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Re: [OM] "Forming" the capacitors in OM flashes?

Subject: Re: [OM] "Forming" the capacitors in OM flashes?
From: Garth Wood <garth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 22:17:02 -0600
At 09:55 PM 7/18/2001 -0500, Curt Hedman wrote:
>Hello, all ---
>
>Once again, a technical question. Does the capacitor in T32 and/or T20 flashes 
>need to be 'formed' after a period of no use? How best can said forming be 
>done?


"Forming" appears to be somewhat controversial.  The first time I ran into the 
concept was with my Vivitar 283 flashes -- the instruction manuals direct the 
user to "form" the capacitor once a month or so by turning the flash on, 
allowing the capacitor to fully charge, wait 10 seconds or so, then fire the 
flash on full-dump manual, and repeat the entire process five times.  Then 
allow the capacitor to charge up once more, and turn the flash off.  This is 
usually sufficient.

In a discussion about this topic a year or so ago, various List members seemed 
to think that forming the capacitor was, strictly speaking, unnecessary.  I 
remain unconvinced -- electrolytics need to be juiced up every so often, or 
they lose their ability to hold a charge (which is why of all the electronic 
components you can buy, the one type you're not recommended to stockpile is 
electrolytic capacitors).  I form all my flashes once a month -- it's no big 
deal, and assuming there's no real problem, it's also harmless.

Garth


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