Astra's Dying

Run&Gun

Run&Gun

Veteran
Is anyone (or anyone you know) having their Astra's die on them? I just sent two of my four back to Vitec, yesterday. Within the last month I've had two give up the ghost. One was from a set of two that I bought in early 2015 and the second was from a set of two I bought less than a year ago. And within the last two weeks I've had two separate audio guys tell me about friends of theirs that had some of their Astra's die, as well. And from what they told me, Vitec just flat out replaced the units, they didn't even attempt to repair them. I hope this holds true for me. One is under warranty and the other out by probably eight months.

If it was just one of mine, I'd chalk it up to a fluke. Stuff happens, nothing's perfect. But having two of mine go within weeks of each other and coupled with others around me having the same problem kind of shakes my confidence in them. And it's a shame, because they have become my workhorse lights and I really like them.

BTW: mine are the 4x, bi-color units.
 
Run&Gun said:
Is anyone (or anyone you know) having their Astra's die on them? I just sent two of my four back to Vitec, yesterday. Within the last month I've had two give up the ghost. One was from a set of two that I bought in early 2015 and the second was from a set of two I bought less than a year ago. And within the last two weeks I've had two separate audio guys tell me about friends of theirs that had some of their Astra's die, as well. And from what they told me, Vitec just flat out replaced the units, they didn't even attempt to repair them. I hope this holds true for me. One is under warranty and the other out by probably eight months.

If it was just one of mine, I'd chalk it up to a fluke. Stuff happens, nothing's perfect. But having two of mine go within weeks of each other and coupled with others around me having the same problem kind of shakes my confidence in them. And it's a shame, because they have become my workhorse lights and I really like them.

BTW: mine are the 4x, bi-color units.
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Yikes, those are pretty pricey lights to go down so soon. Sorry to hear, let us know what Vitec does for you.
 
The first time I rented one it died 5 minutes after testing. However, I never judge the longevity of a product based on a rental unit. Gawd only knows what it's been through, physically, emotionally, spiritually.
 
Unfortunately both of mine have died within the last 2 months.

They turn on briefly, then within a minute shut down to very low output, then turn off.

Both under an extended warranty thankfully.
 
I've had two Astra panels with faulty power boards that just stopped working after a year an half of frequently usage. Board replaced and they both currently are running again.
 
wannabeapilot said:
Unfortunately both of mine have died within the last 2 months.

They turn on briefly, then within a minute shut down to very low output, then turn off.

Both under an extended warranty thankfully.
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Mine started out doing a flicker of sorts, then they would run if you kept them dimmed to around half power(max) or less, then they just wouldn't work at all, no matter the power setting. Didn't matter if they were plunged in or on batts. This progression was in probably a week or less(2-3 shoots). One of my sales reps said there were some issues with early units, which I chalked my first one up to since I bought it in early '15, but then when the less than one year old unit died shortly after, plus other users having similar instances of them dying... It makes me think there is(was?) a design flaw. With Osslunds comment, maybe it is a faulty design/manufacturing flaw with the power board.
 
Well this is all disconcerting. The ones I've come across (ie- owned by camera people, gaffers, and rental houses I work with) seem to be holding up OK. But seeing all these reports gives me pause (as I consider buying a couple Astras right now); I mean, it seems like more than just a "bad batch" of power supplies or whatever.

Anyone have any more insight or educated guesses about what's going on? Anyone having success with their Astras holding up well under regular but not abusive conditions?
 
Jim Feeley said:
Well this is all disconcerting. The ones I've come across (ie- owned by camera people, gaffers, and rental houses I work with) seem to be holding up OK. But seeing all these reports gives me pause (as I consider buying a couple Astras right now); I mean, it seems like more than just a "bad batch" of power supplies or whatever.

