|
Forums >
Photography Talk >
White Lightning X1600 failed me (AGAIN)
I have 3 - AB800's and upgraded to a WL X1600 when I purchased a large 5' Octagon Softbox The AB's 150 Watt modeling light was too weak for the Large Octagon softbox. The plastic mount and the mounting fingers also felt weak when placing the Octagon over head on a boom. I upgraded to the WL X1600 and was happy with is until on several occasions it overheated and blew the circuit breaker. I never use it at full power so didn't expect this to ever happen but it happens much more than my lower power AB800's. On one occassion I was firing strobes too fast and this irritating warning beep started and wouldn't stop. I turned off strobe and let cool for 20 minutes, but when I turned them on again the beep continued. I thought these were designed for Bang Bang performance, but this doesn't seem to be the case. Jan 29 08 03:33 pm Link Digitoxin wrote: Not me. I have 3 XL-1600s and i haven't had a bit of trouble. And I take them on location and travel shoots pretty frequently. Jan 29 08 03:37 pm Link Dan Hood mm/moderator wrote: Given my background in electronics, when I hear about a single user having multiple pieces of equipment fail in an identical manner, I automatically suspect either environmental or user-related causes. Building power and storage/operating conditions immediately come to mind as possible factors. Jan 29 08 04:09 pm Link I have 3 Ultra 1800's, a 1200, and a 600. In 15 years or so of constant use I've gotten 3 repairs done, twice for units that fell over. These lights are the only things I've ever bought that were worth every penny I spent! I love them even more than my (old) Toyota, my Nikon F3's, my D300, my Mac, etc. etc. etc. If the X series isn't as good, that sucks majorally...... Apr 23 08 07:44 pm Link EL PIC wrote: Any similar issues with even cheaper AB's? Apr 23 08 07:46 pm Link EL PIC wrote: I have used white lightening ultras (4 1800s and 1 1200) since the early 1990's. Original flash tubes in 3 out of 5. I had one that had the "innards" replaced, but have had zero problems with them otherwise. I have gotten my money's worth out of them and would recommend them to anybody. My calumet light stands have worn out and been replaced before these strobes. Apr 23 08 08:09 pm Link When I hosted a MM group shoot last December, I had about 15 shooters sharing 5 strobes. My X1600 was firing in very rapid bursts for pretty much the entire day. It took the abuse and has never failed me. Apr 23 08 08:13 pm Link EL PIC wrote: what ever man i have beez and wl for over two years and i take them every place not one bad yet. people call them cheep that cuz they got took for four time the $$$$$$ for te same bulb Apr 23 08 08:20 pm Link EL PIC wrote: And since when did something you spend several hundred dollars on become "cheap" Does that mean that anything under a $1,000 is considered cheap? I realize everything can be considered a investment, and you get what you pay for. $1500 lights should perform not only better, but LAST MUCH LONGER. I expect my $600 lights to work well, just not last for ten years. Apr 23 08 09:42 pm Link in 18 years or so of using PCB lights, I have had 1 fail me, they repaired it and had it back to me within a few days, it has not failed since, nor has any of their other lights I have owned or used Apr 23 08 09:51 pm Link lll wrote: I thought you were an engineer? If you are talking duty cycle reliability, yes. Apr 23 08 10:13 pm Link Lumigraphics wrote: Did you miss the key element--"even if it breaks all the time"? I can't say whether it's true for WL, but I do hear a lot of praise for their customer service. Who has used customer service so often that it's cited so often? Apr 23 08 10:59 pm Link Kevin Connery wrote: Well, I don't hear much about Nikon customer service but I've had to use it almost as often as I've used PCB's, and I can tell you Paul's is about a thousand times better! My SB600 has broken twice since I got it in Oct. The first repair took a month, this time it's been a month and I've heard nothing. Now that's crapy customer service! Apr 24 08 12:11 am Link I have 4 1600s and 2 800s. The only time one blew up on me was because I think I shorted it out hooking up a sync cable once. I've had one tip over from a 13' stand and still work perfectly. All in all, they've been amazing.. especially for the money. And yes, their repair and customer service is second to none. I love working with that company. Apr 24 08 12:18 am Link So far I have had 2xAB800 and 2xAB1600 for over 4 years now with no problem and they have been bounced around the inside of the car a few times. I trust them enough that I just leave the light itself on the stand (with the dome on ) and put the whole mess into the back of the vehicle. I have had 2xAB400's for almost 2 years and they are working great also. When I got mine, I figured at least one of the flash tubes would go out at some critical time I need one, so I got 2 for the AB400/800 and 2 for the AB1600, so far they just sit there in their boxes collecting dust. I am guessing close to 100,000 pops with the AB800's and about 50,000 each AB400 and 1600 based on shoots in studio and out and number I have taken in the past 4 years. My problems with AB's are some of the accessories need a little more work, but other then that my giant softbox and RR1 TX both broke after warranty (but were both fixable by me), I can live with that. Given I have had 3x primary hard drives go out back to back all from one company, My brand new car (previous to one I have now ) had to go in for repair twice in the first month, I have had to send three lenses in for repair, two of them twice (both of the second repair was sloppy Canon repair on the first time ) and I have had to return other things that didn't survive the warranty; I would say as long as the failure rate is low enough and the customer service at getting a repair is friendly, understanding, and fast; I am good with that. I have only called AB customer service up twice for other then an order, the first was complete stupidity on my part, fixed by them and the other was to see how much having them fix the RR1 TX would be (cheaper for me to fix ). My only gripe I have and it is a very minor one, is it costs too much to change the cover color once they are out of warranty.  Apr 24 08 01:33 am Link Lumigraphics wrote: The IEEE defines reliability as "The ability of a system or component to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time." If even the smallest component on the unit fails it is considered a defect. You may argue that all companies have defects and you are correct. What I would be curious to see is a comparison of say 1000 units sold from each company and count the number of defects per unit. From this comparison you could draw some conclusions on the true reliability of a companies products. Apr 24 08 08:15 pm Link IBX Pete wrote: never had a failure in 15 years of using - but then again, there is tomorrow Apr 24 08 08:16 pm Link Patrick W Photography wrote: And what happened when you contacted Customer Service on the issue? Jan 27 09 09:04 pm Link I have 4 but one of my WL 800 needs some love. It is at least 6 to 8 years old. Jan 27 09 09:13 pm Link Well, I liked my old Ultra series. Few years ago, got rid of most of them and up grade to ultra-zap and X series and few Alienbees. Every 6 month one of those are blowing up. Luckily it's only $50 to repair. Jan 27 09 09:15 pm Link my speedotron packs and heads have never failed Jan 27 09 09:19 pm Link Jason Holmes Photo wrote: My 4803cx power pack brow up on me twice, and cost me $500 to repair. Jan 27 09 09:25 pm Link BAH! Just realized that this is just an old post that someone has dug up... *mutter* Jan 27 09 09:33 pm Link lll wrote: *splutter* Jan 27 09 09:39 pm Link 215 Studios wrote: Bah! Grrr. Have a better response talking to the bookcase. Jan 27 09 09:41 pm Link |
