A Word of Caution...

[Al Brum]

Well guys, the other day I was doing an outdoor shoot using my PW Flex system. All was going well until I neglected to weigh down the light stand properly, the stand got blown over and the hotshoe on the bottom of the flex tt5 got broken.
Happily, these are easily replaced BUT beware how much you pay!
One UK company wanted £45 inc delivery, the official UK distributer (Johnstons Photopia) want £30 inc delivery which is more reasonable. I paid this and then got a response from PW in the USA, they sent me a video on how to do the repair and offered to sell me the new hotshoe for $12USD plus shipping and handling!

Lessons learned:

Never be lazy when it comes to weighting down your light stand
Always shop around and give people a chance to reply before making a decision.
Johnstons give a good rapid service.
PW have excellent customer support!

During my research I also discovered that there is a problem with the flex tt5 and the Canon 580exII, apparently there are compatibility issues which can leave the 580 getting fried. Both manufacturers are blaming each other for the problem, it affects about 1% of the flash guns sold.

 

[HoppyUK]

Well guys, the other day I was doing an outdoor shoot using my PW Flex system. All was going well until I neglected to weigh down the light stand properly, the stand got blown over and the hotshoe on the bottom of the flex tt5 got broken.
Happily, these are easily replaced BUT beware how much you pay!
One UK company wanted £45 inc delivery, the official UK distributer (Johnstons Photopia) want £30 inc delivery which is more reasonable. I paid this and then got a response from PW in the USA, they sent me a video on how to do the repair and offered to sell me the new hotshoe for $12USD plus shipping and handling!

Lessons learned:

Never be lazy when it comes to weighting down your light stand
Always shop around and give people a chance to reply before making a decision.
Johnstons give a good rapid service.
PW have excellent customer support!

During my research I also discovered that there is a problem with the flex tt5 and the Canon 580exII, apparently there are compatibility issues which can leave the 580 getting fried. Both manufacturers are blaming each other for the problem, it affects about 1% of the flash guns sold.

Only if you hammer them in HSS mode. PW put out a paper on it, here http://lpadesign.com/580EXII.pdf

And yes, PW in the US are very prompt and helpful

 

[Al Brum]

I read the paper too (well, most of it), but people are claiming to have had problems after only 5 mins/5 or 6 photos. It's a low percentage of problems and is also associated with tired/abused flash guns as well as some that weren't made particularly well.

For myself I'm not too worried, just thought I'd share the knowledge