Flash cobra canon 580ex has more power

[vassago076]

hello everyone and happy new year 2016 !!

here I am a photographer and my flash cobra 580 exII of which I attach the photo has almost no more power



I would like to fix it because on the one hand I do not like the mess but also by what a baby like that costs relatively expensive but voila! yet a good handyman in many areas, electronics is not part of it so mounting / dismounting will be on my ropes but finding the breakdown is something else.

can you help me knowing that i have a tester and i am ready to open the beast ..


thank you all.

[gust]

photos of internal electronics would not be luxury for us to decide.
for a lack of power, it is often the capacitors (first wearing part in power electronics) that are at fault but nothing sure without knowing what other electronic elements are your flash ...

[Obamot]

And also, with new alkaline batteries, and adapted for this type of "draw" what does that give? Are the contacts in the battery compartment oxidized (this happens very often, it is necessary to clean these contacts which may have barely visible surface oxidation).

[Christophe]

Isn't there also a capacitor to check?

[simplino]

If the flash was used a lot and gradually decreased in power, it is possible that the flash bulb (under vacuum with expensive electrodes and rare gas inside) is worn out, dead, because the great power quickly wears out the electrodes and the gases inside (bulb a little darkened ??) !!!

So then you have to change this special and expensive bulb (otherwise its lifespan would be extra short, less than 100 flashes).

[Christophe]

About darkening, I remember the single-use flashes ... a cube that rotated and allowed the use of 4 flashes so ...

Not very economical ... but still better than the billions of disposable cameras that were all the rage in the 80s and 90s ...

[dede2002]

Hello,

Once I repaired my flash, which had oxidized contacts, and then I hit the circuit ... it hurt me very much!
So be careful where you put your fingers as soon as the cover is open!

[Christophe]

Hence my remark: there is certainly a capacitor!

It may be he who raises concerns. The capacitors have a lifetime limited to X cycles X varying widely depending on the quality of manufacture.

Putting lower quality capacitors is a technique known in planned obsolescence

[gust]

a flash tube with an extreme lifespan, and normally it's all or nothing, it tells us about a lack of power, so I deduce that it is probably not in question. If I'm wrong, it's black, it's very easy to see.
a lack of power is more to put in connection with the discharge capacitor, which suddenly sends energy to the lamp, which would have weakened.

CAUTION: even without the batteries, this capacitor can still be charged !!! at more than 300V ! when it discharges into the lamp, it is near 10 000 V that it receives via a transformer, otherwise no flash or very brief ...

So significant life risk !!! If and only if you feel fit, you must test, with a voltmeter, the discharge capacitor which must be close to 0V, otherwise you must discharge it (ex: a 230v 40w lamp) before any manipulation

[Obamot]

I didn't dare say it ^^
Yes it is correct, a safety lamp in short.