[Rusty]

There have been many suggestions on how to safeguard against the flash getting stuck on the camera - from internal adjustment to the pin in the flash to plugging the hole on the hot shoe.

Here's a simple solution that requires no modification to neither flash nor camera. Just spray the hot shoe and the foot of the flash with a silicon spray that lubricates and protects the surface. It will not harm the contacts.

Just make sure you cover the rest of the camera and the flash otherwise they may become a bit slippery.

You will find the flash is now easy to attach and remove, and as it will now seat all the way in, the pin should engage and disengage correctly without bending or getting stuck.

I'm not sure how often you will need to lubricate, but I'm sure that will be obvious once it becomes harder to attach or remove the flash.

Rusty

[Lowell Goudge]

There have been many suggestions on how to safeguard against the flash getting stuck on the camera - from internal adjustment to the pin in the flash to plugging the hole on the hot shoe.

Here's a simple solution that requires no modification to neither flash nor camera. Just spray the hot shoe and the foot of the flash with a silicon spray that lubricates and protects the surface. It will not harm the contacts.

Just make sure you cover the rest of the camera and the flash otherwise they may become a bit slippery.

You will find the flash is now easy to attach and remove, and as it will now seat all the way in, the pin should engage and disengage correctly without bending or getting stuck.

I'm not sure how often you will need to lubricate, but I'm sure that will be obvious once it becomes harder to attach or remove the flash.

Rusty

you need to be very careful because silicon is very bad for electrical contacts. It also modifies the surface tension and may cause problems with ceilings.

[stewart_photo]

There have been many suggestions on how to safeguard against the flash getting stuck on the camera - from internal adjustment to the pin in the flash to plugging the hole on the hot shoe. ... (snip)... Here's a simple solution ...(snip)... Just spray the hot shoe and the foot of the flash with a silicon spray ...(snip)...

I thought about that option (lubrication) in the past and even suggested it once (though not silicon spray). Sadly, I now don't believe this will help when it comes to stuck pins because the hole in the camera is nearly twice the diameter of the pin itself. In other words, the pin is not getting stuck in the hole itself.

Instead, there seems to be two dominate causes of this problem - the pin disengaging from the arm which lifts it and the plastic arm itself breaking. The first may be caused by people attempting to unlock the locking knob after trying to slide the flash off (pressing the pin tightly in it's hole) and the second may relate to warnings from Pentax about not to tighten the locking ring too tightly (especially on the accessory stand).

Regardless, the ultimate solution to both appears to be removing the four screws holding the stuck flash foot and then lifting the pin inside the foot manually as the flash shoe is removed. Those screws can be reached (I've done it) using a very thin, long-shaft, phillips-head screwdriver, with the camera carefully covered to prevent scuffs. Afterwards, the pin can be removed entirely, reengaged with the arm, or a broken plastic arm repaired with glue. If I were actually experiences such problems, my tendency would be to simply remove the pin entirely.

stewart

[Confused]

Hi Stewart

Re your point:

my tendency would be to simply remove the pin entirely.

It kinda makes you wonder why those technicians responsible for the 540AFZ at the planning stage couldn't have foreseen this stupid 'design flaw' causing so many problems ! Incidentally, I'm curious to know what might of happened if the offending pin had been manufactured from metal instead of plastic ? Does Pentax perhaps have a potential recall issue on it's hands ?

Best regards
Richard

[stewart_photo]

(snip) It kinda makes you wonder why those technicians responsible for the 540AFZ at the planning stage couldn't have foreseen this stupid 'design flaw' causing so many problems ! Incidentally, I'm curious to know what might of happened if the offending pin had been manufactured from metal instead of plastic ? Does Pentax perhaps have a potential recall issue on it's hands ?

I believe the little pin itself is metal, while the lifting arm inside the shoe is plastic. Through casual reading, I have now heard of two incidents where the pin simply disengaged from the arm and two where the arm has broken, while the others, who sent it back to Pentax for repair, did not seem aware of what the specific problem was. With that limited sampling, I just cannot determine what the actual cause is. However, given the flash is something intended to be repeatedly mounted and removed, it is fairly clear the overall system should have been a bit more robust.

Luckily, I have not yet experienced any problems with my three AF-540 FGZ flash units. However, this whole thing has led me to study each of them carefully (freedom of pin movement, etc), including testing various methods of detaching the shoe from the flash (while still mounted on the camera) in case this ever should happen. As I said before, my tendency at this point would be to remove the pin entirely at the first sign of trouble - and do a little cussing in the process.

stewart