Speedlite 580EX Flash Only Flickering

[wooster79]

Sorry if this has been talked about before.  I'm a newb and I can't seem to find my situation in any forums.  

I'm having an issue with my 580EX where everything seems to start up fine when I turn it on.  With fresh batteries, the flash charges and the red pilot light comes on as it should, but when I  push the pilot button I only get a flicker of a flash.  The flash is also recognized by my 7D and operates as normal, but again I only get a flicker of a flash.  This started happening months ago so I put the flash away, but now I want to try to fix it for a shoot I have coming up.  The weird thing is that it did give me one full flash the other night as a I was hitting the pilot button a number of times.  But that has been it.  Every other time it's been  a flicker like it's dying out.  And it doesn't matter what mode or power setting I use.  I would imagine the bulb is still intact since it's giving off light.  Any insight from anyone who has had the same experience is greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

[TTMartin]

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@wooster79 wrote:

Sorry if this has been talked about before.  I'm a newb and I can't seem to find my situation in any forums.  

I'm having an issue with my 580EX where everything seems to start up fine when I turn it on.  With fresh batteries, the flash charges and the red pilot light comes on as it should, but when I  push the pilot button I only get a flicker of a flash.  The flash is also recognized by my 7D and operates as normal, but again I only get a flicker of a flash.  This started happening months ago so I put the flash away, but now I want to try to fix it for a shoot I have coming up.  The weird thing is that it did give me one full flash the other night as a I was hitting the pilot button a number of times.  But that has been it.  Every other time it's been  a flicker like it's dying out.  And it doesn't matter what mode or power setting I use.  I would imagine the bulb is still intact since it's giving off light.  Any insight from anyone who has had the same experience is greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

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Sounds like a loose connection inside the flash. While strobe tubes do fail, they tend to die all at once. Your flash needs professional service or replacement. Warning! flashes operate at high voltage and opening them up yourself is not advised. 

[RobertTheFat]

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@TTMartin wrote:

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Sounds like a loose connection inside the flash. While strobe tubes do fail, they tend to die all at once. Your flash needs professional service or replacement. Warning! flashes operate at high voltage and opening them up yourself is not advised. 

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I don't think Canon services the 580EX anymore. I see that its value for CPS qualification has dropped to 0 points.

Frankly, I don't think I'd pay to have a 580EX repaired anyway. Of the three models of Canon speedlites I've owned (580EX, 580EX II, and 600EX-RT), the 580EX was by far the least reliable. I finally gave up on mine when it quit on me while I was photographing our City Manager and his wife at his inauguration a few years ago. I don't know whether my problem was the same as that of the OP, but the bottom line was that it didn't flash when I needed it to, and that was a fatal flaw.

[diverhank]

@wooster79 wrote:

The flash is also recognized by my 7D and operates as normal, but again I only get a flicker of a flash.  This started happening months ago so I put the flash away, but now I want to try to fix it for a shoot I have coming up.  

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Your description confuses me a little bit - so you only get a flicker of a flash every time you use the flash, including when you press the test button, right.  If the flash only puts out a flicker how is it that it operates as normal in your description?

The reason that I make the distinction is that there is a custom function that turns the flash into a modeling light when you press the test button but I don't think it's the case here.  I agree with others...the flash is broken and it's not worth fixing.

[TTMartin]

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@diverhank wrote:

@wooster79 wrote:

The flash is also recognized by my 7D and operates as normal, but again I only get a flicker of a flash.  This started happening months ago so I put the flash away, but now I want to try to fix it for a shoot I have coming up.  

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Your description confuses me a little bit - so you only get a flicker of a flash every time you use the flash, including when you press the test button, right.  If the flash only puts out a flicker how is it that it operates as normal in your description?

The reason that I make the distinction is that there is a custom function that turns the flash into a modeling light when you press the test button but I don't think it's the case here. 

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I agree the post is confusing. If the flash works normal on the 7D (doesn't noticeably flicker when taking pictures) and only flickers when pressing the pilot button the flash is in modeling light mode and there is nothing wrong with it.

To disable the Modeling Flash this set C.Fn-10 to 0 - Disabled

[wooster79]

Sorry, what I meant by "operates as normal" is that the camera functionally communicates with the flash when I press the shutter button halfway, but only flickers when I press the shutter button all the way.  So whether I'm taking a normal shot or testing the flash with the pilot button, all I get is a flickering.  And when I say flicker, I mean a single blip of faint light, not the type of multiple bursts you see when you use the modelling flash test. Hope that clears things ups.

[TTMartin]

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@wooster79 wrote:

Sorry, what I meant by "operates as normal" is that the camera functionally communicates with the flash when I press the shutter button halfway, but only flickers when I press the shutter button all the way.  So whether I'm taking a normal shot or testing the flash with the pilot button, all I get is a flickering.  And when I say flicker, I mean a single blip of faint light, not the type of multiple bursts you see when you use the modelling flash test. Hope that clears things ups.

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Sounds like it is time for a new flash.