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Vivitar Lancer, part 1
Lance Earl at Lance Earl Photography Posted: 2009-11-15 14:50:41
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Notice: I do not accept any responsibility for loss or damage to you or your property as a result of your following advice in this blog. Should you choose to act upon this information, you do so at your own risk. The capacitor in your flash has the potential to store dangerous levels of electricity. Before you work on your flash, you should understand the possible hazards and know what must be done to discharge the capacitor and make the device safe to work on.
I have had several Vivitar 283's laying around for quite some time now. I have been somewhat worried about these flashes because I can see someone slapping it on top of one of my digital cameras and letting all the smoke out. Even though they scare me, they are such a solid and versatile tool the I wanted to keep them in my lighting kit.
I have seen several web sites that describe how to modify the flash to provide manual power and to interface with an external battery pack. Each article was helpful but took the flash in a direction that I did not want to go. In every case, they:
1. killed the Auto Thyristor functionality in order to provide manual control... not acceptable.
2. used the battery cassette to make a dongle with fake batteries and hacked up the battery access door to make it all fit. This modification made it impossible to use AA batteries without purchasing an additional battery cassette. Again, not acceptable.
The Auto Thyristor on the Vivitars has been frequently attacked as a sub-standard system. I beg to differ. I have used it for many years and have found it to be flexible and reliable.
So, I set out to modify the flash with the following objectives:
1. Retain the Auto Thyristor functionality.
2. Add full manual control for the flash.
3. Make the flash impossible to mount directly to any of my cameras.
4. Make an interface that will allow the flashes to connect directly to my Paul Buff radio triggers.
5. Make the flash attach directly to my external battery pack.
6. Retain the ability to use AA batteries should I choose to do so.
7. Do the entire project in a way that will look professional instead of like a Dremel and Duct Tape hack.
Guess what... it worked. The new unit is now informally known as the 283 Lancer so that I may live in infamy.
Here is a first look at the finished project. The hot show mount was replaced with a small Radio Shack project box. A threaded nut-plate (not shown) was placed in the bottom of the box so that if can be mounted on tripods. light stands, etc. On the back of the box are two electrical connections. The top connection is a 1/8 radio jack that I use to connect my Paul Buff radio triggers. The bottom connector is a RCA jack which I use to connect the flash to my DIY battery packs. On the front of the box there are two controls, a toggle switch and a potentiometer. When the switch is in the up position, the Auto Thyristor works perfectly. To get full manual control, simply slide the Auto Thyristor into manual mode and throw the toggle switch to the down position. Then control output by rotating the potentiometer. This control allows you to select everything from a tiny whisper of light to a full power pop.
Here you see the flash wired up and ready to go. As you can see, the battery pack is roughly the same size as the flash and it provides all-day rapid fire power with no measurable degradation in performance. I hang the battery on a light stand or my belt and provide power through the red tipped cord. The radio trigger is hung on the battery via Velcro and the green tipped cord provides synchronization.
To make this modification, you will need to purchase:
1. A small Radio Shack project box.
2. A panel mount female RCA jack.
3. A panel mount female 3mm phone jack.
4. A small toggle switch.
5. A 100K potentiometer.
You will also need to gather up a few tools, including:
1. A small Phillips head screwdriver.
2. A utility knife.
3. Small wire cutters.
4. Heat shrink tubing.
5. Soldering iron.
For purposes of clarity, when I indicate the left or right side of the flash, right will always indicate the side of the flash with the battery door. In other words, left and right will always be correct if you are looking at the front or the flash.
Also, before you start, find a small dish or other suitable container to hold all the small parts that will be removed from the flash.
Using the sharp tip of a utility knife, work the metal disk loose and set it aside. Under the metal disk, you will find a copper retainer that must also be removed.
Locate two screws just under the lens and remove. Remove two screws from the pivot ring and lift the lower half of the flash head case off. Under the pivot rings on the left and right side of the flash are small nylon detentes, these parts are spring loaded and like to jump. Don't loose them.
Pull the Auto Thyristor from the front of the flash and set it aside. Remove the hot shoe and cut the wires, leaving them as long as you possibly can. Slide the top of the head off of the pivot points and again. Be careful to not loose the spring loaded detentes and the spring steel that makes them want to jump across the room. I strongly suggest removing them and placing them in a safe place while you still can. This is a lesson that I learned the hard way as one of my flashes is missing the one that got away. The detentes are easily visible in this image.
Locate and remove two screws near the pivot point. Lift the front cover off the flash. The Auto Thyristor socket is connected to the front cover so be careful to not pull these wires loose while removing the cover. Oh, and by the way, the front cover comes off much easier if you open the battery door first. Once you have the two halves separated, remove the screws that hold the Auto Thyristor socket in place and set the cover aside. Your flash should now look like this.
Continue to part two
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