Can you help me fix my SB-600?

wawawoo said:

wawawoo wrote:

So I made the mistake of leaving batteries in my SB-600 for quite some time and one of them leaked. My flash is now dead. I've tried cleaning it off with a Q-tip dipped in a little vinegar and that didn't help.

Is there any way to fix the flash? Should I send it in to Nikon to see if they can fix it?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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No matter what type of an electronic device you have to repair, nothing is going to cost you less than $75 dollars inspection/repair fee, plus replacement parts. So yes, it will be cheaper and better to just get a new flash with new warranty.

Or as others have suggested open it up and try fixing it yourself, a SB600 flash is a very small piece of device and it shoudn't be hard to clean it. You might want to try just a "little" of CLR if alcohol dosn't clean enough, but AFTER applying CLR do re-apply some alcohol to wipe off the CLR.

Unless the corrosion from your old batteries did eat up the metal contacts, then is sounds it would be best to replace those bad contacts. You can place a "want" "looking for" ad in Craigslist stating that you are looking into buying anybodie's BAD SB600 flash and when you end up buying one make sure the contacts are good and shiny and buy it and use those parts as replacements.

One of my Canon printers just died recently and that is what i did, in Craigslist there were actually several folks selling the EXCACT printer and i bought it for $40 only dollars, i was going to just remove and swap the bad part but there was no point in doing that since the printer was actually a good working one, and i am sure you will find a "bad" SB600 somewhere for $20 dollars or maybe less, and swap the parts yourself. That would be way better than sending it to Nikon

I don't think I would ever use vinegar on an electrical circuit. Never heard of that one. 90% alcohol or better will do it and NOT cause further corrosion. Vinegar is an acid!!!

Steve_in_FL said:

Steve_in_FL wrote:

FYI, although wood is normally an insulator, the water and resins with the wood certainly CAN conduct electricity.

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Maybe with high voltage. But with a small capacitor? Come on.

Hi All

I just found this thread - i have a similar problem. My SB-600 has failed also due to me leaving the batteries in too long. There is a brown 'residue' that (i think) has leaked from the batteries, not so much on the battery connection board but onto the small assembly with the electronic charging components on.

Question/s:

Will cleaning the circuit board with water and drying it be ok OR will the water cause further damage? I was thinking of carefully 'washing' the board and letting it dry in the sun afterwards.

I saw this comment "I'm not sure this would kill you but it would certainly be seriously unpleasant. The capacitor must be discharged by shorting the terminals via a resistor before working on the flashgun internals." Hmmm! sounds dangerous. Re the resistor you mentioned :

"3-watt wirewound 100 ohm resistor " , im in Australia. I can buy a 3 watt resistor from this company http://resistorspecialists.com.au/precision-wound-resistor-asw-series/ who have a 3 watt 100 ohm version available locally. Is that suitable for discharging the capacitor?

What is the likelihood of success? If its low, a new purchase may be better

Thanks in advance