JTL J-160's now fan cooled?

[forkball]

I use these strobes as an inexpensive kit that I take for location shoots. I have a few and recently had one finally fail on me... so I ordered a replacement from an Ebay seller. Yes it was a reputable dealer. It was actually Steve Kaiser. Anyway, the other 4 J-160 lights I owned were all not fan cooled, but the one I got from Steve is. I turned it on and heard a fan inside the assembly. Now, I checked JTL's website and they didn't indicate fan cooling on the J-160. I would have thought that they would certainly advertise any new improvement in design.

[FlashZebra]

I use these strobes as an inexpensive kit that I take for location shoots. I have a few and recently had one finally fail on me... so I ordered a replacement from an Ebay seller. Yes it was a reputable dealer. It was actually Steve Kaiser. Anyway, the other 4 J-160 lights I owned were all not fan cooled, but the one I got from Steve is. I turned it on and heard a fan inside the assembly. Now, I checked JTL's website and they didn't indicate fan cooling on the J-160. I would have thought that they would certainly advertise any new improvement in design.
Are you sure it is an improvement?

If your old units function fine without a fan what is the issue? Do you have reason to suspect that the lack of fan cooling caused your one unit to fail?

I personally do not like all the added racket that fans introduce, and prefer studio flash units that do not have fans. Being a bit hard of hearing makes the added noise of the fan all that more annoying, as the fan noise really inhibits my conversations with other humans in the studio.

Many studio flash units have designs where fan cooling is just not required, especially on units that have moderate output.

I routinely use studio flash units both with and without fans, but I really prefer the ones without fans.

Enjoy! Lon

[forkball]

Are you sure it is an improvement?

If your old units function fine without a fan what is the issue? Do you have reason to suspect that the lack of fan cooling caused your one unit to fail?

I personally do not like all the added racket that fans introduce, and prefer studio flash units that do not have fans. Being a bit hard of hearing makes the added noise of the fan all that more annoying, as the fan noise really inhibits my conversations with other humans in the studio

Many studio flash units have designs where fan cooling is just not required, especially on units that have moderate output.

I routinely use studio flash units both with and without fans, but I really prefer the ones without fans.

Enjoy! Lon

I can't say that the unit that failed did so because of excessive heat, but I can say that they did run hot. The fan in the newest unit is still pretty quiet. I can't really hear it when I'm not on top of it. I doubt that you would ever hear it at all if you're already hard of hearing.

Is it an improvement? Hard to say that for sure as well. Before they had a thermostat that would shut the unit down if it overheated... but if that failed, it could burn up the flash... but if the fan fails which is probably more likely since it has moving parts, it could be equally bad... time will tell, I guess.

[cdifoto]

I guess it's time to update your strobes if your fans sound like a wind tunnel. :D