Flash Tube Repair

[Ronsc1985]

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 tube which was broken and is most likely the cause of most all flash module failures. The old flash tube and reflector assembly is easily unsoldered from the circuit board using a small fine tip solder iron.

The replacement xenon tube a XFTR-1015-2300 Reflector with Flashtube Item# XFTR-1015-2300, from Xenonflshtubes.com seems to be an exact replacement for the factory tube assembly. They cost 5.95 USD in quantities of one. The company is in Israel so there is a shipping charge. To the US it took about 10 days and the total cost for three tubes and shipping was 26.85.

I installed the repaired module in the GC2 and it seems to work perfectly. It picked up all shots from drives to putts correctly. This was not an extensive test since the hitting cage is in my garage where it is uncomfortably hot this time of year. When the weather cools off a bit I'll reinstall it and see how long it lasts.

Given the alternative of buying a new flash module for 150-500 dollars this seems to be an easy and inexpensive fix. Once you initially get the original failed module apart it takes about 5 minutes to make the switch. Once taken apart you can just snap the module casing back together with no need to reglue since the attachment screws will hold the assembly together.. That way you can just take it out of the GC2 unsnap it and replace the xenon tube rapidly.

In summary you will need a small low powered soldering iron with a fine tip, a wire stripper, as the wires attached to the replacement xenon tube assembly are rather long, rosin core solder, some rosin remover (I use carburetor cleaner). and some kind of easily removable adhesive (I used a dab of some 5 minute epoxy) to hold the flash tube reflector solidly in the circuit board. Unless this replacement tube lifespan is so short you have to replace it very often there would not seem to be any reason to not just repair one that bursts the flash tube and therefore quits working.

I don't plan in spending any time looking for a more robust bulb since this one is so easy to replace and comes as a sub assembly with wires and a reflector.

[andygg1986]

Does anyone have extra burnt out flashes? I only have the one that is in mine and wouldn't mind having a backup. I have lots of experience with soldering at work so I'm sure I could replace the tube with no problem. I would be willing to pay a small fee plus shipping, or if you had two spares, I could fix them both and send one back to you as payment.

[Jarl]

I too am looking for a back up flash. If you have one to sell, PM me. Thanks
Hope you don't mind me piggy backing your request.

[Antony]

Oh I'm glad to hear there's been some success with this http://www.xenonflashtubes.com/XFTR-1015-2300.html. I've still got a flash unit apart which I haven't gotten round to doing anything with.

[Stingreye]

I asked a friend about this project. I have flash that burned out that at some point I will attempt this repair. Here are some tips and things he mentions to me when attempting this repair.

It's highly unlikely that replacing the bulb could damage anything else.
The bulb is at the "other end" of the circuit from whatever is
controlling the flash.

Key to long life is not touching the bulb with your fingers (oils cause uneven
heating/dissipation, leading to thermal fractures) and installing it
without mechanical stresses (again, proper and thoughtful soldering).

The two things I would emphasize are 1) Make certain the bulb is very
clean, and 2) Make certain it has no mechanical stresses on it from the
soldering. For #1, I'd clean it with alcohol and then handle it with
dust free latex gloves. For #2, solder one end, make sure the bulb is
loose and free on the other end, THEN solder that other end making sure
not to introduce stress by moving it relative to the first end. You want
a nice hot liquid pool of molten solder on that second end, so the bulb
is free to reposition itself and relieve any stress before the solder
cools.

[Ronsc1985]

I asked a friend about this project. I have flash that burned out that at some point I will attempt this repair. Here are some tips and things he mentions to me when attempting this repair.assembfly comes

It's highly unlikely that replacing the bulb could damage anything else.
The bulb is at the "other end" of the circuit from whatever is
controlling the flash.

Key to long life is not touching the bulb with your fingers (oils cause uneven
heating/dissipation, leading to thermal fractures) and installing it
without mechanical stresses (again, proper and thoughtful soldering).

The two things I would emphasize are 1) Make certain the bulb is very
clean, and 2) Make certain it has no mechanical stresses on it from the
soldering. For #1, I'd clean it with alcohol and then handle it with
dust free latex gloves. For #2, solder one end, make sure the bulb is
loose and free on the other end, THEN solder that other end making sure
not to introduce stress by moving it relative to the first end. You want
a nice hot liquid pool of molten solder on that second end, so the bulb
is free to reposition itself and relieve any stress before the solder
cools.

The replacement comes already assembled. There is no reason to either touch or clean the bulb. In order to do so you would have to separate it from the reflector. You can solder whichever wire you want in any order. The bulb is held in position by the reflector.

Don't make this complicated, it is not.

[Stingreye]

Cool! Good to know!

[inorkuo]

I received the replacement transformers. It works. I hit around 100 balls including some putts and it seems to work just fine. I'll update if it quits prematurely again.

[goatbarn]

Make sure you right down the model #/link you bought it from, as we may need to go down this road should these things start blowing our transformers...nice work.

[inorkuo]

tretee from the other forum had recommended this one http://www.xenonflashtubes.com/tc-2504.html so i bought a few. more recently he posted that he has burned through 3 already and is now trying this one http://www.conrad.com/ce/en/product/...=detview1&rb=2. it doesn't sound promising for my spare flash but i'll try to keep a count and see how long it lasts.

