Flash not firing test flash

Timbae

Hi everyone,

So yesterday I received the RF60 and V6 and recommended Sanyo Eneloop batteries. I attached the V6 to my Fuji X-T1 and mounted the RF60 to a softbox. Setup was very easy and everything seemed to work instantly.

After taking some 20 test shots I noticed that sometimes the flash wouldn't fire and after a while it didn't fire at all. A test flash from the V6 wouldn't fire either.

So then I decided to try the test button on the RF60 itself and BAM, the flash fired. After that I tried the test button on the V6 and BAM it fired, so I started taking pictures and everything was fine untill I had to repeat this process.

After about 30 minutes of shooting the RF60 wouldn't fire at all, test button was red but didn't do anything either. (note: entire shoot was at 1/128 - 1/8). I could however see that the  values I selected on the V6 were changing on the RF60, so there was a connection.

I thought maybe it's overheated or something but today I turned it on again and still no flashes. The battery indicator says the batteries are full and the red light on the test button is lighting up.

Is there something I can do to fix this or is the flash broken?

Thanks in advance!

Tim

Antonio

Hello Tim,

I am sorry to hear about this. To test whether there's a hot shoe connection issue between the camera and the V6, besides making sure the V6 is securely mounted (inserted fully) on the camera, check if the LED blinks green on the camera-mounted V6 TX unit when you depress the shutter button. 

Also try switching to other channels. If you were on Channel 1 now, try Channel 13 or something that's radically different.

Third is to check the distance between the camera and the RF60.  You may watnt to enable SHORT RANGE mode if you are shooting in close proximity, say 5-10 meters.

As for testing the RF60, you can try pressing the Test button on the back panel and make sure it's not the batteries or the capacitor that's having the problem firing.

Thank you and I look forward to hearing your test results.

Timbae

Hi Antonio,

I have tried your suggestions, with the following results:

- V6 blinks green when I depress the shutter button, this seems to be fine. I don't think the problem is with the V6.

- I tried all channels, all give the same result: settings get updated on the RF60 but still no flash.

- Short range doesn't change anything, still settings are changing, flash is not firing.

As for the RF60:

- The test button is lighting up red but doesn't do anything. I have changed the batteries with full eneloops, no change, then I changed the batteries to new non rechargeable batteries and still no change.

I guess that this particular RF60 is faulty and I should return it?

Thanks

Tim

Antonio

Hello Tim,

How far is your camera (V6) from the RF60? Are they more than 15cm apart? Just to be safe you can set them well over a meter and try again.

To test the mechanical bits of the RF60, mount it directly on your camera hot shoe, set it to M mode, set to power like 1/128 or 1/16, fire a few shots and check if it fires everytime.

About the Test button on the flash, did you tried pressing the red LED button on the RF60? Would it fire?

If pressing that button fires a flash but not from a V6 TX unit (set to the same channel / group) by pressing:

1. Test Button of V6
2. Camera shutter button

Then, the RF60 may indeed be faulty. Return it and our dealer would be happy to assist you.

Thank you again for checking.

Timbae

Hi Antonio,

I have tried again and didn't get the test button to work. I returned the RF60 to the dealer and they replaced it. The new one seems to work fine so far.

Thanks,

Tim

Antonio

Hi Tim,

Great and thanks for posting an update.  Just shout if you need anything else.