Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I was shooting the other day, and using my AlienBee 640WS as a fill.
In the middle of my shoot, I needed more light from the 640WS, so I started moving the slider.

And BANG!!!
There was a sound that came from (what I believe) was the AlienBee that was deafening. A very sharp gunshot type of sound.

Because I've been shooting for a while, I've heard of power packs doing bad things... so I turned it off right away and disconnected the power. I was able to continue shooting with the other equipment.

Is there a way to safely test my Bee, and find out if its still functioning correctly?
Any idea of what the bang might have been?

I don't want to send my Bee into service unless I have to, but its understood that I might have to.

Likely, it is a flash capacitor that has failed. This will require the light to come in. If you tried to use the flash again, it may seem to work fine, but .5f lower output. Or, there could be further problems. I recommend sending the unit in for service.

http://www.paulcbuff.com/repair.php