Did the PW AC5 fry your flash?

This is a poll to see how many of you PW FlexTT5 owners with the AC5 shield have personally experienced having your EX flash damaged which you suspect is directly caused by the AC5.

Please note that we are not interested in hearsay. Just personal experiences.

Thanks.

No problems here. Did have RF issues at the begining but now I am using small eTTL cord to connect my 580exII to flexTT5 and no problems so far.

I am also using 550ex on top of flexTT5 and that one works fine also.

Yes, I've had 2x 580EX II with fried main circuit boards. Both units would only fire a full dump in manual mode after mcb were fried. No ETTL flash.

One fried with this setup.... AC5+TT5+580EXII+Batter​y Pack+OC-E3 Cord
Second fried without the AC5 with this setup... TT5+580EXII+OC-E3 Cord

williejr wrote in post #11718410
Yes, I've had 2x 580EX II with fried main circuit boards. Both units would only fire a full dump in manual mode after mcb were fried. No ETTL flash.

One fried with this setup.... AC5+TT5+580EXII+Batter​y Pack+OC-E3 Cord
Second fried without the AC5 with this setup... TT5+580EXII+OC-E3 Cord

Evidence that the the AC5 is not the culprit, or at least not the sole culprit.

My guess is that some 580EXIIs are just more susceptible to overheating or breaking down than others.

So who is the 2nd person voting that they have a fried flash? I see vote results says "two votes" for "yes" option.

It would be good if folks also comment about their voting.

edge100 wrote in post #11718769
Evidence that the the AC5 is not the culprit, or at least not the sole culprit.

My guess is that some 580EXIIs are just more susceptible to overheating or breaking down than others.

I bought 4x 580EX II at the same time, the two that fried were being used during a simple portrait session. I was probably clicking 1- 5 times every 45 seconds. The other two, I use and abuse for weddings all day long. I've ripped off several frames with just the 580EXii + turbo II with no overheat problems during the course of the day.

I remember attending PW meetup in LA when these first came out. I remember, the PW rep mentioned that TT5 have a built in power management system. He even boasted about how the 430ex II on a TT5 would get you more frames, versus just sitting on the top your camera. I'm just saying...

Whatever the problem, it only happens with these two are a combo, at least for me.

I'd question any third-party modifiers as well.

My 580exII died with the PW flex with sock. I was royally displeased!!!!

I was told Canon replaced the entire guts of my 580exii. The board was fried amongst other things.

I had it on a Kacey BD. Regardless of the 3rd party modifier I did NOT abuse the flash with ample time to "cool".

ootsk wrote in post #11720892
I'd question any third-party modifiers as well.

Don't understand what you mean?

bobbyz wrote in post #11721939
Don't understand what you mean?

With the flash off-camera, there's suddenly more room to add modifiers such as softboxes, beauty dishes, etc. These usually require more power, and put a larger load on the flash. So while the OP wanted to know what could be attributed directly to the ac5, if modifiers are also used that could be a cause of the failures.

This is an interesting thread to watch, as I have 3 580EXII/TT5 combos. I never needed the AC5s -- actually bought the Flex units before they came out, and since I didn't have any issues with interference (I use them in close range less than 25 feet max) -- I never saw the need to go then purchase the shields.

But this thread caught my eye, because I have ALWAYS had heat issues with Canon 580s. And the batteries are always an issue as well. They get HOT!

So as batteries get more storage power, that means we use them longer... which is more heat.

Just thought I would mention that batteries might be contributing to this issue.

Has anyone checked for temperature issues when using external battery backs? I wonder if a 580s would run cooler.

Can we really expect a Canon 580 to work as hard as a dedicated monolight? If we push them to try to shoot 100 pops in 15 minutes, it that pushing them too far?

The bottom line is this all seems like a temperature issue to me. If you try to run a laptop in the sun and keep the hard drive spinning for a few hours... it will eventually shutdown or catch on fire. So is the laptop defective?

To me, this is a similar situation. Electrical gear running on batteries will have heat issues, unless you move the batteries outside the components.

ootsk wrote in post #11722085
With the flash off-camera, there's suddenly more room to add modifiers such as softboxes, beauty dishes, etc. These usually require more power, and put a larger load on the flash. So while the OP wanted to know what could be attributed directly to the ac5, if modifiers are also used that could be a cause of the failures.

What? Makes no sense IMHO. You can shoot bare flash at full power and put same load without any modifier. But the PW and 580ex failures aren't heat related issues. The new 580exII had thermal shutdown feature. It could be something that PW firmware is doing when controlling flashes.

KurtGoss wrote in post #11722220
This is an interesting thread to watch, as I have 3 580EXII/TT5 combos. I never needed the AC5s -- actually bought the Flex units before they came out, and since I didn't have any issues with interference (I use them in close range less than 25 feet max) -- I never saw the need to go then purchase the shields.

But this thread caught my eye, because I have ALWAYS had heat issues with Canon 580s. And the batteries are always an issue as well. They get HOT!

So as batteries get more storage power, that means we use them longer... which is more heat.

Just thought I would mention that batteries might be contributing to this issue.

Has anyone checked for temperature issues when using external battery backs? I wonder if a 580s would run cooler.

Can we really expect a Canon 580 to work as hard as a dedicated monolight? If we push them to try to shoot 100 pops in 15 minutes, it that pushing them too far?

The bottom line is this all seems like a temperature issue to me. If you try to run a laptop in the sun and keep the hard drive spinning for a few hours... it will eventually shutdown or catch on fire. So is the laptop defective?

To me, this is a similar situation. Electrical gear running on batteries will have heat issues, unless you move the batteries outside the components.

Finally used the AC5 on my 580 EXII with no problem.

I think I remember a thread a few weeks back on pumped up batteries frying a flash, maybe a 580, not sure?

ootsk wrote in post #11722085
With the flash off-camera, there's suddenly more room to add modifiers such as softboxes, beauty dishes, etc. These usually require more power, and put a larger load on the flash. So while the OP wanted to know what could be attributed directly to the ac5, if modifiers are also used that could be a cause of the failures.

I recall you were on the defense of PW flex when I mentioned my 580exii fried a while back.

I remember I gave my 580exii plenty of time to cool down. Thermal protection never kicked in because I've never abused my flashes to this point.

I'm not sure how theres any relationship between a "sock" ac5 and frying. I will say there seems to be a commonality with 580exii and PW flex's frying.

I'll hammer my Sb80DX nikon flashes with my cybersycs and never have a problem. Yet my wussy PC board in my 580exii fried because I used it with a PW flex (I have 4 of them).

I recall reading a flikr thread about alot of people having issues with frying 580exii's with PW flex units. Either its inferior electronics or something simply isn't jiving. I think its partly to do with inferior electronics because I fried a 580exii just by using it normally bouncing onshoe (2 times).

Sock is for grounding. Maybe it causes some short somewhere though the voltages on flash pins are quite small.