Second try for flash voltage info

I've got a couple of old Vivitar 2000 flash units that I've
used in the past on camera hot shoes, fired at the ceiling to set off my studio
flash units. I'd like to do something similar with the *ist, but am leery of
messing things up. With battery voltage, there shouldn't be much of a problem,
but it worries me anyway. Not a mention in the manual, on the Pentax site or
the Vivitar site.

Does anyone have any idea what the output voltage on the Vivitar 2000 is? It
seems to me that with just four AAs in the flash, it should be well within
limits. IIRC, most digital cameras were OK with studio flash voltages up a bit
over 9. I doubt that 4 AAs are going over that, but I'd prefer knowing for
sure.

Charlie Self
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or
not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." Ernest Benn

Mark B responds:

"Charlie Self" wrote in message
...
I've got a couple of old Vivitar 2000 flash units that I've
used in the past on camera hot shoes, fired at the ceiling to set off my
studio
flash units. I'd like to do something similar with the *ist, but am leery
of
messing things up. With battery voltage, there shouldn't be much of a
problem,
but it worries me anyway. Not a mention in the manual, on the Pentax site
or
the Vivitar site.

Does anyone have any idea what the output voltage on the Vivitar 2000 is?
It
seems to me that with just four AAs in the flash, it should be well within
limits. IIRC, most digital cameras were OK with studio flash voltages up
a bit
over 9. I doubt that 4 AAs are going over that, but I'd prefer knowing for
sure.


It depends. Here's a listing of 3rd party flash trigger voltages:
http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

Holy smokes! And that's almost certainly what it would produce at 2000 volts.
Must be a bitching capacitor firing back through that sucker.

I'll do it another way until I get a Wein so the White Lightnings are dead safe
in the PC connector.

Thanks.

Charlie Self
"Conservative, n: A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as
distinguished from the Liberal who wishes to replace them with others." Ambrose
Bierce

Mistake on my last note. Got the model numbers and trigger voltages crossed up.
It's about 54 volts, which is still a number to fry most digitals. (And there
also seem to be versions that turn out 180 volts and 202 volts.)


Charlie Self
"Conservative, n: A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as
distinguished from the Liberal who wishes to replace them with others." Ambrose
Bierce

In article ,
otforme (Charlie Self) wrote:

Does anyone have any idea what the output voltage on the Vivitar 2000 is? It
seems to me that with just four AAs in the flash, it should be well within
limits. IIRC, most digital cameras were OK with studio flash voltages up a
bit

The output voltage isn't what you need.

You want the synch voltage when the flash is fired.

--
To reply no_ HPMarketing Corp.

Bob Salomon writes:


The output voltage isn't what you need.

You want the synch voltage when the flash is fired.

Yeah, and that's what the second list of things was about. Even the low end, 54
volts, is higher than I'd care to chance. I've too much money in this camera to
fry it in order to save the 35 bucks or so a Wein will cost.

Charlie Self
"Conservative, n: A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as
distinguished from the Liberal who wishes to replace them with others." Ambrose
Bierce

otforme (Charlie Self) writes:

Holy smokes! And that's almost certainly what it would produce at 2000 volts.
Must be a bitching capacitor firing back through that sucker.

The trigger circuitry of any electronic flash uses a fairly small
capacitor charged to a high voltage, typically a couple of hundred volts.
To fire the flash, the capacitor is dumped into a small step-up
transformer that generates several thousand volts. That's connected to
a trigger electrode on the outside of the flash lamp itself. The high
voltage ionizes the gas inside the lamp, allowing the main flash current
to flow.

Some flashes have the camera switch the trigger capacitor voltage
directly, while others provide an electronic switch like an SCR between
trigger input and the high voltage.

Dave