testing canolite D

[UberSquid]

I've rebuilt several cameras but I've never worked on a flash before. I've got a canolite D that seems to be malfunctioning. I've put it on three different cameras and it doesn't fire when I trip the shutter. There is no manual test button on the lens so I'm not sure how to test the flash. I thought that if I shorted the two contacts on the bottom it would go off but I don't get anything when I hit the contacts with a piece of copper wire.

Any suggestions on diagnosing this thing? The light comes on and I can hear the capacitor charging up, it just doesn't... flash...

Thanks

Jeremiah

 

[MiniMoke]

I'm reviving this old thread as I have the same problem with a Canolite D.

It's VERY clean inside and out, all the contacts are shiny, opened it up and the big capacitor looks good (not swollen....).

Upon turning it on it charges (orange light goes on after about 4 seconds, charging 'sound' is heard).

Tested it with my Canonet 28, the QL17 and the Oly 35SP (and the AE-1) but it does not fire. The meter needle reacts correctly though when focusing the Canonets.

Guess the .bay-seller will have to take it back if I can't get it to work properly.

Could it be the bulb? Any replacement available??

 

[Landshark]

This is a typical failure of many flash units and your test by shorting the hot shoe contacts is correct.
When this happens the common failures are trigger capacitor or trigger coil.
Because the main cap is charged it will have 300+ volts stored and can be pretty eye opening if you short it.
The cap can be safely drained by using a resistor across the terminals. Unfortuneately I don't remember a value for the resistor

 

[Dwig]

... I thought that if I shorted the two contacts on the bottom it would go off but I don't get anything when I hit the contacts with a piece of copper wire...

Shorting the two contacts on the bottom is not supposed to trigger the flash. The flash should fire, if its working, by shorting the bottom center contact with the contact on the side of the shoe inside the groove. The second off-center contact on the bottom is for the extra communication with the Canonet cameras.