Tomorrow I start reforming the capacitors of a 25yo Norman lighting setup. This with a view to selling them. My question is, is it even worth trying to sell it or should I try to donate to a museum. They come in three VERY heavy cases.
As with most things - it depends. If you have the ability to safely reform them rather than replacing them, there may be some resale value. How much depends on what exactly you have. Do some price research and see if similar models have actually sold here or on ebay recently.
If the capacitors are too far gone and need to be replaced, I doubt you'd ever recoup the cost of repair. Shipping weight could be prohibitively expensive. You may be limited to local sales.
You will likely get a loud bang out of the process, capacitors need to be powered up at least once a month in order to function as intended. It's recommended to plug the pack in with flash head, set to the lowest setting and power up. Then let it sit for a couple minutes and fire, you can slowly increase the power while firing the unit until you reach full power. If you use your kit on a regular basis, you can simply fire as desired but be careful to let it recycle fully.
tcphoto wrote:
You will likely get a loud bang out of the process, capacitors need to be powered up at least once a month in order to function as intended. It's recommended to plug the pack in with flash head, set to the lowest setting and power up. Then let it sit for a couple minutes and fire, you can slowly increase the power while firing the unit until you reach full power. If you use your kit on a regular basis, you can simply fire as desired but be careful to let it recycle fully.
Power it up, LET IT SIT for at least an hour...without firing it. Turn it off, without firing it, put it away. ***Holding*** power within the capacitor is what 'forms' it.
I re-form every 6 months, when I do not use it. Monthly is not really necessary.
Good luck, if the pack has not been powered up in 25 years. Especially when it is Norman.