Anyone have any more insight or educated guesses about what's going on? Anyone having success with their Astras holding up well under regular but not abusive conditions?
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I received an email from Vitec yesterday that they have received mine, so hopefully I will hear from them in the next few days regarding what is wrong with mine, but from talking to other people, the problems seems to be power/cooling fan related. While I was on the field at MNF last night, I saw a friend that shoots for one of the local stations and he was using Astra's, so I asked if he had had any problems with his units and he said no, but one of their guys had just had to send his two back for crapping out in similar fashion to others, not coming on/cooling fan not coming on, power LED RED(indicating fault).

I hope they get this straightened out, because I really like the lights(the quality and power), but something is definitely wrong. Just in the small sub-sample of me and a few people I know, there have been at least 8-10 Atra's that have all died under what seem to be similar circumstances/events.
 
Update

Update

Received an email from Vitec this morning. Both units(4x bi-color) have to have the PCB Power Board replaced. I believe this is the same thing Osslund had to have done.
 
This kind of puts me off of the Astras for the time being. My Aputure LS-1S aren't as good or powerful but have been more reliable and costs a lot less.
 
Run&Gun said:
I received an email from Vitec yesterday that they have received mine, so hopefully I will hear from them in the next few days regarding what is wrong with mine, but from talking to other people, the problems seems to be power/cooling fan related. While I was on the field at MNF last night, I saw a friend that shoots for one of the local stations and he was using Astra's, so I asked if he had had any problems with his units and he said no, but one of their guys had just had to send his two back for crapping out in similar fashion to others, not coming on/cooling fan not coming on, power LED RED(indicating fault).

I hope they get this straightened out, because I really like the lights(the quality and power), but something is definitely wrong. Just in the small sub-sample of me and a few people I know, there have been at least 8-10 Atra's that have all died under what seem to be similar circumstances/events.
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I own a 6x that I purchased 4 months ago and so far it is operating as expected. But I've only used it on around 8 shoots. Some of those were live tv setups where the light was running at full power for several hours.

Run&Gun- I use the 6x Astra as a key light for sideline standups. With a DoP Choice brand softbox mounted on the Astra. I'm typically running it at 100% output in order to compete with the overhead stadium lights in the Superdome. I use a Brightcast 1x1 at full power as fill, with a soft box over it as well. Both units placed roughly 4-6' from the talent. Both set to full daylight ( 5600k ) or near about. Maybe backed off just a bit to add some warmth.
 
@JPNola, I have a similar setup except that I have a 4x daylight Astra and haven't had any issues so far. What softbox do you use for the Brightcast? I have the D-Fuse softbox but it's not very secure and it's so small that I don't feel it makes that much of a difference. Because of the floppy nature of the flex panel, there doesn't seem to be very many other quick options. Most of the time when I have time, I just shoot through a big silk scrim.
 
markfpv said:
What kind of coin does Vitec charge for replacing those boards?
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Good question. On one of mine, it should be absolutely nothing, as it's still under full warranty. The other is about eight months out, but I'm hoping they don't charge anything, especially as it appears that this is a widespread problem with 4x models. And may be why they are doing away with that version.
 
JPNola said:
I own a 6x that I purchased 4 months ago and so far it is operating as expected. But I've only used it on around 8 shoots. Some of those were live tv setups where the light was running at full power for several hours.

Run&Gun- I use the 6x Astra as a key light for sideline standups. With a DoP Choice brand softbox mounted on the Astra. I'm typically running it at 100% output in order to compete with the overhead stadium lights in the Superdome. I use a Brightcast 1x1 at full power as fill, with a soft box over it as well. Both units placed roughly 4-6' from the talent. Both set to full daylight ( 5600k ) or near about. Maybe backed off just a bit to add some warmth.
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My typical sideline set-up during the morning/day at BoA is an 800 Bron-Kobold HMI with a 4x as fill. Once the sun is below the rim, the Astra's are enough by themselves. And I run the Chimera Universal 1x1 LED soft boxes on mine.
 
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