Smoke from flash, Rebel XT

While taking pictures a while back I noticed a burning smell from the Rebel XT onboard flash. This just happened to be after I received the camera back from a warranty repair. I did not notice the phenomenon again until today. Same burning smell and small whisps of smoke emanating from the top center of the flash, as if there were a little pin hole up there. It did not smolder, just a whisp of smoke and that was it. I will be sending this in (it was under warranty when they fixed it last time.....but not now of course), but has anyone experienced this type of activity? What did you learn about the fix.

It must be an electrical short. Really strange. I take it you were using flash while this happened?

Gerdav43 wrote in post #2192023
While taking pictures a while back I noticed a burning smell from the Rebel XT onboard flash. This just happened to be after I received the camera back from a warranty repair. I did not notice the phenomenon again until today. Same burning smell and small whisps of smoke emanating from the top center of the flash, as if there were a little pin hole up there. It did not smolder, just a whisp of smoke and that was it. I will be sending this in (it was under warranty when they fixed it last time.....but not now of course), but has anyone experienced this type of activity? What did you learn about the fix.

Boy, that can’t be anything good. I thought that maybe it might e a bug, critter, not software, and I just pulled out my XT and flashed away while I had my finger on the flash. It just does not get hot enough to smoke anything, even after 5 or so flashes. Send it back.

Doesn't sound like a good thing.

Do a search, I recall seeing a few other threads about this issue with various cameras. Don't remember reading any results though. I would definitely give Canon a call.

Figured out the problem, sent it in to Canon. Apparently there is an issue with how they put the camera back together when I sent it in in July.
I found that when in auto mode and I half pressed the shutter the meter indicated that the flash was necessary and the flash indicator came on, however, the flash did not go up. Press the shutter and the flash fires in the closed compartment. This burns the plastic on the body, thus causing an unbelievable smell. You can actually see the burn marking on the plastic. It's shaped just like the flash. The whisps of smoke I metioned in the previous post seem to be coming from plastic residue that sticks to the flash and then burns off on following flashes. Fortunately we were able to reproduce the problem at the store. They were very good to me. I said I wanted to document the problem and bring the camera back next week because my son has a soccer tournament and my daughter's Bday is next week (told her I did not need the onboard flash). The owner would not let me walk out of the store with the camera in that condition and gave me a store loaner. Guess she was afraid I might set my hair on fire if the flash did the same thing again. Just thought I'd let everyone know what was going on.

Wow! There's another good reason for never using Auto.

Well, I sent the camera back. It returned to the store and they said everything was working fine. Canon replaced the top cover (flash assembly), the PCB motor drive and bottom plate (??). This is after they replaced the main dial, main PCB (printed control board) and top cover on the previous service.
Went to pick up the camera and they said they played with for a while and it appeared to work. I played with the camera in the store and took three pictures. The first were fine. On the third attempt the flash stuck down and was going to flash closed. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!. Took a picture for yuks and what a great plastic burning smell. They loved it at the store and could not believe it was still happening. It was very intermittant but I was able to reproduce the issue numerous times for the store owner. As for the cause of the issue. I still have no answer. I suspect that when they put the camera back together the first time that something was slightly out of line. Not visible to the eye. I found that the issue re-occurred depending on how I pushed the flash down. My guess is that part of the flash would get stuck on the body ever so slightly.

The good news - The owner called her Canon rep with my tale of woe. She had originally said that she was going to send it in again. I told here I was leary because they have essentially replaced all the inner parts of the camera. I would also feel uncomfortable selling the camera to anyone after it comes back knowing its problems. She agreed. Canon authorized a return of the camera and authorized a free replacement with another XT. I of course looked at this as an opportunity to upgrade. For an additional $200 I was able to get the XTI (It was $200 because they are announcing a price drop on the XT soon, I guess its run is about over). I felt it was worth it for the additional screen size for chimping, the added focus points, the sensor cleaning option and another year of warranty. Lets not forget that I got over a year and one half of service from the old camera. My first picture IMG 0001. I'm happy and I have a brand new camera. Thank you Canon.

Wow... all's well that ends well. Congrats on the new camera!

Ouch.. that is one awful story. Glad it ended well, though. And since it's an XTi, there's no way EVER it could be that half-baked XT finding its way back to you by some quirk of fate

Do I forsee a big external flash in your future?

Congrats! Sorry it was such a painful process.

Once the magic smoke escapes the wire, things don't work so good no more.

I am new to CDPF and new at photography, reason for my responce is that my husband bought me a Canon Rebel XT for my birthday 3 months ago and just this week had the same thing happen as you. The place where he bought the camera, basically laughed in my face as I tried to explain what happened, so I have no support from them. Could you go into a little more detail ( if you have it ) on what they might have said, did, anything.
Thanks

if someone laughed in my face about a problem I'm having with a product they sold me I'd have to demand a refund or replacement on the spot.

Kraig C wrote in post #2388798
if someone laughed in my face about a problem I'm having with a product they sold me I'd have to demand a refund or replacement on the spot.

Demand, yell, stomp, but in reality there is little you can do once time has passed on the store return policy. This is pretty much true for all places. Though I would never advocate laughing in a customers face as it is never good for business unless you’re running a comedy club, and i would never do business with them again as well as advise all who ask not to do business with them as well, the reality is that after 3 months you’re better off working with Canon directly. All the store will do anyway is sent the product into the service center for you.

Basically what happened and what I did is posted throughout this thread so I will not go into more detail. What you should do is not explain the problem, but show them the problem if you are able to re-create the issue. If it happened once I would not be so concerned as to ruin your photography experience. You also have nine months left on your warranty. Certainly if this is an issue with your camera it will occur again during that time.
I found in the basic modes Auto Mode, Portrait mode etc. where the camera called for flash the flash would stick down yet still fire causing the arrid smell. If you can re-create this for the store they should send it back to Canon for Warranty repair. You will generally be responsible for the shipping but there should not be any other fee if it is a reputable store. If they charge you to fix the camera other than a shipping fee (generally around $20.00) you can send it back yourself. Search the Canon Website for support on that issue.