As some of you know (especially those of you that witnessed it) my SB-600 died a terrible death by leaping from one of my light stands last week. After a bit if googling I found some very rough instructions that explain how to replace the broken flash tube.
In this thread I'm going to detail the repair process step by step as I (hopefully) get this thing going again. I've decided to attempt to repair it myself because the repair cost from Nikon is $150, whereas a new flash from B&H is only $185. Total cost of this repair should be about $30 unless I decide to get the soldering done professionally.
For now, until I get the replacement part from Nikon, this is mainly just going to be a picture thread. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have the part and complete the repair.
WARNING: You will get shocked by the capcitor at some point. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Step 1:
Remove the two screws in the bottom side of the flash head.
Step 2:
Remove the rubber covers on the hinges, I used a small flat-head screwdriver to pry it up. I started with the side labelled "Push", but it doesn't matter which one you do first. You'll reveal four screws on each side which are indicated by the blue arrows, unscrew them all (start with the bottom two on both sides, and then do the top two on both sides). One side of the flash has a cover over the four screws, you'll need to peel that off.
Once you've done the bottom four (two on each side) you'll be able to remove the lower part of the housing and the fresnel lense comes with it. Pay special attention to the fresnel lense as mine fell out and almost tumbled onto the floor.
The red arrow shows the damage where my flash landed on the pavement. Luckily I managed to find the IR cover and I'll be reattaching it at some point.
This image shows the rubber cover removed, the sticker over the label in pieces (at the top left) and the bottom housing ready to come off.
Step 3:
Remove the screws that hold the zoom motor and flash tube assembly to the case. There are four black screws that need to be removed. The silver one's hold the circuit board down - no need to remove those. In order to get to some of the screws you will need to adjust the zoom. Make sure you still have batteries in the flash, power it on, zoom it as needed and then turn it off before unscrewing anything. (Youtube video
here, because I felt the need to use the video function since I was using a P&S for once.
)
(The end... for now.)
Here's why I have to do all of this:
