Broncolor Impact 41 - worth fixing/replacing?

TheFlyingCamera · Nov 12, 2015

Last night, as I was teaching my Intro to Studio Lighting class, we were using the Broncolor Impact 41 monolights I had bought maybe 9 months ago. One of the units suddenly shut off, and smoke started coming out of the unit. I immediately unplugged it and took it outside to ventilate it. I know enough to know NOT to plug it back in again. My questions are:

In all probability, what happened?
Is it repairable?
If it is repairable, is it worth it? I know you can get Broncolor Impact 41 monolights for around $250 apiece, less if you're patient and/or lucky.
How old are these units in general? The ones I have are definitely early units.
What is the likelihood this will happen to another unit in the set?

M Carter · Nov 12, 2015

Sounds like the capacitor fried, though it could be bad wiring or something overheated… those were introduced in the 80's I believe, Broncolor's first shot at a monolight. Did you buy 'em new? They make something nowadays like "Impact 41 mini" or something. Broncolor is a pro brand, but if they're old they're old.

I'd shop around for something with the same accessory mounting. I've heard good things about the Calumet travel lights and those are all over ebay, I think they're Bowens mount, like most cheaper monolights these days.

Or if you really rely on these for your living, maybe look into the Speedotron monolights? Speedo stuff is hard to kill. Or start moving to a pack & head setup?

I had an old novatron 250 pack that I used for 4x5 product shots with wide-open DOF. One day it just went off like a smoke machine in a disco, capacitor just fried right out. It was my last Novatron piece of gear as I moved to Speedotron - I have Speedo packs that were made in the 70's that are still working weekly - but it can be tought to get really low power from them, bleed heads snaking off everywhere!

Mainecoonmaniac · Nov 12, 2015

I have some old Broncolor Impact 21 and 41 lights from the late 80's. They're great work horses. I don't think they make them anymore so you can't buy them new. Here's one on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Broncolor-Impact-41-Monolight-Flash-Unit-Reflector-/262127954096

TheFlyingCamera · Nov 12, 2015

M Carter said:
Sounds like the capacitor fried, though it could be bad wiring or something overheated those were introduced in the 80's I believe, Broncolor's first shot at a monolight. Did you buy 'em new? They make something nowadays like "Impact 41 mini" or something. Broncolor is a pro brand, but if they're old they're old.

I'd shop around for something with the same accessory mounting. I've heard good things about the Calumet travel lights and those are all over ebay, I think they're Bowens mount, like most cheaper monolights these days.

Or if you really rely on these for your living, maybe look into the Speedotron monolights? Speedo stuff is hard to kill. Or start moving to a pack & head setup?

I had an old novatron 250 pack that I used for 4x5 product shots with wide-open DOF. One day it just went off like a smoke machine in a disco, capacitor just fried right out. It was my last Novatron piece of gear as I moved to Speedotron - I have Speedo packs that were made in the 70's that are still working weekly - but it can be tought to get really low power from them, bleed heads snaking off everywhere!

Fortunately I don't rely on these for a living. They were a Craigslist find that I donated to the school where I teach. I have a set of Calumet Travelites I can always use in their stead, and I also have a pair of Calumet Elite 2400ws pack/head kits I do use professionally but are overkill for most teaching gigs.

The Broncolor accessory mount is proprietary and unique to them, and if I understand it right, the Impact monolight accessory mount is unique to it within the Broncolor line. So any Bowens style S-mount accessories wouldn't fit.

I know what you mean about the Speedos and the bleed heads - that's one reason why I don't use them. My Calumet Elite kit has two channels of 1200 w/s each, which can be combined to put 2400 w/s through a single head on the A channel. I can set the pack output to 2400 w/s, 1200 w/s or 600 w/s, then further dial the power down per channel by about 4 stops, so I can get about an 8 stop range out of the pack with 2 heads. Theoretically I can set the power to 1/10th stop accuracy but that takes a LOT of futzing around with re-metering to get that precise- 1/2 stop is easy, 1/3 doable, and 1/4 stop is not unreasonable.

Since I donated the Broncolors, I was thinking about finding a replacement monolight for the one that blew as I doubt the school has the budget for fixing it, and if it will cost more to fix than to replace (highly likely) I'd rather just replace it when I get around to it, since I still have three of the four lights in the set working.

M Carter · Nov 13, 2015

TheFlyingCamera said:
Fortunately I don't rely on these for a living. They were a Craigslist find that I donated to the school where I teach. I have a set of Calumet Travelites I can always use in their stead, and I also have a pair of Calumet Elite 2400ws pack/head kits I do use professionally but are overkill for most teaching gigs.

The Broncolor accessory mount is proprietary and unique to them, and if I understand it right, the Impact monolight accessory mount is unique to it within the Broncolor line. So any Bowens style S-mount accessories wouldn't fit.

I know what you mean about the Speedos and the bleed heads - that's one reason why I don't use them. My Calumet Elite kit has two channels of 1200 w/s each, which can be combined to put 2400 w/s through a single head on the A channel. I can set the pack output to 2400 w/s, 1200 w/s or 600 w/s, then further dial the power down per channel by about 4 stops, so I can get about an 8 stop range out of the pack with 2 heads. Theoretically I can set the power to 1/10th stop accuracy but that takes a LOT of futzing around with re-metering to get that precise- 1/2 stop is easy, 1/3 doable, and 1/4 stop is not unreasonable.

