Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/09/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Dan Cardish wrote: > > My Metz manual states that I must "form" the capicitor ( a poor translation > of something into English?) every few months Dan, This is common practice with studio strobes. The Swedish Profoto strobes have electronics built in that trickles energy to the capacitors at the beginning of each turn on to slowly recondition them. I do the same manually with my Balcars, turning the reostat to minimun (5 stops down) and leave on for a few minutes. Then turn it up a stop and fire and up another, and so on. Doesn't tke long but improves longevity of the units. A couple years ago I stumbled onto a deal of lifetime: an old 2400ws Balcar pack with 5 "bullet" heads, one pencil light head, 5 big Manfroto stands, 6 extension cords ($90/each today), grids, case and more for $900. But owner said pack didn't work anymore. So I called repair shop and was told $700 to replace capacitors. So I offered $600 and bought the pack. I brought it back to studio and plugged it in. Took about 3 minutes to cycle at all after about 30 minutes. Anyway, I just left it plugged in for about a week. Now it recycles in about 12 seconds (instead of 3-4 as should). I've been using it regularly ever since. Doesn't recycle very fast, but it is so powerful I don't use it except for still life 4x5 or big interiors or like right now when I have 4 P-system heads in the shop getting repaired. I own 10 cameras, numerous lenses and still I have more capital invested in lighting and grip equipment than camera gear. So you get to know about keeping strobes alive. donal - -- Donal Philby San Diego www.donalphilby.com