Current Score: Noah - 2, Broken Sigma Flashes - 0

Well, today I got my third Sigma "EF 500 DG Super" flash, and the second one I picked up for a song. I bought the first one a few years a go to go with my D-Reb.

Number 2 and 3 both came in needing a little love.

I bought Number 2 from a guy who had broken off part of the plastic hot-shoe mount, and wondered why it wasn't working with his Digital Rebel anymore. There is a switch on the D-Reb's hot-shoe that senses if a flash is attached, and the part of the flash's mount that broke off happened to be the same piece that triggered the switch. $15 for a new hot-shoe mount from Sigma, and it works like new.

Number 3 came in the mail today. The guy I bought it from said it just suddenly stopped working, and had no physical damage. As soon as it arrived, I noticed 2 things - there was some corrosion on some of the battery contacts, and the pop-out wide angle diffuser had one of the tabs broken so it slid all the way out.

I didn't know if the flash was done for, but I've had pretty good luck with using basic logic and very little electrical knowledge to repair stuff, (or at least figure out the obvious stuff). I spent a few hours of "quality time" with my favorite screwdriver, (and a roll of Scotch tape to keep the screws and parts together), and pretty much dissected the whole thing. Nothing seemed out of place, so I went ahead and put it all back together.

A word of caution if you plan on trying this at home - wait a long time after you've taken the batteries out (days / weeks?) so the capacitor can discharge. There is a lot of power in the sucker, and the last thing you want to do is have it charge fully, and they empty itself out into your neural pathways. Luckily, this thing has been dead for quite a while, so I was pretty safe.

I got it back together, and worked a bit more on the battery contacts. I scratched them up a bit more, and used a WD-40 "pen" I keep in my bag for work, (you never know when you're going to need WD-40!). I also had to work on some of the corrosion down at the bottom of the battery holder, but after cleaning it out a bit it turned right on and popped without a problem.

A little WD-40 and some steel wool (or a sharp tool to scratch) can go a long way when you find leaking batteries in your gadgets.

I like the Sigma flashes. They seem to be at the right "bang-for-the-buck" point that I go for in my gear. Since I'm not Pro, I don't have the money to drop for the Canon stuff, but the Sigma's still have a guide number of 50M @ 105mm, and have most of the bells and whistles (like E-TTL wireless control) that the big boys do.

I was looking for a nice Nikon SB-24/25/26/28, but with the popularity of the Strobist "less-is-more" movement, those are getting harder to come by, so I keep an eye out for a nice Sigma that needs a little TLC.