[Hacksalot]

I repaired two gc2 flashes last night using the flashes from xenon... easy and fast repair.

$500 for a new flash is ridiculous once you see how quick and easy the repair is.

[Ronsc1985]

tretee from the other forum had recommended this one http://www.xenonflashtubes.com/tc-2504.html so i bought a few. more recently he posted that he has burned through 3 already and is now trying this one http://www.conrad.com/ce/en/product/...=detview1&rb=2. it doesn't sound promising for my spare flash but i'll try to keep a count and see how long it lasts.

The only things that keep a transformer from working properly are a: open in primary or secondary windings, b: a failure of the wire insulation which causes a shorting of windings together or possibly to the core if it has one. If you are careful when soldering the transformer so as to not melt and/or deteriorate the internal wire insulation then it should last a long time. I have no idea what the transformer manufacturer uses for wire coating but this application isn't very stressful and most any coating that can insulate the voltages involved should do.

BTW the alternate transformer you listed is not available to be shipped to either the USA or Canada

[inorkuo]

The only things that keep a transformer from working properly are a: open in primary or secondary windings, b: a failure of the wire insulation which causes a shorting of windings together or possibly to the core if it has one. If you are careful when soldering the transformer so as to not melt and/or deteriorate the internal wire insulation then it should last a long time. I have no idea what the transformer manufacturer uses for wire coating but this application isn't very stressful and most any coating that can insulate the voltages involved should do.

BTW the alternate transformer you listed is not available to be shipped to either the USA or Canada

great tip. i was thinking i might have damaged my original transformer with the soldering iron and from what you are saying about how transformers are made, that is probably what happened. i was trying to make sure it was attached securely and had the iron touching the leads for too long.

when i replaced the transformer last night, i turned down the temperature and tried to be quick about it so maybe it will last.

since conrad will not ship to us, these should work too.

http://www.xenonflashtubes.com/tc-36.html

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-Trigger-Coil-transformer-Flashtube-flash-tube-Xenon-High-voltage-7x10mm-/252491374101?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

[Ronsc1985]

I've been using my repaired module since October with about 75 or so swings a day. At this point I really don't care how long the tubes ultimately last since at this rate I would be fine with replacing a tube every 3-5 months. If you don''t know how, or refuse to learn how to solder without melting the transformer winding insulation coating then this may not be a viable option.

With a low heat pencil type soldering iron the replacement is almost idiot proof. This is not a high skill or knowledge operation. The only thing that takes a bit of touch is the initial disassembly of the module case. This is a one time only operation since there is no need to re-glue the case together. The installation screws hold the reassembled module together just fine.

[inorkuo]

the transformer that was originally suggested as a replacement http://www.xenonflashtubes.com/tc-2504.html has not performed well for me. it lasted around 4000 shots the first time. the second one i only got 2000 shots out of it before it quit on me. tretee from the jnpg forum also posted recently that he was experiencing the same thing with these transformers. i'll be trying these next, which @andygg1986 found. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10pc...608.0.0.ZwkMrh

also, i want to clear something up. i was incorrect in stating that my first attempt at replacing the bulb resulted in a melted tube. i didn't know what i was looking at the first time around but now i realize that it was the blue lining on the reflector housing which separated and stuck to the tube. when i tried to look at the tube i saw what looked like a big glob of blue stuff at the bottom of the housing, not realizing that the tube was underneath.

[andygg1986]

Thanks for the update. I hope the aliexpress ones last longer for you. Keep us updated. I'm still waiting for my new batch circuit boards to come in. When the first one died, did you continue using the same flash tube or did you replace that as well?

[inorkuo]

i put the same flash tube back in when the first transformer died but there was some of the blue plastic lining stuck to it and i scraped it off before reinstalling it. it only lasted a few more shots before going bad so i'm not sure if it was because of the scraping or if it was just its time. today when my transformer went out, it went from working fine to ------ on every shot. tretee had posted that intermittent missed shots that gets worse over time means the transformer is starting to fail. complete failure usually points to the flash tube, so i replaced it first. when it still didn't flash, i replaced the transformer. i'll keep a count for this bulb too.

[Ronsc1985]

The blue film is simply protection for the tube surface. It can be easily removed with a pair of tweezers. It serves no other purpose then to limit scratching or dirt/oil deposits from your skin on the glass surface while being handling.

[inorkuo]

thanks for the tip. the ones i received have the film attached to the reflector, not the tube. probably because of the heat from the bulb, the film falls off of the reflector and in this case a little bit onto one end of the tube. it looked like it would block some light so i tried to scrape it off. i'll open my spare flash up again tonight and pull the film out of the new tube assembly before it melts.

[inorkuo]

i was wrong. Ronsc1985 is right as usual. the blue film does start off covering the tube. after a little bit of use, the film melts away exposing the tube.

[Ronsc1985]

Well my first tube replacement just failed. It has been in since sometime last summer/fall. I have no idea how many shots it accumulated before failure but it has to be several thousand at a minimum. After about 5 minutes I had a new tube installed and was back on the air. I also have two other modules, one new and another working but with an unknown number of flashes. Aside from being replacements they are also potential spare transformers in case the current transformer craps out after a few more tube replacements.