Flash firing and umbrella setup????

[Ralph III]

Hello,


I just ordered a softlighter with brackets from Adoroma and have an issue.


The hot shoe on the bracket is all metal and when I attemptedto insert my flash it kept firing it? A puff of smoke came outof the flash on last attempt but no apparent damage only now I am apprehensive.


Was this occuring simply because I had the unit "on' while inserting and as long as it is "off", there will be no issues?


One other thing. I used mytwo flashes in a master/slave scenario, in ETTL at 1/1, and the flashes blew out my test subject? I can manually change the settings but I thought the flash system was supposed to adjust everything automatically inETTL mode?


Thanks, Ralph

[Sean Setters]

You can easily short out and damage a flash if the firing pin is touching a metal surface. There's a simple way to prevent it, though--put a piece of gaffer's tape on the shoe mount of the swivel to act as a buffer.

[Shea Design]

A full flash dump may be the result of poor IR communication between Master & Slave, or sometimes just cycling through the modes and or restarting the flashes and camera seems to reset ETTL II functions. - Little puff of smoke!!


-Shea

[Ralph III]

I called Canon Customer support and confirmed the issue was with inserting the flash while turned "on". This caused the unit to ground per sey with making contact with only the first "contacts".I reinserted the unit while "off" and no problems but did considerusing electrical tape. Everything on the unit, including flash output, seems to work perfectly so hopefullyIjust scorched some soldering as I just purchased that unit.


In an unrelated issue, I cam having problems getting the two unitsto communicate consistantly. Is this just an inherent flaw in design as I have changed batteries, have tested the flashesfacing each other at different angles, allowed recharge time,etc.


Sometime it will flash then sometimes it will not? Sometimes,I can do a "test" flash for comminicationswhich will work finebut then when doing an actual flash the slave will not fire?


Any suggestions? Thanks

[Sean Setters]

Ok, so you've got a 580EX II off camera, right? What camera are you using?

[peety3]

One other thing. I used mytwo flashes in a master/slave scenario, in ETTL at 1/1, and the flashes blew out my test subject?

I don't seem to understand "ETTL at 1/1" - is that manual power 1/1, or is that remote slave flashes in groups A and B at an even 1:1 balance between them?

[Shea Design]

That sounds like High Speed Sync has toggled off, perhaps after a sleep mode.. IME the IR system works fine in a small studio, outside you will soon go crazy or buy triggers. -S

[Ralph III]

Ok, I think the problems are solvedbut will address each one.


1) I have two 550ex's, no 580.


2)In regards tocommunications between the units.I decided to reverse the units (master/slave)and upon doing so they performed flawlessly.Oneis on camera with Lumiquestreflector/diffuser, the other is on a standwith aSoftlighter. Apparently, one unit does not receive or send signals as well as the other? I think the unitjust purchased does not pic up as well.


3) With a few tests in ETTL mode yesterday, the flashes were blowing out the room. Yes, they were set to 1:1 ratio as shown on bottom of screen. Anyhow, with testing today they were spot on? Maybe it was because they woke up from sleep as one poster suggested? Otherwise, it might have something to do with role reversal? Anyhow, I guessit will be amatter of figuring out what works best.


God Bless