Travis - Try mouser.com. I've bought filter capacitors for stereo equipment from them - very fast service and reasonable shipping. (That is - if Radio Shack cannot help (where I've not found ANYTHING I've needed in the past ten or fifteen years))
Most strobe units work by taking battery voltage, running it through an oscillator to create an AC current which then goes through a transformer stepping the voltage way up higher (to a couple of hundred volts) which is then rectified and stored in the capacitor. That voltage is what powers the strobe. Also a very small 1kv to 15kv trigger transformer is coupled to a tiny wire which wraps around the tube - when it's energized the magic of the flash tube occurs... [My dad was a professional photographer in the 60's. Solid state flash units were just coming on the scene. His Honywell flash unit contained a 510v battery (a carboard box with hundreds (literally) tiny little batteries stuck together). Of course it worked well, took virtually no time to charge the capacitor and the batteries were expensive.] -WaV On Jan 24, 2008 5:26 PM, Travis Scott <[email protected]> wrote: > Brian, > > Great, thanks. I figured I could get the right capacitor, but didn't > think > it would fit, and didn't know if it would work right. I'll check it out. > Thanks! > > Does the 9v work with the capacitor, or had you just bypassed the > capacitor > on that unit and just connected the 9V straight to the green switch? If > the 9V works with the capacitor, thats GREAT, then you can still use it > with > a slave.. The one with the bad capacitor, I just bypassed it, but would > prefer to use it with the capacitor (for the sake of using it with the > firefly). > > Also, I looked at the 9V option, seems they don't fit inside the > battery/capacitor compartment.. Especially with the capacitor in it. Am > I > wrong or missing something? > > Thanks for the help!!! > > Travis > (native Texan caver, wishing I had caves like you have there!) > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Brian Masney" <[email protected]> > To: "Travis Scott" <[email protected]> > Cc: "TexasCavers.com" <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 5:21 PM > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Cave Photo Gear > > > > Hey Travis, > > I had the exact same problem with several of my Honeywell > > Tilt-a-Mites. I took my old capacitor to Radio Shack and I was able to > > find one with the same rating. Be sure to purchase one where the > > positive and negative terminals are on opposite ends. This allows you > > to solder the capacitor to the flash unit. Also, be sure to get one > > that allows the capacitor to fit in the same compartment as the old > > one. It should only cost you $2 or so for the right part. > > I needed to replace the 15V battery in two of my flashes. Those > > batteries can be a little bit expensive and hard to find. I bought at > > Radio Shack some 9V battery terminals and I soldered the ends to the > > flash gun. A standard 9V battery will work just fine. The only problem > > that I noticed though is the test light on the flash no longer works > > properly. > > I've used my flash units like this for the last year and a half or > so. > > > > Brian > > (Lurker on the list from West Virginia) > > > > > > On Jan 24, 2008 1:33 PM, Travis Scott <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Cavers and the like, > >> > >> I have been working on my photo gear lately. I am trying to get some > >> Honeywell Tilt-a-Mites up and running. I have a few already, but one > >> problem I have found is that the capacitors have gone bad in a few of > >> them > >> (what are they, 40 years old?). I figured that throughout the folks on > >> Texas Cavers, someone might actually have an old Honeywell or two (or > at > >> maybe even some old capacitors from the Honeywells that they beat to > hell > >> in > >> a cave and don't work anymore) that they don't use anymore that they > >> wouldn't mind passing on to another photographer who might be able to > use > >> it/them or their parts. > >> > >> Just a shot in the dark, figured I would throw it out there. If you > fit > >> this description and would like to give to the needy, please let me > know. > >> I really appreciate it!! > >> > >> Thanks! > >> > >> TS > >> > >> You can see what I have been doing with my current (shall I say, > >> insufficient, frustrating, lacking) setup at www.oztotl.com/travis > >> > >> > >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > >> For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > >> > >> > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > >
