DIY AC powered flash for Canon

I have two Canon speedlights (the 430EX and the 580EXII) which I normally power with rechargeable batteries. That works OK unless you do a lot of shooting or when you are in "master-slave" mode with a slave on constant standby with the auto power-off switched off.

 

So I made two adapters that fit into the battery compartment and are hooked up with two 6V, 4A (DC) switched power supplies. As there is a considerable inrush current at power up of the flash unit (or recharge after a pop) I put two 0.47 ohm resistors in series with the DC line to the flash. Otherwise the short circuit protection in the power supply might kick in.

I made the adapters so that they only fit one way. Note: where it says "-" at the botom of the flash is actually the DC "+" on the bottom of the compartment.

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Uploaded on March 14, 2012
Taken on March 14, 2012