580ex self destruction?

[quazimoto]

So I just noticed on my recent vacation that my 580ex II seems to be burning a hole right through the plastic on the top where the light flashes through.

Right now the clear plastic is now a light brown color and it gives off a significant odor when the flash is fired a couple times. I want to know if anybody else has ever heard of this happening or if it is by any means normal as canon is refusing to service it for me which is incredibly annoying when the flash head is only six months old!

[TDFTW]

You're not using it hand held are ya......You have to use it hand held with the camera set at f10 and iso 100....

in all seriousness, my old flash used to do that until I replaced the batteries and the actual bulb inside it.

[quazimoto]

Well I've used this flash on the camera as well as being an off camera slave. I just don't see why it should be over heating like this, it seems very extreme to the point of literally burning the plastic casing. I think canon has a built in safety system I am correct that limits it to 20 shots per 2 minutes and then a cool down period. So either their system is faulty or the flash they sold me is you'd think.

[TDFTW]

The flash is definatly faulty or else that little buffer inside is faulty. Correct me if i'm wrong but i think it operates with a capacitor, and once that capacitor reaches a full charge it requires a 'cool down' stage to discharge the electricity.

That's how my old one worked too. Sometimes those capacitors fail, but I don't know if the 580 has that?

[quazimoto]

Well according to the instruction manual it does have some sort of internal system for protect it against over heating but it's obviously not working. Canon has told me this is something not covered with the warranty which confuses me since this is the main function of a flash head. it gives off a very odd chemical smell when you fire the flash 3-4 times.

[soupey]

Page 7 of the manual says after 20 continous flashes, let it cool 10 minutes....

They aren't designed for continuous use. The manual says not to exceed 10 full-power strobes consecutively. The 580exII adds thermal protection that the 580ex did not have, this stops the flash from firing after (i think) 40ish full power flashes, or 70ish half-power flashes...

Are you using an external battery pack? That will worsen the heating since you are reducing the time you have to cool down between shots...likely the reason canon doesn't want to cover it.

[AccentAE86]

If the safety cool off hasn't kicked in and you're still burning a hole through the plastic, then something is wrong. I would definitely get it checked out. That is not normal.

[quazimoto]

The safety cooling does kick in. I do use the CP-E4 battery packs to make my life easier. I usually find you have the distinct smell after 3 to 4 shots. So is this just a bad strobe or something else? It is a 580EX II just for the record as well. I am thinking of going to buy a 430EX II to use a temporary replacement as this thing quite honest scares me a little.