I've been through two MF units on my T1. Each time Tamiya has replaced them no charge. Good on Tamiya. But now the flash has gone bad again. It's not the flash unit but the circuit in the MF. Forget about trouble shooting. I was wondering if there is a way to use the existing flash unit and the switch that is on the recoil unit (have an extra) and make a mechanically activated flash unit. I read Torpedoes Chief's use of a disposable camera but that's not the way I want to go. I'm not sure what all circuitry is in the wire bundle of the flash unit. Is it possible to hook up a separate battery source and an inline switch to convert the existing flash unit to a mechanically activated flash? I know a capacitor would be needed. Is this possible?

I've just had a Pershing MF unit turned back by Tamiya America because "they did not have the ability to repair it", they offered to sell me another for over $100, but it isn't the first time that particular MF's flash module had gone bad (the first time I had posted it to Tamiya Japan who fixed and returned it for a fee). I've been wondering about the same time - a microswitch that is triggered by the recoil cradle. Its doable, I suppose, but timing is everything.

I made a few flash units, they're just xenon strobes with a Cap and a trigger coil. The real problem is sourcing shielded wire. The voltage from the cap is so high that it'll arc through normal insulation. I got some pretty nasty shocks messing around with them, I decided it wasn't worth screwing around, they aren't your normal zap you might get from an appliance, etc.

Tamiya has the cap in the MFU itself, not the flash unit. Caps themselves have a limited life and believe it or not, they're so predictable that most electronic warranties are based on the caps. If they warranty for one year, some dubious companies will use caps built to last for a certain amount of time to cover that year.

In all my Tamiyas, I've only had one get weird on me, it's the JS-2 unit. It'll misfire after a dozen or so firings if the battery is low, then it'll be alright for a while. I contacted Tamiya and they'd take it back for service, but I haven't sent it in yet.

So yes, you should be able to isolate the trigger coil and supply a separate cap feed from the battery to make an auxiliary flash unit. Just keep in mind that's a lot of voltage, I think I read it's the same type in those portable defribrillators.

Few years ago I had to enlarge a sherman the flash, and used a ray cathode tube cable from an old TV, but had to change completely as the joint will make an arc.

Hey Mike,

I would try something like the HL LED flash, yeah I know it may not be what you want either, but I have tried rigging a switched for the Tamiya flash years ago and ended up frying an MF unit in the process, and I'm an electrical engineer! LOL

Well, the strobe probably develops like 400 volts to flash so messing with that with switches and such is just asking for trouble in my opinion. Go the safe way, low voltage LED's...

I'll second that. Over my life I've had some shocks here and there, trains as a kid, working on the house as an adult, but nothing, I mean nothing was as painful as the zaps from the strobe units.

I would never have believe that a battery can deliver that sort of shock, but each time (and there were many) I ended up stomping around like Herman Munster yelling 'darn darn darn darn darn!' ony it certainly wasn't 'darn' sprewing from my mouth. And the buzz from the shock lingered for a while too. I could definitely see the possibilty of disrupting heart rhythms.

Try a tingle from 277vac. You wont forget it.