# *FIXED* "3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped."



## Tabor Warren Photography (May 5, 2015)

Almost overnight, 3/4 of my 600EX-RT speed lights stopped working. #'s 2&3 below stopped while I was shooting a wedding reception. #1 stopped this morning while doing headshots for a local company.

1) Will not accept ETTL anymore (only runs on TTL)
2) Will not be a master or slave to any other
3) Will not be a master or slave to any other AND will not communicate with the camera it's attached to
4) Works perfectly fine, YAY!

Any ideas for any of the flash issues?

Thank you VERY much for your help!
-Tabor


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## Jim Saunders (May 5, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*

The only suggestion I have is to take the batteries out, turn it on, leave it a while and try it again; I'd be very inclined to send them for repair though.

Jim


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## Marsu42 (May 5, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*



Tabor Warren Photography said:


> 1) Will not accept ETTL anymore (only runs on TTL)



This usually happens if the camera-flash contact doesn't work properly, did you quadruple-check for this possibility? To debug, try to change some flash c.fn settings via the camera's flash menu and see if the flash is recognized.



Tabor Warren Photography said:


> 2) Will not be a master or slave to any other



Well, if it rains it pours :-\ ... this issue means that the flashes don't react to each other in neither optical nor rt mode?


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## Tabor Warren Photography (May 5, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*



Jim Saunders said:


> The only suggestion I have is to take the batteries out, turn it on, leave it a while and try it again; I'd be very inclined to send them for repair though.
> 
> Jim



Thank you for your suggestion, Jim!

I'm going to try this now.

All my best,
-Tabor



Marsu42 said:


> Tabor Warren Photography said:
> 
> 
> > 1) Will not accept ETTL anymore (only runs on TTL)
> ...



Marsu,

I haven't tried the optical recognition. I used to run optical with the 430EXi, but never liked working with it this way. After I try Jim's suggestion, I'll wake them back up and try optical recognition.

Thank you for your response!

All my best,
-Tabor


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## Valvebounce (May 5, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*

Hi Tabor. 
Just a thought, have you checked that you haven't inadvertently changed the channel on them, it seems too coincidental that two would stop responding at the same time? Also I'm guessing that you have already checked that you haven't set TTL instead of ETTL, but worth a mention? 
Sometimes I can get too wrapped up in failure of a device to think simple and check the basic settings that I can somehow change with fat finger syndrome! ;D
I hope that you find a cause, just having them recover and start to work again would be unacceptable to me if I was relying on them for professional work as it would leave me concerned they could just quit again. 

Cheers, Graham.


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## StudentOfLight (May 5, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*



Marsu42 said:


> Tabor Warren Photography said:
> 
> 
> > 1) Will not accept ETTL anymore (only runs on TTL)
> ...


I experienced a similar problem where the flash was doing weird things and forced itself into TTL. In my situation it turned out that the hotshoe on my 60D was missing a metal plate. It had apparently gotten damaged and fell off while I was in the field. I remember feeling something fall but I didn't see anything in the grass so I just assumed it was my mind playing tricks on me. 

Anyway, my problem was on-camera, but it sounds like you are having problems off-camera too. I hope you can sort out your flashes quickly and that it isn't too costly.


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## Tabor Warren Photography (May 6, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*

UPDATE: I followed the advice above, reset all of the flashes, and checked every setting I could find/think of and now only 1 of the flashes is still not working. So now;

1) Will not be a slave/master to anything
2) Works!
3) Works!!
4) Works!!!

I will continue to work on the last little bugger. I still have 10 more weddings to shoot this month alone so I would prefer to find the error and fix it then send it in to CPS and wait for a replacement. If there are any other thoughts on how to get #1 to operate, please throw any suggestion out there.

Thank you all again!
-Tabor


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## Jim Saunders (May 6, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*

The last one on optical instead of radio? I know you can disable optical in the c.fns but it might come back if you've reset everything.

