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caljimw
26th of August 2008 (Tue), 10:15
One year after moving 35 years of accumulations from one state to another, I was "reducing inventory" and came across a Sunpak 611 Thyristor flash unit.
I plugged it into the AC and got nothing (no capacitor charging?). Does anyone know if the capacitor can be replaced? I have an inquiry to Mallory, who makes the nearest (but not exact) "barrel" type capacitors to the one in the unit, and with Sunpak, but no replies yet.
Maybe the right question is: Is it worth the effort to repair?
Thanks
Titus213
26th of August 2008 (Tue), 11:51
A quick check of Ask.com says they are selling for something near $100. I would at least find out what the parts/repair cost was. I have an old 555 and have found it very usable with my 20D, more so than the EX series flash in many cases. It's just that big handle on it that creates mounting issues.
jgettis
26th of August 2008 (Tue), 22:51
How long did you leave it plugged in. When helping cleaning up a building for my wifes work I found a vivtar 283. When I got it home it would not work on batterys so I plugged it in and it still did not work. I walked away in disgust and came back in a couple of hours to find that I had forgot to unplug it. It started working after that even on batteries. Hope this help John
Wilt
26th of August 2008 (Tue), 23:26
Often times it is nearly impossible to find a capacitor of the right size to fit the flash, along with the capacitor Voltage and rating (microfarads). Do not assume that the same rating capacitor will fit into the space!
caljimw
27th of August 2008 (Wed), 05:47
How long did you leave it plugged in. When helping cleaning up a building for my wifes work I found a vivtar 283. When I got it home it would not work on batterys so I plugged it in and it still did not work. I walked away in disgust and came back in a couple of hours to find that I had forgot to unplug it. It started working after that even on batteries. Hope this help John


Thanks for the thought. I'll give it a shot. At this point, the only other hope is that Sunpak or Mallory come through with specific information, otherwise I guess I will have another memento of a misspent youth with which to adorn the garage wall.
FlashZebra
27th of August 2008 (Wed), 09:51
Did you give the battery contacts a good cleaning when you tried the unit?

Even if they look good there may be some surface corrosion that needs removed.

Enjoy! Lon