Vivitar flash hacked with phono port – P365 Oct19
- At October 27, 2007
- By Neil Creek
- In DIY, Equipment, Flash
10
I’ve had enough of the unreliability of the proprietary cable plug on my Vivitar 285HV flash. I’ve been putting off modifying it with a phono port like I did with my 580EX, but with the help of the Strobist discussion group, I found a reference with instructions how to do it, so I did it!
This is before the modification. There’s hardly any room in there!
After the modification, complete with my terrible soldering.
The same photo as above labeled to make it a bit clearer.
And here’s the thing assembled with my modified Cactus wireless remote attached.
It works like a charm now. Completely reliable so far. I only hope my dodgy welding job holds. I’m a little wary of the cable being outside the flash. One good tug and it could pull right out. There was no room to put a knot in the cable inside the hole. I’d epoxy the hole shut if I was sure I’d never need to take the cable out in the future should it need re-doing.
I’ll just have to be careful with it!
Welcome to Strobist readers! For those that are interested, you can see more of my DIY projects in the DIY category. If you like my work, please subscribe to my blog at the top right! I make regular posts with photographic experiments, and I’m planning to write more tutorials in the near future.
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Tarjei T. Jensen
Hello,
How about adding some rubber around the hole so that the lead is under pressure when the flash foot is reassembled?
greetings,
Ty Zucker
A dab of hot glue on the inside where the cable comes out of the housing should help secure it and if you ever do need to replace it, hot glue can be picked or scraped out.
Jared
I like it. Just as an FYI, it’s considered a ‘phone’ plug, not ‘phono’.
The ‘phono’ plugs/jacks are RCA type. I’m working on a hack for the
sensor right now. I’ll keep you posted if it works.
otty
This is awesome. thx for sharing
Which type of receiver you use ? regular or new V2s radio receiver ?
Dan
I just completed this… maybe a 78% success.
I managed to rip out every wire while doing the internal soldering, but not all at the same time. As soon as I got one fixed, the other one went. Most of it was due to the heat of my iron in such close proximity when added with the pull-stress.
That being said, I can now trigger it via a HH cord… and am much happier.
Thanks for the wonderful info!
Colin J.
Does anyone have any thoughts on using a female plug on the flash. I have several of the RD616s and I could plug them via their (the remote’s) 1/4″ cable that come attached.
Neil Creek
Tarjei, Ty – I actually had an excellent suggestion on the Strobist discussion boards – using a cable tie around the cord just inside the hole. I haven’t tried it yet, but it might work! Thanks for your suggestions as well, I’ll try them if the other one doesn’t work out.
Jared – Thanks for the heads up.
otty – I’m using the Cactus V2. I understand the V1 has problems with Canon flashes.
Dan – Well done :) Soldering can be a real pain, especially when you haven’t had much experience. Next time will go smoother I’m sure!
Colin – The hack that I saw on Strobist (linked at the end of the first para of this post) uses a female plug. I suppose there’s no difference, just how you terminate the wires from the hack.
frank
Love this tutorial and just finished on my three vivitar 265. They had misfire problems and hopefully this will take care of it. Check out my blog http://edgeofphotography.blogspot.com/
Greg
Cool! Wish I’d seen this before I modded mine, would have helped with my wiring.
I noticed during my mods that when you plug in the Vivitar sync cable the tip severs the connection (where the yellow wire is in you photo) between the foot and the hotshoe buy pushing that little spring loaded copper plate out.
Have you tried firing your flash via the sync while on your camera’s hotshoe? I didn’t want to fry my camera so I mounted my Vivitar on my Cactus shoe and synced it too and found it created a short because the sync gate was closed due to no plug being inserted. Could just be my wiring though. Oh, and it didn’t fry my cactus :)
Also, do you know where to find replacement feet, the ORIGINAL ones. I tried the metal ones and they’re awful on so many levels!
Thanks for all the great DIY tutorial. I have a few you might be interested in to:
DIY Battery Pack
http://www.comatosed.ca/writing/writing/reviews/DIY_Vivitar_285_HV_Battery_Pack.html
Metal Foot Installation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/comatosed/3609335317/in/set-72157611997795372/
FlashWaves Wireless Triggers / Metal Foot Suckyness
http://www.flickr.com/photos/comatosed/3671309151/in/set-72157611997795372/
-G
marco
the diagram on the second photo is wrong… i followed it but it does not fire… the green wire to ground is correct but the yellow wire to positive is wrong… the yellow wire should be connected to the actual red wire… that’s it.