Aputure 120D fried control box

[keithlango]

Just a note to those who have the 120's or even the 300's-- Dry winter air and a long sleeve T shirt are dangerous things.

Static. And I don't mean a ton of it, either. It will brick your controller. It wasn't even one of those real zingers that hurt and that you can hear. I barely noticed the discharge. But doink! The controller now won't send power down the cable to the head. Controller fires up, intensity dial, channels and group buttons all work fine, just no juice downline to the head. I tested the head & cable on another controller box to verify and they worked fine.

Which raises two concerns for me about these units going forward:

1) The electronics on these things seem unreasonably fragile
2) You can't buy replacement components. If I could buy a new controller box I'd do it (and try to remember the static thing). But it's not possible.

Puts a damper on using these in anything more than hobbyist stuff.

 

[Paul F]

If that is the case, then they may not have done proper ESD testing. Most ESD is not felt and discharges of 100 volts or less can damage electronics. It has to be above 3000v before the typical ESD discharge is felt. It is not hard to design for ESD, but it just has to be done and tested.

For other owners, I suggest you touch the light case metal or the metal connector of the controller to discharge yourself before handling the controller. It may not help, depending upon their design.

 

[keithlango]

Follow up.. I decided to reach out to Aputure on their FB group page and told them of my problem. Even though my light is out of warranty they rushed out a full replacement light kit to me at no charge. So while the light has some dodgy durability issues, I can't find fault with their customer service and willingness to make things right.