SB-600 died I think

Last night...

Some friends stopped by and I wanted to catch some shots of the everyone. I grabbed my D70 attached the SB-600 and turned them both on, camera first. I aimed and I noticed that the 600 sent out a quick little flash right before I took the first shot. When I hit the shutter release I heard a loud pop from the flash as it fired. Now, the greenish illumination on the menu screen stays lit but no info is displayed. When I take the batteries out it goes out but comes back on the same way when I put them back in. Needless to say, it no longer fires on the camera or with the test button. I tried pressing the 2 buttons for a reset - nothing. I did actually take that 1 shot when this occured and the info screen in preview shows the flash type as an empty blank space.

Any ideas? I've only had it for 5.5 months. Thanks.

Call Nikon repair.
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Nikon D60 18-55vr & 55-200vr
SB400
Casio Z750

I have a broadly similar problem and have been in touch with Nikon Support:

A week or so ago I had my SB-600 (which has seen very little use in 21 months)mounted in the hotshoe on my D80 during a pub lunch with my son and his fiance. I took 6 photos over 10 minutes and then the food arrived. I left the cam on so I could quickly catch another candid shot but in the event finished the food without doing so.

Then a while later without me touching the cam there was a "pop" like a Christmas cracker and others told me that the flash went off.

Thereafter the flash refused to function so I put everything away.

Situation is now that

(1) the on/off swich appears not to function. If I load batteries and close the cover the rear panel lights up apparently normally but without me pressing the on/off switch

(2) the flash emits a weak flash a couple of times fairly rapidly without any buttons being pressed then the flash stops flashing

(3) this state of affairs continues for seconds only before the display panel goes blank at ther same time as the flashes stop though the yellow backlight remains on.
(4) At no time do any of the buttons or button combinations appear to work

I have checked the manual and there is no suggestion that leaving the cam and flash on without firing it as I did should give rise to any cause for concern.

Anybody else had a similar experience?

Nikon Support said send it in which is what I am doing.

P.S. To the OP - not intending to hijack your thread. We appear to have an identical problem

--
Chris Elliott

Nikon D Eighty + Fifty - Other equipment in Profile

http://PlacidoD.Zenfolio.com/

Chris Elliott said:

P.S. To the OP - not intending to hijack your thread. We appear to
have an identical problem

--
Chris Elliott

Nikon D Eighty + Fifty - Other equipment in Profile

http://PlacidoD.Zenfolio.com/

Click to expand...

Yes it does seem to be in the same family. However, I only get the greenish backlight when the batteries are installed. No letter or number info is displayed. None of the buttons work. No "warm-up" sound.

Your "Christmas Cracker" description was dead on. It startled me enough that even though it did take that last shot, I clearly had jumped enough to change the composition and cause a bit of blur.

I'll probably call Nikon, but this situation makes me want to just go buy another from Best Buy and then a couple days later return the dead one and tell them it's inop. They can send it back to Nikon. I know that's not really the right way but I don't want to have to wait 2-3 weeks for the repair.

kicks stones

Question to OP:

Did you also not use your flash very often? Was it stored for prolonged time? Did you perform monthly "maintenance flashes" as per manual?

Just asking to try and find a common pattern. The popping seems like the capacitor gave in. Trying to figure out if that can be linked to prolong non-use.

Marcin

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Nope, it wasn't stored for very long. The last time I used it was for pictures when my family left to go back to California. That was on 9/9, so it was exactly 1 week.

I have to agree with the capacitor diagnosis.

walmark said:

Question to OP:

Did you also not use your flash very often? Was it stored for
prolonged time? Did you perform monthly "maintenance flashes" as per
manual?

Click to expand...

There is nothing in the SB-600 manual saying to perform maintenance flashes. Mine certianly was not used very often but I had fired off a good half dozen photos maybe 30-60 minutes before mine went pop.

I had last used it in Commander mode. I am wondering whether in trying to reset from Commander mode I disabled standby? That was not my intention but the controls on the SB-600 are a real mess and a disgrace for such a large company as Nikon.

--
Chris Elliott

Nikon D Eighty + Fifty - Other equipment in Profile

http://PlacidoD.Zenfolio.com/

I'm sorry you are having problmes,

It is under warentee. Send it in.

Morris
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http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~morris/POD

Chris Elliott said:

There is nothing in the SB-600 manual saying to perform maintenance
flashes.

Click to expand...

Yes, there is. See page 83 under "Storage":

• Take the SB-600 out once a month, insert the batteries, and fire the unit several times to reform the capacitor.

This, incidentally, applies to all flash guns that use such a capacitor.

Marco

Marco's comment about the storage I hadn't noticed. I don't see any reason for the capacitor to overcharge and pop under normal usage conditions, only if there is an original faulty resistance of the circuitry. If the capacitor were to pop, I would guess it would be in the first firing. I'm glad to know that I have to fire it occasionally while in storage.
--
SophieZ

Thanks for that. It is actually page 85 in my manual now that you have pointed me in the right direction under "Tips on Care" and I will bare it in mind for the future. No doubt I read it when I first got the SB-600 but, buried at p.85 it does not strike me as an absolute essential. If it is so I would expect it to be at the front of the manual with all the other warnings.

In any event I had fired ther flash several times the day of failure and probably fired it as a matter of course every couple of months at least.

What happens if you do not fire once a month or the like? Does the flash cease to work? Work less efficiently?
--
Chris Elliott

Nikon D Eighty + Fifty - Other equipment in Profile

http://PlacidoD.Zenfolio.com/

Chris Elliott said:

Thanks for that. It is actually page 85 in my manual now that you
have pointed me in the right direction under "Tips on Care" and I
will bare it in mind for the future. No doubt I read it when I first
got the SB-600 but, buried at p.85 it does not strike me as an
absolute essential. If it is so I would expect it to be at the front
of the manual with all the other warnings.

Click to expand...

I read this information on page 83 in the downloaded PDF version of the SB-600 manual:
Printed in China
TT4D00310202(11)
8MSA1411--

Chris Elliott104343 said:

In any event I had fired ther flash several times the day of failure
and probably fired it as a matter of course every couple of months at
least.

Click to expand...

This should be done once a month at least.

Chris Elliott104343 said:

What happens if you do not fire once a month or the like? Does the
flash cease to work? Work less efficiently?

Click to expand...

It's mainly this capacitor, which starts a life of its own when not in use.

So, the day that flash unit is fired again after a long period of inactivity, that capacitor may burst.

If the unit is out of warranty and if you're handy with a soldering iron, you may be able to replace this capacitor yourself. I've seen it listed for around USD 15.

I can - of course - not be certain that this is actually what is causing the failure of your SB-600.

Marco