting for the official PCB Short Stacks :-)

You're probably referring to me. I shortened the caps on all four of my Einsteins. Pictures and description here:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1141&hilit=sewer&start=10#p7595

The only thing I'd add to my original posts is that cutting the covers down to size was done using a Dremel cutoff wheel in a drill press:



If you have access to a drill press, cutting down the original cover and then grinding out the PVC cap isn't at all difficult. Tedious, yes.

The alternate approach, as mentioned, is to just cut a slice out of the original cover and then glue the remaining pieces back together. Someone on POTN did just that and posted about it:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/sho ... tcount=708

Dave F.

Thanks for posting the links. Your mod seems superior. And, surprisingly, I guess the simple cut and glue method looks doable, too.


Cutting the base down to the notches so it can squeeze inside the domed plastic was the bit I was not thinking of, and that should be sturdier.

The head cover is ABS . . . easy to weld with PVC solvent.