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Photo Forum / Film Photography / Other Equipment / February 2005Norman P800D power pack, LH2000 lamphead question
Hello I have the above listed Norman P800D power pack and a pair of LH2000 lampheads. I recently picked these up and am not familiar with them. When I push the test button, I can see (and hear) electricity arcing through the flash-tube but I don't actually get a flash. The small 250W ESS bulbs are missing. Does anyone know if the solution is as easy as simply replacing these missing bulbs? Thank you > I have the above listed Norman P800D power pack and a pair of LH2000 > lampheads. I recently picked these up and am not familiar with them. > When I push the test button, I can see (and hear) electricity arcing > through the flash-tube but I don't actually get a flash. The small > 250W ESS bulbs are missing. Does anyone know if the solution is as > easy as simply replacing these missing bulbs? The 250w bulb is the modeling light, should not have anything to do with the flash. does the flash tube glow and/or flicker like a neon sign? I think that means their is something wrong with pack. (or something wrong with the tube like its cracked) these type of packs need to be charged up very often, when they sit around the big capacitors inside deform. the act of charging them up is called reforming. leaving one sit around for a couple months can kill the power pack. When used in a working studio they last for decades, literally the more you use them the longer they last. try leaving it on for an hour and then try it, see if that helps it, give a half dozen pops and then leave it some more. some times you can resuscitate a cell on the verge of collapse or whatever they do inside. I know with some packs you need to have one head plugged into the first socket. try switching the heads into that first one. make sure the other sockets are off if their is no head in it. try one head at a time. one bad bulb or bad trigger circuit can misfire them all. go to Norman's site and make sure the LH 2000 head is supposed to go into the 800 pack, I am pretty sure they do, I used to have this set, but mostly I used the junior 202 and 500 series. <<<<leaving one sit around for a couple months can kill the power pack. >>>>> It takes a lot longer then a few months. A pack could sit for 2-3 years with no effect. Probably much longer then that. I've been playing around with this for a couple of days now. I haven't really kept track off what I've done in a systematic fashion, but I have noticed some obvious tendencies. This first time, I let it charge for about 45 minutes and it worked. It required about 30-45 minutes to charge again before it would flash again. Eventually I got it down to about 15 minutes. It doesn't seem to charge any quicker than that. This pack has two sides (4 sockets). Side 2 doesn't seem to be working at all, but I only have two lampheads to test it. I get the same results with either lamphead, so the problem is definately in the pack. How long should it take to charge the caps in order to get a flash with a normally operating pack? I'm assuming it shouldn't be more than a few seconds. Is it possible to buy replacement capacitors for these? >> I have the above listed Norman P800D power pack and a pair of LH2000 >> lampheads. I recently picked these up and am not familiar with them. [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] >the 800 pack, I am pretty sure they do, I used to have this set, but mostly >I used the junior 202 and 500 series. [SNIP] > This first time, I let it charge for about 45 minutes and it > worked. It required about 30-45 minutes to charge again > before it would flash again. Eventually I got it down to about > 15 minutes. It doesn't seem to charge any quicker than that. [SNIP] > How long should it take to charge the caps in order to get a > flash with a normally operating pack? I'm assuming it > shouldn't be more than a few seconds. I don't know this particular pack, but since no one else has answered in a couple of days...: Normally the pack will fully charge in seconds. The initial charge may be slower: this is usually a design feature designed to charge the cap.s slowly when you first plug the pack in, in order to 're-form' them and prolong their life. After that each recharge is pretty fast, maybe four seconds or so is a fair average. This definitely sounds like a capacitor problem. There are a few other things that might cause it, but assuming you don't hear any arcing from inside the pack, or smell burning, it isn't all that likely to be anything other than the cap.s. > Is it possible to buy replacement capacitors for these? Yes. I would expect Norman will sell them - they have a limited service life and the manufacturer of the packs will see it as part of good after-sales service to make the parts available. A Norman service place will be able to obtain and fit them. Alternatively, there is a reasonable chance that they are standard electronic component. If you know anyone who knows this stuff - and whose work you have confidence in - you could get them to look inside and see if it is a stock part they can order at probably much lower cost than the manufacturer charges, and just solder them in. Of course, this will void the warranty, and you are talking high voltages, so do it at your own risk. Peter > How long should it take to charge the caps in order to get a flash > with a normally operating pack? I'm assuming it shouldn't be more than > a few seconds. > > Is it possible to buy replacement capacitors for these? they say that flash capacitors are one of the more dangerous things to mess with, even a dead cell that has been grounded can still pack a wallop. There used to be a FAQ about flash repair and it started off with all kinds of warnings like that. I'd just send it to Norman. they are supposed to recharge in seconds. |
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