Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Any issues with using the RR1 and the X1600? It seems my lights start acting up whenever I have the RR1 plugged in, or at least one of them does I haven't kept track of which gave me the problem or both.

Not firing at all, and/or often they will beep on trigger. I can hear a very faint "click" of a relay inside when triggering and they don't fire. Everything else seems to work; model, tracking, power adjustment, fire, etc. When they work, they work, and when they stop, they stop. Pop out the phone cord and shoot off of optical slave and it never misses a beat. I don't seem to have any issues using the RR1 and either my Ultra 600 or Ultra 1200 so I'm fairly well convinced that the problem isn't with the transmitter or receivers.

Maybe it is another issue that is just coincidence but two days in a row I had issues with an X1600 minutes after connecting a RR1.

Thanks,

Pete

First, make sure both power sliders are set to the far right (full power). Also, if you use a power strip or extension cord, remove it to eliminate them as a fault. You may also want to try on a diferent outlet.

Also, check that the RJ11 connections in the light are evenly spaced and at the same height.

The problem sounds like a grounding issue and may manifest itself in some lights over others. These steps may help, or we may need to go further.

Thanks for the quick reply. All of these are older units so what you say about the pins in the RJ-11 connectors makes a ton of sense, I'll check them out. Although all of the equipment is in excellent physical shape and not abused, I did have to fix a broken cold solder joint on the 1/8" phono jack inside the transmitter so other wear of mechanical connectors is logical.

I will also try some new phone cords. Are the ferrites absolutely critical? They can't really be transferred without an RJ-11 crimping tool. If so I'll try to source some small split ones. I've seen them used on USB cables in industrial applications.

Also upon further investigation I may have a flaky connection on the trip leg of one bulb that could be causing some of my issues. When the bulb is out of the light, should the trip leg be able to rotate around the glass or is it supposed to be tight? For now I moved it to another light to see if the problem follows it. So far it's working but if it's a bad connection there that could change after it gets bumped around a time or two. If that is the problem it's a shame as the bulb is in otherwise great shape and still perfectly clear.

Thank you again! Once again PCB customer service tops all.

Pete

The trigger leg can move around the tube, so that is not a problem in and of itself. However, if there is a break in the metalwork holding on or in the wires, then that could cause a problem. Make sure you are using fresh batteries, and the RJ11 cord is not running along the power cord (they should be seperated). If you are using replacement RJ11 cords, make sure they are 4 conductor crossover style. The ferrite beads are more precautionary, but if used, that end should go in to the light.

I'll check those things out. Thanks again, you guys rock!

Just to keep this updated for future searches, some new phone cords did the trick. So far no issues with not having the ferrites on them.

The lastest problem was when I plugged in one of the old cords the light was making a nasty hissing sound and although it flashed when commanded, the modeling lamp was not working at all. Why it worked on my Ultra 600 I don't know, must be an intermittent break somewhere in the cord and I just got lucky.