Vivitar 283 repair manual

Electronic flashguns contain high voltage components - it's not something to embark on unless you got relevant electronic skills eg if you are some sort of electronic engineer by profession.

Jo

I've always been told that flashgun repair was something you should be very careful of given the voltages generated.

Ceri

Not worth the bother or risk, you can pick up a replacement on ebay for very little money.

If its the old 283 with its lethal trigger voltage throw it into the bin. You could convert it into an electronic mouse trap

Bin it. Not worth the hassle. Besides - use it on a digital without a Wien adapter and you'll damage the camera.

In the unlikely circumstances you could get the service manual, I doubt it would do you any good. It would most likely cover stripping it down and either have a schematic or just cover modular repair. Most service manuals never teach fault finding.

Depending upon where the 283 was made, it could have a low safe voltage on its contacts, or too high for modern camaeras, they vary.

Agree with the "be careful" warnings. When I was a kid I opened an old flashgun whichhad a dodgy test button. Fortunately I was holding the insulated handle of the screwdriver when I unwittingly shorted the cap terminals. The bang was incredibly loud and the flash had me seeing starts for a few minutes. The tip of the driver was melted and there was a burn on the bedcovers (my makeshift workbench ). I was very lucky.

You folk have yet to enjoy life!

Once upon a time I had a Mecablitz flash unit with a pair of lovely big capacitors. I discovered that I could halve the power by cutting one out of the circuit [and halve the recharge time] Great until I put my fingers on the terminals .... ONCE!

Voltage gives you a shock while amperage kills you, so unless you have a weak heart .....

Seriously ... just take care and discharge the capacitors before working on circuit ... if you don't know what a capacitor is, forget it.

Rod - if you are still interested I can email you a block diagram for the 283.

jas

Rod appears to be using a fuji S602Z. This is OK for up to 400V trigger volts on its hotshoe.

So the 260vdc odd trigger voltage of the old 283 is OK for this camera.

Info from fuji website.

jas

400 volts?, if you believe that you will believe anything. I have known Fuji owners who have sent their fried cameras back. If Fuji have got around the problem, why not all other makers?

Actually its a simple matter to make your camera secure. I have done it electronically, but the n!"£$% in the woodpile is getting hold of the male and female hotshoe contacts. I have removed same from old cameras and flashguns. Otherwise its an external box with minature jackplugs.

A straight forward opto-isolator with sufficient input /output voltage rating (such as used in switch mode PSUs although this would be overkill) will do the job.

I have used my S602Z, which I bought over three years ago, since day one with an original Vivitar 283 with a trigger voltage of 260vdc with no ill effect.

The voltage rating of 400V was given on the fuji website, and I have an email from fuji confirming this.

How do fuji manage what the others apparently don't?

Easy, fuji don't sell a dedicated gun so they had to cater for existing flashguns on the market.

Cannon and the likes do market their own dedicated flash guns, so the cameras are designed to ensure that these are used.

Finally ISO 10330 1992-11 allows trigger voltages from 3.5 to 24v. Modern flashguns meet this specification.

The later Vivitar 283 had a trigger voltage of 9 to 12vdc.

The Wein SafeSync HSHSB reduces excessive trigger voltage to 6v nom. Which is similar to the Canon EX420 flashgun.

The difference is that fuji put the isolation in their hotshoe circuit, Canon and the like put the isolation in the trigger circuit of their flashguns. They have to, to meet the above specification, and to meet the general requirements CE Low Voltage Directive.
jas