580EX II - Burn / Smell

I have a 580EX II and a Canon T2i. For Christmas I got a set of Yongnuo wireless triggers. I was using this setup today for the first time trying to get some bird shots on a gloomy day. I realize that ETTL doesn't work using this trigger. Being a slight novice with this flash it was still in ETTL mode and I simply turned the power down to -2 which seemed to be the right amount of light after a couple test shots.

I took a few more shots of some birds, easily a couple minutes apart when I noticed an odor. I finally realized it was coming from the 580EX II. The lens is smoked just a bit as you can see by the picture below.

What have I done wrong or is my flash simply dying again?

Note that the flash does work. My suspicion is that leaving in ETTL mode was my error.

IMAGE LINK: http://s1299.photobuck​et.com …4B9E_zpsfl43hce​v.jpg.html

http://www.canonrumors​.com …80ex-ii-faulty-by-design/

If a flash is left in ETTL mode but fired with a remote trigger which is not ETTL compatible, the flash will simply fire as if it were in 1/1 power Manual mode. If the flash were set at -2, that would be equivalent firiting at 1/4 power Manual mode. Leaving the flash in ETTL mode therefore can be stated to have 'nothing to do with nothing'!

Op also states "few more shots of some birds, easily a couple minutes apart when I noticed an odor. I finally realized it was coming from the 580EX II. The lens is smoked just a bit as you can see by the picture below." That also seems to have 'nothing to do with nothing'. However OP neglected to state how many times he had fired the flash, before letting it rest for a couple minutes and firing again. While that might explain overheating of the flash (and triggering the thermal protection recycle slowdown) it should not have resulting in the apparent lens damage in the photo.

I would say that it is not something the OP had done wrong that is the blame, but merely a flash malfunction that resulted in the lens scorch

The link discussses a possible IGBT failure due to inherent component weakness, and not associated with PW usage with the flash. If the IGBT failed on OP flash, it would fire at full power rather than at 1/4 power (as discussed in paragraph 1). Yet multiple successive full power flashes should NOT normally result in lens scorching! Ordinarily excessive flashes in rapid succession should merely trigger the thermal protection recycle slowdown, with no scorching of the lens.

I used my 580EXII (and 430EXII) quite a bit this Christmas (and previously) with YN622C triggers without issue. Sometimes firing in fairly rapid succession.

I would agree with the flash being faulty.

Thank you for the feedback guys. I took less than 10 shots in about 10-15 minutes so there wasn't anything rapid about it. I haven't used it at all since a couple shots in manual mode after this occurred. Hopefully it won't die completely.

That flash is about to fly to the great flashcatcher in the sky.

The link is far more in-depth... I've read the conclusion and the significant observations and it states that replacing the IGBT - the transistor that controls flash output - is a short-term fix. It goes on to discuss that the flash units all had scorching marks on their reflectors and that soot buildup and arching was taking place. (I personally think that this arching creates power spikes and damages the IGBT). If the flash head and the IGBT are replaced, the flash units won't fail any time quick. It seems there is a QC issue having to do with the flash heads.

Does this connect to the OP's appareantly broken flash unit? I'm not sure, but it could. Electronics are never meant to smell OR smoke, but we don't quite know if it was the integrated circuits that smoked or the plastic lens. Only a repair center can answer OP's questions I'm afraid.