Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Love my Einstein's color (lack thereof) and overall function.

2 issues are fan noise and heated plastic smell. This is the older version so I'm very mindful of the heat issue, but the thing stinks up the studio in under a minute! Girls are very attuned to smell and it really cuts into the dynamic of the shoot. I have to burn those ridiculous candles and run an AC - in NYC in October - to remove excess heat.

If somebody's put in good mileage on their Einstein by now, please tell me if the smell goes away?

Otherwise I wonder if Paul would be willing to warranty just the electronics as I am heavily tempted to mod my unit into a finned aluminum casing with a silent 12" fan.

-- Alex

Is there really nobody here with anything insightful or constructive to say about this?

I have the V1, but have neither a smell issue or a noise issue. I'm guessing the reason no one replied is simply that your situation is unique. As such, it is likely not going to be resolved on the forum, but a call to Customer Service would likely be your best bet.

It seems inconceivable to me that the Einsteins generate so much heat that you have to run the AC....

And expecting PB to warrantee the unit if you place it in another housing is just "way out there" in the Not Gonna Happen zone.

If your units are not functioning correctly, they can be replaced. But, with respect, your claims seem slightly exaggerated for effect.

The most insightful, constructive thing I can offer is that you should call Customer Service.

Thanks BDP. I wasn't about to consider changing the housing and fan until at least I tried v2, anyway.

As for the fan noise, can nobody else hear the fan and smell the plastic at 100% modeling light power? The AC was not for the Einstein alone, but it and 5 smell candles I was burning to eliminate the plastic smell.

Mine heat up a smallish NYC studio... I guess we're just smaller here so we notice it more. I don't have any problems with smell. The fan noise is loud... and there are silent fans out there... but I'm not overly concerned... I adjust the music to overpower them. Again, I feel like the smaller spaces in NYC probably make it more noticeable. If I had a giant studio (30x30) with vaulted ceilings things would be different.

There are choices . . . bright hot 250W lamps that require substantial fan cooling or smaller 100W lamps that require less fan noise. My $1000 RX600s have 150W modeling and twice as much fan noise. It will never be a perfect world and I don't have my God licesnse yet ;)

I can hear the fan, but don't have the plastic smell...how long does it take for you to notice the smell? I normally only fire up the modeling light for positioning...

"Yet" being the operative word here.