430EXII swivel - what am I missing?

There's a wire bundle which would eventually bind up as you lost track of how many times it had been turned.

AntonLargiader wrote in post #11443744
It's countersunk for the bolt heads on one side. You could probably get it to work, especially if you countersunk the other side, but there was no need to compromise the bolting area that way. If you didn't countersink the other side I don't know if the heads would catch on something as you rotated the head.

Because its already countersunk on one side, if you countersink the other side, the holes will get bigger and the screws will be loose.

Thx for the writeup!

Did this mod tonight, very easy!

My advice is to follow the blog posted above. And DO NOT remove all 4 screws under the flash head. I did because I couldn't get the head off and it was a PITA to reassemble because the screw brackets fall out of the slot. I had to separator the body.

I had a bracket fall out of place also; that's why I wrote to only remove the forward screw on each one. My pictures show both screws removed but it's not necessary. Fortunately I was able to shake/rattle/roll until I could find the missing bracket in there.

How did separating the housing go? Did you manage it without breaking the tab?

I tried "wiggling" it back into place but couldn't get it for the life of me, and got too frustrated.

Splitting the body was scary, I thought I was going to break the plastic. to be honest I'm not sure if I broke the tab or not. I was just too excited that i was able to split it apart and didn't even look.

When you break the tab does that side seem loose (not holding together)? Because I was able to put everything back together and it holds just fine.

I found that mine will swivel upwards all the way back when in portrait mode, but only straight down. Not too concerned as I was more upset about the stock setting in portrait orientation

kwando wrote in post #11456817
I tried "wiggling" it back into place but couldn't get it for the life of me, and got too frustrated.

I think that's where pressing the release button helps it slip into the rear housing. Even if you broke the tab it seems that the screws hold it together just fine, though.

That is the whole point of the mod! Yes you do give up some motion on the bottom, but the idea is that it's not useful.

great writeup!

kwando wrote in post #11456817
When you break the tab does that side seem loose (not holding together)? Because I was able to put everything back together and it holds just fine.

NO it won't be loose. Its still tight as before. Mine was broken the second time and I did not bother gluing it back again.

Just wanted to thank the OP for his How-To on doing this mod! I found out about it from another thread, & I did this last night.

You're a genius...that's all I can say!

It's sooo much better being able to get the flash to bounce above & behind my shoulder, rather than 180* directly behind me or 90* to the ceiling! I even shaved off enough of the metal tab so that I can still get 90* to the left too.

thx again...this made a world of difference for shooting portraits!

Thanks! I kind of take the 'new' range of motion for granted now, and can't imagine living with the flash the way it was originally built.

I'm still very happy with the 430. Perfect compromise of power and size, for me. If I buy another flash it'll probably be a 580, but that's only because I already have the 430.

Has anyone tried this version of the mod, it should allow even more swivel?
I am just not clear what second bump that needs to be partially filed off the author means.
http://www.jedi.com …n/photo/canon43​0head.html

I tried that
with my 540 last year but I broke the flash.

Andrew_WOT wrote in post #12219017
Has anyone tried this version of the mod, it should allow even more swivel?
I am just not clear what second bump that needs to be partially filed off the author means.
http://www.jedi.com …n/photo/canon43​0head.html

The 430EXii may not have the dual bump stops, but I don't think I have photos of that. Still, there's no reason why you couldn't modify the stop as suggested there. However, with the stop disk rotated there is all the rotation I need, so I didn't pursue it farther.

Damn you guys, I've just done the mod and opted to remove the plastic tab with a knife.
You know where this is going...

I slipped and I've cut the yellow wire that's on a plug with a white wire as well as the sole black wire that connects to the control panel circuit board.
Why did you have to make me aware of this mod?! :P

Looks like a next to impossible soldering job as the wire's been cut so close to head end, unless I can find where the wire's go which seems to the capacitor that I'd rather not mess around with.

Found it, both bumpstops mentioned are on the flash body, not the head
http://photos.jedi.com …0100315/IMG_362​2a_800.JPG