Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I have 2-1600 and 2-800 Alien Bee lights. Recently, one of the 1600 stopped firing with the trigger but still works. It also started making a cracking sound when it fires and I was wondering if that is a sign of a bad flashtube or something else. Thanks for any help.

Unplug the light and let it sit for about 20 minutes, then remove the flash tube.inspect the end of the wire legs (not inside the glass tube, but the free end). Look for charring, if it is charred, then the head is arcing energy to the tube. If the leg is charred, the counterpart contact in the head is also charred, and the unit will need to come in for repair. It is not a bad idea to check that all flashtubes are properly seated, especially if a modifier may slip when mounting and hits the tube.