Braun Hobby Flash - 1st Generation

[Luddite Frank]

Is anyone here at RFF familiar with the first-generation Braun "HobbyFlash" electronic photo-flash ?

I would be going back to the 1950's; they had a black plastic case with a shoulder-strap for the power-supply, and an aluminum "strap"-bracket to attach the flash-gun to the camera. Sync was through a standard 3mm PC terminal & cord.

These units would charge off the "mains", selectable to either 110 v or 220 v, or could charge off three 1.5 v "D" cells, or a 4.5-volt "wet-cell accumulator".

Inside the case, there was a vibrator "tube" (like car radios in the pre-transistor era) to convert the DC to a cycling current for stepping-up through the transformer.

I have about 1/2 dozen of these klunkers, and would like to get (at least) one going so that I can actually use it.

I've gotten a few of them to charge and flash off the household current ( 110v), but none will charge off the dry-cells: vibrator won't go. If I pull the vibrator tube out of its socket and carefully ease it back in until it makes contact, I can feel the reed inside snap-over, but it won't vibrate.


Besides being cumbersome, were there operational issues with these beasts that gradually rendered them functionless? ( None of mine seemed to suffer from battery leakage / corrosion).

Is there anyone out there that services these ?

Three of the units are s/n: 274782, 314476, and 345740.

Another might be the next model ("Automatic") which had three white switch-buttons on the face of the battery case.

One of the boxes is rubber-stamped "E. Leitz New York", and I believe these models were the first "official" electronic flash for Leica.

Any thoughts ? 🙂


Luddite Frank

(PS: I know that modern Electronic flashes would be more practical 🙄, I have them; I also have a "potato-masher" Heiland Futuramic Strobonar in working order... I would like to get one or more of these big Brauns going again...

 

[Al Kaplan]

Odds are that the capacitor that actually holds the charge that discharges through the flashtube is no longer functional.

 

[Luddite Frank]

One of the three charges / recovers quickly on house-hold current (will re-charge within 5 seconds)... there's a big capacitor the size of a soup-can inside these...

Even the quickest-charging unit still won't charge on "battery" (vibrator won't go)... metered my dry-cells - theyr'e producing about 1.55 volts...

Will try swapping vibrators from the other units...

LF

 

[charjohncarter]

Wow, Luddite, those are really out there. I have a 1970 Braun that I could always get to work with 110v. But the 9v battery (rechargeable) was a goner. I cut it out and used a batch of AA is to make up 9v or was it 12v, they worked. I tried one of those 9/or12v radio batteries first and had the same problem you have/had. You might try a group of smaller batteries with more amp hours. It appeared to me that you/I need more than volts; any EEs in the house.

 

[Luddite Frank]

I'm wondering if there's any other electronics inside these dinosaurs that might have gone bad from age that are preventing the units from charging battery...

Those that will charge & fire while on house-current suggest that the transformer, big capacitor, flashtube and trigger circuit are "OK"...

So far I've dug -out five of these monsters... apparently the unit was revised a bit around s/n 200,000 - they went from a 4-pin vibrator to a 5-pin... (I can also remember that car radios made a similar transition in the early 1950's...).

One of the five-pin units (s/n 345740) has its original warranty card, validated in 1959 by the original salesman.

I'm a little bit surpised that no one has commented about actually using one "back in the day"... (or have those photogs all gone to " the big darkroom in the sky" ?)


LF

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Vibrators had a relatively short lifespan. I know from restoring some old car radios there are pin compatible solid state devices to replace them, now. Not sure, though, if such a thing exists for these oldtimer flash units.

 

[FPjohn]

Great units-'remember the reflectors are removable for open flash. Would Braun still be a source of parts?

yours
FPJ

 

[Luddite Frank]

FPJ -

Hadn't thought about Herr Max...

Might be worth an e-mail, perhaps they can at least get me a schematic...


They look neat, flash really has punch, and the round reflector can be turned 180 deg on the handle, giving you a choice of wide or narrow-angle flash.

Pickett -

The vibrator can was my first suspect, I even took the can off one of the four-pin units - everything looks okay inside, contacts, magnet coil, etc... but when I turn the "battery" switch on, the vibrator reed swings to one side, and stays there until the power is switched-off...

I'm beginning to wonder if there's other components on the battery-side of the unit that might be preventing the vibrator from working...

If I can find the specs on the device, I can probably find an electronics whizz that could build a solid-date substitute for mechanical vibrator...

Regards,

LF

LF

 

[wolves3012]

The vibrator works by interrupting its own current along with the "output" side of things. If the reed pulls to one side and stays there then it's likely to be the contacts on the primary side that are at fault. There should be a small capacitor across the contacts but that's only to reduce the arcing. I'm not familiar with the particular unit but my understanding is that most vibrators had adjustable contacts to allow for wear etc. Hope that helps point you in the right direction...

 

[Luddite Frank]

Wolves,

Thanks for the info... I will take one of these completely apart and look for more small components (caps, diodes, etc) that may be at fault.

I did find an article by Harold Edgerton on Electronic Flash in my 1951 Morgan & Lester "Leica Manual" , and that includes a schematic of a "generic" electronic flash (complete with photo-tube slave unit!), and that diagram suggest there may be some small capacitors and diodes on the battery-side of the equation.

The Vibrators themselves were built as sealed "disposable" units, but having taken one out of its can, it could certainly be worked-on... it's a fascinating little device.

I was expecting to find a circuit like a common door-bell / buzzer, where the magnet power is interrupted each time the reed "closes", there by creating a repeating cycle as long as there's power applied... this doesn't seem to be the case with the Braun vibrator...

Will keep digging !

Thanks !

LF

 

[Ron G]

I bid on three of those Braun Hobbies a couple of weeks ago but was outbid.They were hot when I was coming up.I am in the process of rebuilding my Mecablitz 106 that I bought while in Germany in the early '60s.It is a little involved in that room is at a premium in the case and the Nicads are not being made anymore but I have it working and a little fine tuning will bring it back online again to complement my Voigtlander Vito CL that I bought it for.That camera still takes great pictures and it is a joy to use.Ron G

 

[newspaperguy]

FWIW - I bought one of the Brauns (back in the day) to use with my Rollei - finally trashed it and accepted the weight and bulk of a Strobinar (sp?) to get dependable output.