Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

We're currently troubleshooting a reoccurring issue with our six WL1600 and newly installed CSTs and CSRs installed in the rafters at our basketball coliseum.

On several occasions, the strobes will fire, intermittently, when not activated by the shutter - usually five or six quick flashes. This usually happens once or twice per basketball game, but hasn't caused any major problems.

Per the FAQ section, we've replaced the batteries in the transmitters, but the problem persists.

During our last basketball game, the strobes quit functioning altogether during the first half, and we discovered the circuit breaker buttons on the back of all six strobes had "popped" - no one saw the strobes misfire during the game, so we're simply trying to eliminate variables.

Question - if the strobes misfire in succession, will that cause the circuit breakers (reset buttons) on the back of the strobes to "pop"?

Jamie

I would have to answer this in the "chicken-or-egg" kind of way. The question could be "Are the lights firing randomly causing the breaker to pop?" or it could be "Are the popped breakers coming from the same source as the random firings?".

If all the lights are firing at the exact same time, and they all quit that day at the exact same time, then we have to look at what is shared commonly between them. The remotes and the power source are the obvious ones to me (if there is something else, please let me know).

The only time I am aware of random firings due to the remotes are due to a low battery, which you have exchanged. I will interject, that you may want to meter the new batteries to ensure they are infact as fresh as you would expect. I often hear of users buying new premium brand batteries, to find out they are bad right out of the package.

I have never heard of false firing due to interference, ever. But you may want to try a different frequency just in case (you may have a trickster in the audience).

Are the remotes you are using the "plus" models? This would be indicated by the presence telephone jack on the reciever (if it has one, it is a plus reciever). If they are, how are you connecting the reciever to the light for triggering (i.e. via the sync jack or via the telephone jack)?

The other commonality is the power source. Obviusly, they cannot all be plugged into the same wall outlet, but they can be plugged into a power strip or extension cord that could be in one outlet. Or the various outlets used could be sharing the same circuit. If all lights share an extension cord, or power strip, replace one component at a time to see if the problem disappears. If the lights are on teh same circuit, see if you can find out what else is on that circuit. You may have bad wiring, or you may have a fan or airconditioner, or coke machine or lights that are introducing noise back on the line which may cause them to fire.

A bad power supply can cause them to fire, which can trip the breakers, or the bad circut could cause the breaker to trip without the lights even firing.