Re: WARNING: JTL Monolights are DANGEROUS!

Sounds very much like someone used a three-wire to two wire AC adapter ... and left the
ground wire on the strobe floating ... ?



"John Steven" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> FYI: I recently discovered the hard way that the three JTL monolights
> (Versalight series, 300 and 800) I owned are ELECTRICAL HAZARDS.
> CAUTION: you may get shocked quite severely if you use these lights. I
> found this out by getting a good shock when doing a portrait session
> in a studio with a concrete floor. I was wearing shorts and knelt down
> to get a better angle on the subject and as soon as my knee touched
> the floor, I felt a strong electrical current run through my arms via
> the camera. I measured 85 volts AC between the sync cable outer
> connector and earth ground. THIS IS NOT NORMAL!! I tried contacting
> the JTL company twice but did not receive a response. The same problem
> was exhibited by all three lights, so I don't think it's an individual
> defect. Instead, it seems to be a design flaw.
>
> Yes, you might say I was an idiot for wearing shorts and shooting
> portraits in a room with a concrete floor, etc. I agree, and I'll not
> do that again. However, I recently took delivery of some new
> monolights (from Calumet) and they do not exhibit this voltage
> problem.
>
> -John