Flash Photography Starts smoking if used under studio conditions

Flash Photography Starts smoking if used under studio conditions

I bought 4 of these as lights to take out on location (my studio is fitted out with 5 Alien Bees). Since these are small and cheap - I figured that I could keep them in my vehicle for some impromptu shoots.

I set up one of the NEEWER 300W Studio Photographic Strobe/Flash units to do some testing in the studio. I set it up with an umbrella - with the light aimed upwards at about a 45-degree angle (so that any heat from the modeling lamp would rise away from the light).
After just 2 hours - it started to smoke. I suspect that one of the capacitors overheated and melted.

Flash Photography Starts smoking if used under studio conditions

Afterwards - I re-read the instructions which indicate that you can only use the flash a couple minutes at a time, followed by 5 minutes of non-use.
That certainly is not something that is very useful for a studio shooting situation.
I'm glad that I didn't spend too much on these, and since they are cheap, I am going to tear one apart to see if there is a way to mount some kind of cooling fan inside them (maybe that will allow use under normal studio conditions).

Flash Photography Starts smoking if used under studio conditions

I shoot fashion - and expect lights to be able to fire reliably without becoming a fire danger.
Shame on me for not fully reading the instructions before using the light, but after doing photography for 25 years, I just expected the light to work.
I was really, really happy with it for about 2 hours.

I suppose for people doing light amounts of shooting (some shots of their family members or students who need lighting for doing assignments), these lights will probably work just fine. For my needs, they currently just don't cut it.