Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I bought the beginner kit, used it once, then packed it up to take it on location to shoot with one time. I never took it out of the case, kept it protected from knocking around and now it won't flash. The modeling light comes on fine but it flat out, won't flash. I have taken out the bulb, and reset it I have tried everything I can think of and nothing works. I can't find a way to buy a replacement bulb to find out if the bulb is bad, but I don't know how else to troubleshoot this. I know plenty of people who swear by Alien Bees but if I can only use the flash once and then I am done... really I doubt I want to buy more.

Are you trying via sync cord or test button to fire it? If you are not using the test button, try that. If you are using the test button, does the Ready light on the back glow green or red? Do you get any flash at all, even a very faint flash? Do you hear a click when you hit the button?

Test button and the sync cord, neither work. The Ready light shows green. No click, no flash.

The click to be heard is very faint. If you can hear the click, it is probably a bad flash tube. Otherwise it is likely a trigger coil failure, as the unit is getting charged (indicated by the green light). If you still do not hear the click, then the light would need to come in for service. If the light is less than 2 years old, then the repair and shipping from us to you would be covered under warranty. please see this link for our address and a link to our repair forum (please send it to the Tennessee address if you are in the U.S.).

http://www.alienbees.com/contact.html#repair