Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hello all,

I have a troubleshooting question. I shoot in an arena and just randomly 2 of my 6 White lightning 1600 units all of a sudden started to fire as if the spirit moved them repeatedly. I am not sure if this is a sync cord issue, power issue, or if the units need to go in for repair. Keep in mind, I inherited these units, and they are at least 10 yrs old, as are the sync and power cords.

Any thoughts or help is greatly appreciated! :)

In an arena environment, there could be several issues at play.

First, there could be noise on the AC power supply. Are they on the same circuit as a motor, the HMI lights, etc? Is that circuit really, truly properly grounded?


Next, there could be a slave eye issue. The over head lighting will flicker, and under certain circumstances can trigger the slave eye. Or, if other photographers were in the area with flash (even a proud parent in the stands), this could set of the slave eye.

A sync cord could be bad.

Has this happened in a different environment?

Thank you for your response!

This happened one time 2 yrs ago to another pair in the 6 light set. However at that time it was the Pocket wizards. I then upgraded all of them to the Newest models, all on battery, no AC cords, problem solved. The only explanation for now, was that it was because they are not properly grounded, therefore there was a power surge. They are connected to a Surge protector, but it is rather outdated. I will definitely replace those and the sync cords. I do know that the slave eye would not be the problem, as they are disengaged and they would not be in an area to sense any other light. If that does not work, then I will just test them independently before sending in for any suggested repair.