Problems with 580EX II...

heatherfeather

I am having some trouble with one of my 580EXII. It all started the other day when I noticed it just wasn't firing. Does anybody know any tricks to do a home diagnostic on a flash? Or do I just need to ship it to Canon for some repairs?

Symptoms:
The pilot light flashes green upon startup and then quickly goes to red and stays there... It does nothing when you push the pilot light button. The LCD panel works like normal.

I have had this flash for about 2 years, so I wonder if the hours and hours of use I have put on it are just bringing it to the end of its life. :

I have other flashes so this isn't the end of the world, but this is one of my favorites... Any help would be appreciated!

dogwood

Try different batteries. Sometimes that helps. Otherwise, you may be stuck sending it off to Canon. I dropped a 580 once and that was all it took for it to need a repair at Canon.

ziggy53

heatherfeather wrote:

I am having some trouble with one of my 580EXII. It all started the other day when I noticed it just wasn't firing. Does anybody know any tricks to do a home diagnostic on a flash? Or do I just need to ship it to Canon for some repairs?

Symptoms:
The pilot light flashes green upon startup and then quickly goes to red and stays there... It does nothing when you push the pilot light button. The LCD panel works like normal.

I have had this flash for about 2 years, so I wonder if the hours and hours of use I have put on it are just bringing it to the end of its life. :

I have other flashes so this isn't the end of the world, but this is one of my favorites... Any help would be appreciated!

If you have a late model Canon camera, with either Digic III or Digic IV, you can reset all of the custom functions of the flash though a menu item on the camera. Consult your flash user manual for the exact procedure (p32). Try that first.

Scott_Quier

I recently had a similar issue with my 580II. I would come "part way" on and then nothing. Swapped batteries - no joy. Swapped batteries again with a set from a friend - still no joy. Got it home and put in yet a third set and it's working again.

On inspection, I discovered that the batteries I was using were (all 8 of them) exhausted - that is there wasn't a charge on them even though I had re-charged them the night before. I'd had them for the better part of 2 years so I guess it was time. I'm just glad the incident happened on leisure rather than a paying gig

Oh, and you can believe that I have (properly) disposed of the old sets (all acquired at the same time) and acquired a bunch of new ones.