Vivitar 285HV Flash and WEIN Peanut

[Sir Tristram]

Hi, I just got my delivery from B&H of 2 x Vivitar 285HV Flashes and 2 Wein Peanut Ultra Slaves ( PN-XL ).

The theory I had was that I would use the 285HV's as dumb slaves to my 580EX, with the help of the peanuts firing the Vivitars when they saw the flash from the 580EX.

Now on the back of the Wein box it says "Plugs directly into Vivitar 283/285 strobes...." .

My question is, do I need anything else to make the peanuts work on the Vivitar flashes as I can't even find the hole to plug the peanut into let alone get them to work together. Did i need to buy a hotshoe to plug the peanut into?

Or am I missing something here? the only spot I can see that would resemble the peaniut type jack is near the hotshoe connector and the manual call's it a "shutter cord socket"

HELP!!!!

John C.

[troymm]

it should fit into the pc cord socket.

[Sir Tristram]

Thanks for the reply Troymm. But I have tried putting the peanut into the "shutter cord socket" with no results. And then I tried either of the two peanuts in either of the two Vivitars and still no flash.

Anyone else with experience in this?

[Sir Tristram]

I may have found the answer myself. It appears as if the peanut requires at least 5v to fire the flash. Apparently the Vivitar 285HV regularly fires at around 4.3v to 4.5v, no nearly enough to trigger the peanut.

Here is a lengthy discussion on the short comings of the peanut...Wish I'd read this before purchasing them. oh well they will be going back to B&H pronto.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157600098851800/

[tnicol]

I think you're just missing the right cord. I bought a peanut trigger for a 285HV thinking the same as you, that it would plug directly in, but in fact I had to buy a cord, one end with a pc socket for the trigger, the other with the special Vivitar end. After that all worked fine. I use the 580 to trigger the peanut just as you describe. Take all to a local camera store. They should be able to fix you up.

[Gatorboy]

I think you're just missing the right cord. I bought a peanut trigger for a 285HV thinking the same as you, that it would plug directly in, but in fact I had to buy a cord

Are you pushing the Wein in far enough? I have had luck with my 285HVs and my peanut slave plugged directly in.

[subtle_spectre]

The Peanut does not require a cord for the 285hv; it goes right in the flash receptacle. I have a couple of these flashes and several Peanuts.

In my experience, you have to "prime" the Peanut by firing a flash directly at it a few times...until I started doing this triggering the flash was hit or miss for quite a few minutes.

Also, more current digital flashes using a pre-flash metering system will trigger a normal Peanut too soon.

Even with all the above. I do not get good results. I get spontaneous flashes and guest flashes always trigger the Peanut. The best system is a radio trigger for each flash, imo.

[FlashZebra]

In theory the Wein peanut can be pushed into the Vivitar sync socket on your 285HV or pushed into the PC socket on the end of the supplied cord (and the other end of the cord plugged into the 285HV).

Try both of these setups.

But, the Wein Peanut has a very questionable quality records with may just not be working. Many work, but many also just do not function properly.

In general optical slaves are very reliable, but the Wein Peanut seems to be an exception to this general rule.

You may want to read this thread about 6 hand picked samples of the Wein Peanut (picked by the president of Wein) and how poorly they preformed.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157600098851800/

If users are having trouble with a Wein Peanut, don't give up on optical slaves, just give up on the Wein Peanut. There are scores of other optical slave models that preform nicely and are very reliable.

Enjoy! Lon

[Sir Tristram]

Thanks for all your helpful advice.

I think you're just missing the right cord
I'm using the cable supplied by Vivitar.

The Peanut does not require a cord for the 285hv; it goes right in the flash receptacle
Tried this and it still doesnt work.

In my experience, you have to "prime" the Peanut by firing a flash directly at it a few times
Did this many many times without success.

I have come to the conclusion Peanuts suck big time and I'm waiting on a delivery of pocket wizards now.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my question.

[ghostman]

Hmm... with the peanut so unreliable, would someone have more luck going with those cheap $15 optical slaves on ebay? They offer pc socket and hotshoe, so it should work with those Vivitars.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Optical-Slave-Flash-Trigger-with-Sync-Socket-NEW_W0QQitemZ180173006231QQihZ008QQcategoryZ30087Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Might be worth returning the peanuts just to try these things out (no, it's not my auction).

[FlashZebra]

Hmm... with the peanut so unreliable, would someone have more luck going with those cheap $15 optical slaves on ebay? They offer pc socket and hotshoe, so it should work with those Vivitars.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Optical-Slave-Flash-Trigger-with-Sync-Socket-NEW_W0QQitemZ180173006231QQihZ008QQcategoryZ30087Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Might be worth returning the peanuts just to try these things out (no, it's not my auction).
Almost all optical slaves are reliable. It is just that the Wein Peanut is not.

I am not quite sure why almost all discussion about optical slaves centers on the Wein Peanut. How did this happen? It is if the dozens of other reliable optical slaves models are just invisible.

Please note that most optical slaves will not work with the Canon EX series of flash units (except the 580EX II), but optical slaves work reliably with almost all other flash units, both studio and hotshoe based (there are rare exceptions here and there). But, the cantankerous Canon EX units are just an oddity on the flash landscape.

The poor quality Wein Peanut should not keep you from using optical slaves.

In general optical slaves are reliable, inexpensive, tiny, rugged, and require no batteries. They also do not wear out or require any maintenance. I have several that I literally used for decades without any problem.

Enjoy! Lon

[Sir Tristram]

Thanks Lon, what optical slaves do you use if not a peanut?

JC

[FlashZebra]

Thanks Lon, what optical slaves do you use if not a peanut?

JC
I have some older Wein units with an HH connector (not peanuts), some generic ones without a brand, one Hama hotshoe unit, a generic hotshoe unit that looks very like the Hama, and a pile of Sonia's with PC connectors.

There are built in optical slaves in the several monolights (Alien Bees, and White Lightning) that I use at a couple of different studioss. And over the years I have used numerous other optical slaves that belonged to others with studio power packs that I have no idea of the brand.

All of these have worked great. Optical slaves are only problematic if you exceed their capabilities (range and in high ambient light). But I have never had any problem getting reliable basic function that frustrates a high percentage of those that purchase the Wein Peanut.

Enjoy! Lon