Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hi everybody. Wanted to share a small story with you.

I had a shoot in water/on the shore recently and had the Vagabond II and some AB1600s/800s. Everything was fine for a few hours until everybody got tired and I stopped paying much attention to a stand with a boom and AB1600 with a beauty dish on it. That's when something has happened and that stand has lost its balance so the AB1600 with a receiver ended up in water still connected to Vagabond II that was on the shore.
Thanks to its protection it shut of the power. I've replaced the wet light and the trigger with another pair and continued shooting using the same battery.

I guess I'd feel much worse if it was a profoto head that ended up in the water :) But anyway, when I got home I took the light and the trigger apart and let them dry overnight before sending them for repair.

Imaging my surprise next morning when, without bothering to assemble them, I plugged the power cord and.... both the trigger and the flash were working like nothing has happened.

So that was a sad story with a good ending. I am not sure if the ending would be as good with a digital flash like Einstein, probably some low voltage chips would burn before the power shuts off, but anyway. This says a lot about reliability of ABs, doesn't it?

Best,
Alex

Thanks for the story, however, i must ask if it was fresh water or salt water?

No salt water in Toronto :) It was the lake Ontario it was enjoying.
I guess after salt water I would just wash it under tap water first before letting it dry.

Well, you may be fine, or it may be that corrosion can set in and cause issues later down the road. Entirely your call, but you may want to have it looked over to be sure. Fortunately for you, KHB is in Missisauga. If the light is under warranty, you may want to take it in before it expires, if it is not, then taking in now or later would probably be the same (except Mr. Murphy would be sure it quit during something very important!).