Bare bulb mod of YN-560 III (with pictures)

[Hannes]

I decided to try and see what happened if I modified the brilliant Yongnuo YN-560 III to bare bulb. End result was interesting, large modifiers are better filled and amount of light has increased by between 1/3 to 1/2 stop depending on modifier (bigger effect in softbox than brolly). Light has also turned a bit cooler as one of the fresnel lenses is slightly warming. The quality of light seemed a little better with less of a central hot spot and somewhat softer in a softbox and a fair bit harder in my PLM knock off (hobo lighting 163cm parabolic silver umbrella). I wonder if this is because there was less light spillage around the umbrella bouncing off the small room I was testing it in.

Now for pictures (first is clicky for all the pictures in the series):

Bare bulb modyfiying the Yongnuo YN-560 III flash

The flash before modding it. Please be aware that you could potentially electrocute yourself doing this if you don't know how to make sure the capacitor is empty. You could obviously ruin your flash as well, don't blame me in either case.

Taking off the side strips of rubber and metal clamps holding it in place

Completely disassembled. The wire on the left either needs to be soldered off the board and then back on again, cut and rejoined or the cage holding the flash tube and reflector in place to be cut open to let you take out the flash tube.

Cutting an aluminium blanking to replace the fresnel lens. 1.2mm aluminium sheet is ideal thickness. I used a standard hacksaw and metal file to finish the edges. I also tried polishing it with a dremel but results weren't good as the surface became more dull.

Blanking plate together with a piece of 32mm wide acrylic tube with 2mm thick walls cut in half. Piece is 60mm long.

Holes drilled, one is 5mm and the other 6mm. The larger hole is needed to pass the flash tube through and the smaller is perfect size to use the rubber retainers to protect the wires.

All fitted back together. I elected to cut the wire and solder it back together to avoid soldering on the PCB. This may increase resistance and decrease flash power slightly but I took that chance instead of risking ruining the flash. Rubber retainer has been cut in half as otherwise it wouldn't fit and the pieces are held in place with a bit of electrical tape on the backside. The white plastic basket holding the flash tube and reflector may need some bits snipped out of the sides to leave enough space to pass the wires up. Acrylic tube was glued on with epoxy glue as it would bond better between the uneven edge of the acrylic and the aluminium than super gluing (some poor sawing by me).

Total cost - about £5 with offcuts and epoxy glue off ebay and I still have enough parts to do another three flashes. It took about three hours in total as I was trying things as I went along and I don't have anywhere proper to work on these projects. If you have a normal work bench and know what you are doing I'm pretty sure you could knock one out in half an hour or so.

 

[sagittariansrock]

Wow, I was just asking someone else who I had thought mod-ed his Speedlites.
Thanks for the post!
Also, is the capacitor inside the cylindrical thingy?
How do I make absolutely certain that it doesn't nuke me?

 

[skoobey]

Wow, I was just asking someone else who I had thought mod-ed his Speedlites.
Thanks for the post!
Also, is the capacitor inside the cylindrical thingy?
How do I make absolutely certain that it doesn't nuke me?

You take out the batteries BEFORE you start your disassembly?

Anyway, what is the purpose of this, I find my YN to be plenty hard when shooting portraits, not to mention full body shots. Completely hard shadow.

So, is this to get some more power out of it when combined with light modifiers?

Edit: read your post, yes, it is for more power, cool.
They're so affordable, I'd just ducktape two of them together instead going through all of this.

 

[privatebydesign]

Anyway, what is the purpose of this, I find my YN to be plenty hard when shooting portraits, not to mention full body shots. Completely hard shadow.

The purpose is so that it works more efficiently in modifiers, hotshoe flashes give a comparatively narrow beam of light that is not suited to modifiers well, particularly ones used from the back, shoot through umbrellas and traditional style softboxes. That is why for hotshoe flash modifiers I always recommend the Westcott Apollo style where you shoot into the box for better light distribution.

 

[sagittariansrock]

Wow, I was just asking someone else who I had thought mod-ed his Speedlites.
Thanks for the post!
Also, is the capacitor inside the cylindrical thingy?
How do I make absolutely certain that it doesn't nuke me?

You take out the batteries BEFORE you start your disassembly?

Anyway, what is the purpose of this, I find my YN to be plenty hard when shooting portraits, not to mention full body shots. Completely hard shadow.

So, is this to get some more power out of it when combined with light modifiers?

Edit: read your post, yes, it is for more power, cool.
They're so affordable, I'd just ducktape two of them together instead going through all of this.

The capacitors retain enough charge to give you a potentially lethal shock even after you take out the battery.
I think the main reason for "bare-bulb"-ing is to have the non-directional light that you can shape as you want, especially with modifiers (well, that is my reason at least). Ideally, all light sources should start out as bare bulbs for maximum flexibility, but you can see how that will make the Speedlites extremely fragile.

 

[Hannes]

The capacitors retain enough charge to give you a potentially lethal shock even after you take out the battery.
I think the main reason for "bare-bulb"-ing is to have the non-directional light that you can shape as you want, especially with modifiers (well, that is my reason at least). Ideally, all light sources should start out as bare bulbs for maximum flexibility, but you can see how that will make the Speedlites extremely fragile.

This pretty much. The capacitor is buried deep inside the main flash body. Taking the batteries out and leaving it alone for a few days is one way.

Duct taping two of them together won't have the same effect as you don't get an evenish 180 degree spread. These are more directional than a proper studio strobe because they have the reflective aluminium at the back meaning there is a bit more light forwards so the spread is very similar to that of a stofen, just a stop at least more power.

I was quite worried about the fragility as well so that is why I added the acrylic (perspex) half tube to protect the tube. Another advantage I forgot to mention is that the flash will do many more pops before it starts overheating because the air can circulate through the half tube with it being open on both sides.

Attached are what a 120cm octa looks like with first bare bulbed yn560 and then a plain one

 

[arcanej]

Interesting. You could glue gold leaf (the imitation stuff is only $5-7 per book) on the aluminum blank you cut to get a warmer light.

 

[IMG_0001]

Intersting hackwork. I'm curious how long they'll last, these tubes are quite fragile and dust or grime on them won't do much good. Also, I'd advise to be very careful modifying a flash. Speedlites often intentionally keep the capacitor charged when turned off in order to preserve battery life. Even with the batteries removed and the test button pressed, it is possible that enough charge remain to get an unpleasent shock. I also am not a big fan of having the electrodes so easily accessible and almost shorted by the backplate... there is enough voltage on a flash tube to spark across quite a gap.

For other DIYers out there, i've found that page quite intersting as far as flashes go. Mainly the safety tips, makes you respect those small strobes.

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/strbfaq.htm