Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I have x800's and they will be working fine - Come back to use them later in the day and it is a different problem with them every time. First, one unit after I set it off twice started a long loud beep that never would turn off until I unplugged it. Replaced it with another unit for that shoot and no more problems. Later in the day, the new unit did the same thing. Turned it off and on and no more problems from it. The next thing is that the slave tripper isn't tripping the second light. It doesn't matter if I have a sync cord or am using the CyberSync units - it just won't fire both most of the time (every now and then it will trip the second unit). It just seems like nothing is consistent ever, so I can't figure out what's wrong. I have four lights, and I've tried switching them out, but still continue having the same problems. I've been using these lights for three years no problems, so I don't think it has anything to do with the wiring in the building. Do you think its a problem with the light units themselves or with the CyberSync? Any advice would be appreciated!

The optical slave eye requires being able to see the flash from the "master" flash. If the master is low powered, or directed away from the back panel of the slave, or if the slave is shielded from the light of the master flash (i.e. behind a big softbox), then the slave eye may not trip. IF you fire a light directly at the back of the slaved light, does it fire reliably? You can also try changing which light you use as the master. One that has a wider beam spread may work better than the brighter light (or vice versa).

The alarm could be overheat or misfire. If it is continuous, it is likely overheat. Check to see if the fan is running when the alarm sounds (it should not come on immediately).