Jim


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## East Wind Photography (May 6, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*



Tabor Warren Photography said:


> UPDATE: I followed the advice above, reset all of the flashes, and checked every setting I could find/think of and now only 1 of the flashes is still not working. So now;
> 
> 1) Will not be a slave/master to anything
> 2) Works!
> ...



I would ask them for a loaner while yours is not in use. CPS should be able to turn it over in 3 days anyway.


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## Valvebounce (May 6, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*

Hi Tabor. 
I'm just wondering whether your numbering means that you successfully chased the gremlin from number 2 in to number 1, or was it just a slip with the numbering? 

Cheers, Graham. 



Tabor Warren Photography said:


> UPDATE: I followed the advice above, reset all of the flashes, and checked every setting I could find/think of and now only 1 of the flashes is still not working. So now;
> 
> Original error sequence.
> 1) Will not accept ETTL anymore (only runs on TTL)
> ...


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## Tabor Warren Photography (May 6, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*

Wow, you all are awesome!

Jim,
I don't remember seeing the option to disable/enable optical or wireless on the last one, I just need a minute to look into it, but thank you very much for the suggestion!

East Wind,
I think I may end up asking for a loaner. I was just really hoping to get it figured out before it came to that. I tend to learn a lot about my gear when I have to troubleshoot it. If I don't get it resolved soon though, then I will certainly use that solution.

Valvebounce,
It was a slip in the numbering. I had to leave in haste right after typing the response and did not look at the original numbering I had used. I've since registered each one with a different number so that I can keep track of which ones are giving me trouble in the future.

I'm going to give it another go and will update when things get resolved, (hopefully soon).

Thank you all again,
-Tabor


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## Tabor Warren Photography (May 6, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*

UPDATE: THEY ALL WORK AGAIN!!!!

I wish I could describe what I did to fix the last one, but I went through so many different settings, I'm not sure which one it was.

I'm thinking it had to do with the ID given to the flash since it was the only one that was not set to an ID of 0000. Other than that, the other settings I adjusted *shouldn't* have played much of a role in making the flash stop working.

Thank you all again for your help! It is such a relief having these all work again.

All my best,
-Tabor


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 6, 2015)

Tabor, something is going on. I'd get another spare, assuming you have one or two now. It could be something like a capacitor healing itself over time, heat is hard on them, but odds are it will happen again.


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## Tabor Warren Photography (May 6, 2015)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Tabor, something is going on. I'd get another spare, assuming you have one or two now. It could be something like a capacitor healing itself over time, heat is hard on them, but odds are it will happen again.



Mt Spokane,
I was planning on picking up another two, and have put a little sticker on each to tell me which number they are so that I can keep track of their lack of functionality. I was not in too big of a hurry to get the next two and was seeing if anything was to come of the ETTL-III functionality that was briefly mentioned here on CR. If nothing new comes of the new tech, I'll probably just go ahead with two more of these.

Thank you for your insight and advice.

Cheers!
-Tabor


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## wsheldon (May 6, 2015)

*Re: 3 out of 4 of my 600ex-rt speed lights just... stopped.*



Tabor Warren Photography said:


> UPDATE: THEY ALL WORK AGAIN!!!!
> 
> I wish I could describe what I did to fix the last one, but I went through so many different settings, I'm not sure which one it was.
> 
> ...



Great news! I had a similar issue when buying a used 600RT and trying to use it with my existing 600's with default ids of 0000. The original owner set a custom id that was retained even after resetting the CFs to default. I was really flummoxed because the ST-E3 would lock onto whichever powered up first then not control the others and I couldn't figure out why, since I'd been ignoring that setting. I'm sure it's a useful feature for complex set-ups, but it can really cause confusion.


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## Valvebounce (May 7, 2015)

Hi Tabor. 
Good to know you have sorted them all out, sounds like a good idea to identify them so you can keep tabs on them. 

Cheers, Graham.


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