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  • Replacement flash circuit board

    I first want to thank Tretee from the other forum for his help troubleshooting and everyone who has worked on ways to refurbish GC2 flashes. When I saw that the superflash price was way more than I would want to pay when my flash eventually burns out, I went ahead and designed my own circuit board since I didn't have a spare. I followed goatbarn instructions for taking apart the housing which are here.
    As I posted awhile back the flash module is really easy to disassemble with a heat gun and a utility knife. I finally got around to replacing the xenon flash


    Once you get the case apart once, it is easy to swap out circuit boards as many times as you want. I'm not sure how long my circuit board assembly will last, but I have the 3.5.1 firmware with the flash counter so I can at least track it. I played a round this evening and did not have a single missed shot. To be totally upfront, I'm not trying to claim that this is as good as the superflash. I am using the same $6 tube ($13 for shipping it) that is referenced in the thread above, plus a trigger coil off aliexpress. All I am claiming is that the performance should be comparable to refurbishing one of your old flashes according to the tutorial and that this would be easier if you don't feel comfortable soldering.

    Is a circuit board assembly like this something that other people here would be interested in? Replacing it still has some DIY element of getting the case apart, but at least you wouldn't have to wait several weeks for the xenon tubes to come from overseas or do any soldering. If there is enough interest, I would go ahead and get a run of circuit boards made and order a larger batch of components to save on shipping costs. A pricing structure that I was thinking of would be something like this.

    Assembled replacement circuit board: one for $40, two for $75, three for $100 (including shipping to the US)
    Opening old flash case: You pay for shipping it to me plus $10 fee for opening it

    So if you didn't want to do anything, you would send me your burnt out flash and $50 and I would open the case and replace the circuit board.

    It took about 3 weeks last time for me to get the flash tubes, so these could potentially be ready to ship in about a month.

  • #61
    I would be interested in a spare as well!

    Comment


    • #62
      I would also like to buy one when they are available.

      Comment


      • #63
        count me in as well.

        Comment


        • #64
          I Hope you are making a little money on these Andy.
          My Courses:
          World Par 3's by mthunt
          Toronto GC (L) mthunt
          Burlington G&CC by mthunt
          Weston G&CC by mthunt
          London Hunt Club L mthunt
          Park CC Lidar mthunt
          Sunningdale GC Robinson L
          Sunningdale GC Thompson L
          Muirfield Village (liDAR) First Ever Lidar course
          Country Club of Castle Pines (liDAR)
          The Sanctuary GC ProTee L
          The National GC L mthunt
          Mississaugua GC L mthunt
          Shaughnessy G&CC L mthunt
          Markland Woods CC mthunt
          Hidden Lake Old L mthunt
          Magna GC L mthunt
          Barrie CC L mthunt
          mthunt Range

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          • #65
            Just getting into a used GC2 and I'd be in for a couple of these just in case my flash goes. I'm not paying those crooks $500 just to look at the machine.

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            • #66
              Just an update on the flashes. Of the first 30, I had one arrive pseudo-DOA for mthunt . It would flash but the GC2 wasn't reading any parameters. I hadn't tested it before mailing it (I started testing them after this issue), but I sent him a replacement which seems to have taken care of the problem. The only other so far is geneazevedo has had two now that won't read spin on high-speed drives after a few hundred shots. I can't come up with a technical explanation for how this would happen. Has anyone else had one of the flashes stop working? I don't want to keep selling them if people are not happy with their performance.

              I am getting a quote for a custom trigger coil right now that is supposed to be more durable than the OEM one. I have tried to find someone to make a custom extra-durable flash tube but haven't had any luck.

              Comment


              • #67
                i hope you get good news on the custom trigger coils. i've been having to replace coils faster than bulbs. tretee posted that the gc2 stock trigger coil is designed for 435V and most of the ones we can get top out at around 300V so they get hot and break more quickly.

                Comment


                • #68
                  I have received the new custom trigger coils and they look good and work well so far. I told the company to design them for 435V operation. I also sent them my working Foresight coil to get the electrical characteristics, and inorkuo was nice enough to send me his dead Foresight coil so they could cut it open to see the inside construction. I told the company to make it more durable than the Foresight coil as well, so it is larger than the green one, but thin enough that the back plastic case piece doesn't touch it.

                  I designed a new board with low profile push-to-release connectors for the flash tubes, which is pictured. The custom coils should last longer than the tubes, so the idea is that when the tube blows you can easily swap in a new tube and keep using the same board. I have three sample boards that are ready to go, and will be getting more boards in about two weeks.

