aging Inon strobe?

[hiloboy]

My Inon D2000 strobe is about 7 years old. The flash seems not as powerful as it used to be. Do strobes slowly lose power over time or do they just stop working.

 

[chile7236]

i would imagine they give out after some use...i have an older D2000 as well but it seems to be holding up fine.

 

[bvanant]

It should be quite easy to test and see. The GN of the D2000 is 20 (meters) in air. So set up a table top scene (some flowers or such) and set up your system to test it. GN = Distance x f stop at ISO 100. So set up a scene and put your camera at about 2 meters (six feet from the scene) and set the camera for f11 or so. If the strobe is right it should be just about right on for exposure (f10 would be better but might not be settable on your camera.

Bill

 

[alcina]

My fabulous 220 is about that old and I haven't noticed any change.

 

[jdfmail]

I've got an older D2000W and a D-180 and they both seem just as new.

 

[flareside]

I'm no expert on electronics but I would assume the main "kick" in a strobe comes from a capacitor and capacitors have been known to age or otherwise go bad.

 

[hiloboy]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Bill, if I test the strobe, what shutter speed do I use and what setting do I use on the strobe - TTL or full power?

 

[bvanant]

You should test it at full power first. To a good approximation, the shutter speed won't matter at all, I would try 1/100 or so. While it is true that capacitors can fail, they typically don't fail slowly; they leak and won't charge but typically don't show a 10% loss say.
Bill

 

[hiloboy]

Thanks again Bill. I tried shooting from 6 ft, iso 100, f10, ss 1/100 with the strobe at full power and the picture seemed well exposed. Darn, I was hoping my strobe was dying so I would be forced to buy the new Sea and Sea YS-D1.

 

[bvanant]

Sorry for your "bad" luck. You can always sell it and get the D1 but it is not so clear to me that the D1 is all that much better.
Bill