Emergency: busted AcuteB head

[ocarlo]

Hi all,
just dropped by one and only Profoto Acute B head, and am on location in Africa. I have a colleague flying in in ten days, and was wondering:
1. Obviously, the glass dome is shattered - Do I assume everything else is too? Are there replacement kits available?

2. I've heard of a smaller, newer AcuteB head that's supposed to be faster better than the old one?

3. Can other Acute heads be used with the AcuteB?

3. I'm looking at getting another AcuteB pack and head. Anyone got any to sell? paypal...

thanks all. Not being lazy, I'm doing research but Internet out here's pretty limited...
Carlo - Carlo Ontal: Photography & Film

 

[robmac]

Sorry to hear about that.

1. Replacement domes are available from any dealer, the only way to check rest is trying it... or sending it to a dealer for test. Odds are the tube is likey screwed.

2. You may be thinking of the head for the new B4.

3. Any Acute head can be used with the B - just make sure to either turn off the modelling light or swap it (via an adapter) for the 85W AcuteB lamp. There's no pin connection for the fan on a normal Acute head in the B's socket, so the fan, as with an AcuteB head, will not operate (not an issue).

Many folks use normal Acute heads with the B so that when they mix Acute B, Acute 1200/2400 and D4 packs, they can use the same heads in any of them.

 

[Kirk Candlish]

You can try the head with no real risk to your AcuteB pack. If the tube is broken, or there is other damage, the head will probably just make a clicking sound and not fire.

As robmac explained, any Acute head will work with the pack, just don't use the standard modeling light. If you're in South Africa, near a major city, you'll find repairs are readily available.

 

[ocarlo]

many thanks.
just finally got a chance to really look at it - the tube is cracked as well.
its crazy that replacing both is almost half the price of a new head entirely,
but then we are in profoto land after all...
no chance and no time, btw, to get to South Africa...

as my next upgrade is likely a 7B, I think I'll stick with a new AcuteB head for now...
w/c kinda puts me in a crazy situation - I have two Elinchrom Ranger kits and two Profoto kits...