                  The new design is going to be $100 for one board and three flash tubes including shipping. Additional tubes are $10/piece, or you can order them directly from xenonflashtubes.com

                  I made a small improvement to the old design by adding a cutout below the trigger coil so it sits lower and the back plastic piece doesn't hit it. The functionality is otherwise the same. I have lots of the old design boards available now. They are still one for $40, two for $75, and three for $100 including priority shipping to the US or first class mail to Canada.

                  If you would like to purchase either one, you can Paypal me at gc2flash@gmail.com
                  Make sure you specify which design you want, your shipping address, and your GSF username
                  Click image for larger version  Name:	20170610_130311.jpg Views:	1 Size:	82.8 KB ID:	120485

                  Comment


                  • Iron Brandon
                    Iron Brandon commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Is that photo the original GC2 board?? Have you gotten a hold of the super flash boards yet to examine?

                  • wbond
                    wbond commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Nice work. At some point I'm sure I'll upgrade to the GC2 and will know where to get a better replacement.

                  • andygg1986
                    andygg1986 commented
                    Editing a comment
                    That is a photo of my new design. The white connectors are for replacing the flash tubes without soldering. I haven't gotten a superflash to take apart yet. I am trying to keep costs down at this point and spending $500 on a superflash would mean raising prices on each flash

                • #69
                  I wanted to give an update on the replacement flash circuit boards. In the last few days, I have heard that three of the original design boards have failed at 1300, 2200, and 2400 shots respectively. I suspect that at least some of them that are out there have lasted longer than this since nobody else has reported theirs failing, but I am disappointed that some of them are not lasting very long. I certainly don't want anyone to feel like they are getting ripped off. I have decided to hold off on selling the old design for now until I get more feedback.

                  For those of you who have bought the old design, if you tell me how many shots your old one lasts I will give you $10 off the new design. If your old one lasted less than 2500 shots, I will give you $20 off the new design. I hope that nobody reports a lower number of shots than they actually got to try and save an extra $10. If you bought one and don't think this is a reasonable offer, feel free to PM me. I appreciate everyone's help with testing these and understanding that development takes time.

                  Comment


                  • #70
                    Thanks for keeping us informed.
                    Any historic data back on the new designs yet, will need two boards shipping to UK eventually (September)

                    Comment


                    • andygg1986
                      andygg1986 commented
                      Editing a comment
                      I haven't heard anything on the new design yet, but I will post it whenever I do get some feedback on those.

                  • #71
                    Originally posted by andygg1986 View Post
                    I wanted to give an update on the replacement flash circuit boards. In the last few days, I have heard that three of the original design boards have failed at 1300, 2200, and 2400 shots respectively. I suspect that at least some of them that are out there have lasted longer than this since nobody else has reported theirs failing, but I am disappointed that some of them are not lasting very long. I certainly don't want anyone to feel like they are getting ripped off. I have decided to hold off on selling the old design for now until I get more feedback.

                    For those of you who have bought the old design, if you tell me how many shots your old one lasts I will give you $10 off the new design. If your old one lasted less than 2500 shots, I will give you $20 off the new design. I hope that nobody reports a lower number of shots than they actually got to try and save an extra $10. If you bought one and don't think this is a reasonable offer, feel free to PM me. I appreciate everyone's help with testing these and understanding that development takes time.
                    What failed the transformer or the flash tube?

                    Comment


                    • andygg1986
                      andygg1986 commented
                      Editing a comment
                      I am not sure but I can ask Hacksalot and Taylor40299 if they can tell. Both of them are getting the new design, so they can cut the old flash tube out and try it in the new board. If it still works, we will know it was the transformer.

                  • #72
                    i would like 9 of them please PM me on this

                    Comment


                    • #73
                      I have an unused OEM foresight replacement flash i would like to SELL. Also have an original replacement flash made by andygg1986 that I never used. If anyone is interested in BUYING any of these or both please PM me. I will sell the OEM flash for $100 and the replacement flash for $20.

                      Comment


                      • #74
                        andygg1986 any more updates on the new boards? are you still selling them? if so, how can i buy? thanks!

                        Comment


                        • #75
                          Yes I am still selling them. If you need one right now I can do either design. You can send PayPal to gc2flash@gmail.com and include your address in the notes. If you don't need one right now, I would wait a couple months for the next version to be ready

                          Comment


                          • richdmb
                            richdmb commented
                            Editing a comment
                            Cool. I guess i will try to wait. My flash counter is omly at 15000 but seems like i got up there relatively quickly. Im excited to see the next version! Thanks for ur hard work and effort!
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