Since I donated the Broncolors, I was thinking about finding a replacement monolight for the one that blew as I doubt the school has the budget for fixing it, and if it will cost more to fix than to replace (highly likely) I'd rather just replace it when I get around to it, since I still have three of the four lights in the set working.

Yeah, I gotcha. In the film days shooting 4x5, the big Speedo packs were nice. Now I mostly use a 1205 and 805 that have dial-down; I can get those down to about 50/25 with one or two heads. I may grab one of their monolights as they can go very low and recycle very quickly.

TheFlyingCamera · Nov 13, 2015

M Carter said:
Yeah, I gotcha. In the film days shooting 4x5, the big Speedo packs were nice. Now I mostly use a 1205 and 805 that have dial-down; I can get those down to about 50/25 with one or two heads. I may grab one of their monolights as they can go very low and recycle very quickly.

IF you need the power these days, they have a 2405cx that has dial down and I believe separate channels, so it's quite a bit more modern than the old 2401/2403 series. Those things are scary.

M Carter · Nov 18, 2015

TheFlyingCamera said:
IF you need the power these days, they have a 2405cx that has dial down and I believe separate channels, so it's quite a bit more modern than the old 2401/2403 series. Those things are scary.

That's a nice pack, about half the size, too if I'm correct. Still more power than I've needed in years...

I've got a 1201A (essentially a 2401 with half the power, same controls) - an old rounded-corner one in fact. It's the pack I've owned the longest, maybe 15 years and bought it used. Still going strong and never had an issue with it, I understnad it's from the late 1970s??

I think speedo got a "fear" rep because so many assistants or shooters got in a hurry and tried to plug or unplug a head without powering down. Since using different channels is how you fine-tune output, I can see it being easy to get in a hurry and forget to hit the switch as you play "Speedo switchboard operator" on the old packs. I don't even change the AB or recycle switches unless it's turned off.

I've yet to forget and zap though - I hear it can knock you across a room!

Mainecoonmaniac · Nov 18, 2015

Not as bad as Norman strobe packs

M Carter said:
I think speedo got a "fear" rep because so many assistants or shooters got in a hurry and tried to plug or unplug a head without powering down. Since using different channels is how you fine-tune output, I can see it being easy to get in a hurry and forget to hit the switch as you play "Speedo switchboard operator" on the old packs. I don't even change the AB or recycle switches unless it's turned off.

I've yet to forget and zap though - I hear it can knock you across a room!

Broncolor packs are one of the few that are safe disconnecting the heads without dumping them. I've heard that in Europe, Norman and Speedotron packs are illegal to use in studios. When I assisted many moons ago, I always switched off the power and "dump" the back before disconnecting the heads working in studios with Norman and Speedo packs. Nothing worst than an assistant soiling him or herself on the set.

M Carter · Nov 18, 2015

My understanding (and someone posted above as well) that you don't dump the packs?

I've noticed the newer dial-down packs pop when you switch 'em off though. But I've never dumped one, and had plenty of location shoots where I started yanking cables the second I powered down, with no trouble.

simonbarker · Jan 9, 2016

I believe those early Impact units use a Vistatec mount, Visatec being a budget line from Broncolor and I think the mount is the same just a bit smaller. You can buy adapters but that's generally discouraged as it changes the characteristics of any attached modifiers but when using softboxes you can get fittings for most any brand head.

The real problem with repairing them is their age, the only economical way to repair them is to find another faulty unit and strip it for parts and you're unlikely to find a repair shop that'll want to touch something so old let alone have parts available.

moye44 · Dec 11, 2016

i have two Broncolor Compuls 65 mono heads. The mounting adapters on both are not working, in the part that is connected to the mono-light body. When tighten, it will not stay in place, and swivels downward. has anyone out there had this problem, if so, how did you solve it. I opened one of the mono-heads, and inserted a rubber washer that I cut to size, but i can tell it will not last very long. If anyone knows how to fix the swivel mount, and wants to make an offer on the two Broncolor Compuls 65 mono heads. I am open to offers.

Louis Nargi · Dec 24, 2019

I have a Broncolor Impact set two 21 heads and one 41 head. one of the 21 heads dose not flash, Broncolor dose not service these Can I open this and possibly get parts?

Mainecoonmaniac · Dec 24, 2019

Louis Nargi said:
I have a Broncolor Impact set two 21 heads and one 41 head. one of the 21 heads dose not flash, Broncolor dose not service these Can I open this and possibly get parts?

I wouldn't. The circuitry could have full capacitors that can discharge. I would leave it to the experts.

AgX · Dec 24, 2019

In the OP's case I would open it (being aware of the danger of capacitator shock and able to take respective care). As there was smoke coming out most likely the broken parts can be easily determined. Well, finding a broken part not necessarily means having found the actual culprit, but by exchanging the broken or questionable part one has a good chance at least. Most likely the main capacitator has blown and just needs to be substituted by an apt part.

Broncolor Impact 41 - worth fixing/replacing?

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