William Parker

On July 7, 2015 I received the YN600EX-RT flash from Amazon. At first, with some test shots, it seemed to work OK. A month or so when I again tried it out, it seemed to work off and on? Two days ago, I took it to a benefit and it, again, worked on and off? Took it home that night and put (tested) new batteries in and it would not even turn on. Since it's over 70+ days old, Amazon turns a blind eye and Yongnuo has no service centers in the US. Looks like I'm stuck with this flash. Anybody got any ideas as to how I can get it fixed or replaced? Bought this as a back-up flash to my older Canon flash.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Anything mass produced is liable to be less than perfect. Contact Rick Riggins on this forum. He does repairs and got my Nikon SB-600 working. He had been sick, so see what his work schedule is like.

Considering the price of the Yongnuo, you may just want to chalk it up to experience and start shopping. Take a look at Nissin (Japanese) or the flashes made by your camera company.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

So? Defective. under warranty (07/2015)? Send it back. Contact the seller.
I have one of their flash, never a problem (4 years now)

Wendy2 Loc: California

I used to like the Yongnuos because they were cheaper and worked. Then I got 2 flashes in a row that were defective. I don't buy them anymore. Neither were covered because I bought them through a 3rd party.

I contacted Yongnuo and they said they would fix them, but it would cost around $35 to ship to them (Korea) and another $35 to ship back, plus the cost of repair. Since they cheaper to buy,I did not do it and bought a couple of Canons.

happy sailor Loc: Ontario, Canada

Hi this is probably not what did it but just a thought, did you leave the batteries in the unit for the whole seventy days or do you take them out after each use. I have a Yongnuo trigger for my Canon 600ex-rt and I forgot to take the batteries out of them and they sat in there for about a month. The batteries in the Canon flash were fine but the Yongnuo unit had battery leakage on the contacts. The unit would then not work at all with new batteries. I cleaned the contacts and the unit is working again but I was wondering whether the metal used in it causes batteries to leak sooner than others.

Lesson learned for me, batteries out after every use now!!!

You might want to clean the terminals inside the flash, might work.

William Parker

Thanks for all your advise, sometimes you get what you paid for! Will probably mark this one up as a loss and move on. Probably back to Canon Flash.

Thanks again - Bill

DaveHam Loc: Reading UK

The battery contacts may need cleaning; this often occurs particularly if you leave the batteries in the flash when not using it for an extended period.

Use a bit of fine emery or a rubber / eraser(?) - not sure of the American speak - and clean the terminals, then try it.

JeffT Loc: Central NY

Try contacting Tim at www.Yongnuousa.net. He can help you make the right contacts at least. He also offers some additional servies for Yongnuo equipment purchased through his site.

Boone Loc: Groundhog Town USA

Ditto on your reply~~~!

I had the same problem years ago, used an eraser on the back of a pencil (make sure it is a "NEW" eraser) then used a micro cloth with residue free electric cleaner on it.

I have always used: CRC - QD Electric Cleaner.

Did this, and the problem was solved. This was not a Yongnuo Flash. I use the Yongnuo 560 lll and find them bullet proof so far. (2 yrs) Boone.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Advice if you are not going to use a piece of equipment that uses batteries for a long time take the batteries out especially alkaline batteries as they can leak

Peanut_the_cat Loc: Bradenton, Florida

I thought a while before posting this reply because I'm admitting to a probable unethical pratice. I bought 2 Yongnuo flash units from an online retailer. They both worked fine when tested, then they were put away for a couple of months with the new battries inside them (I know this is bad pratice). 2 months later one of the flashes would not work because the pressure of the battries in the battery compartment had caused the battery door lid to be pushed open very slightly causing the batteries to not make good electrical contact. There was no battery damage such as swelling or leakage in either unit. By holding the battery door tightly closed the faulty unit would work so I guess duct tape would have worked - but on a new flash unit that didn't seem acceptable. It was due to cheap manufacturing. With no real option I bought another Yongnuo from the same retailer and returned it as faulty replacing with the faulty unit. I felt bad about this but neither the retailer nor the manufacturer would help and this issue should not have occured in such a short time. The battries from the faulty flash worked fine in the other Yongnuo flash as well as a Nikon flash. It was not a battery issue but a faulty or poorly made Yongnuo unit.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

When you buy something, you expect it to keep working for a long time, regardless of the stated warranty. You paid for two working units, and you have two working units. I'll leave the decision about the ethics of your actions to someone else. I'm sure others will oblige.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

Sorry to hear your flash died, but I also had problems with Yongnuo products. Bought their flash triggers to use with my D7000 and SB 700 and 900. Worked great for about 10 min then missed triggers and did not sync properly. Contacted the online vendor and they took back the products and refunded my money. There is no US support for Yongnou so you are pretty much at the mercy of the online vendor
Decided to go with Phottix products- a little more $ but had much higher reported quality and they have a US distributor who can help. No problems and quite satisfied with the units

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

I see this as one of the biggest negatives about Yongnuo. I have six YN flashes and four transceivers for a total cost about the same as one Nikon SB-900. Unfortunately even with their 2 year warranty, if they're going to fail you have to hope it's in the first 30 days so they'll be replaced by the Amazon vendor. After that I consider them to be throw aways.

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

Bill,

In describing your problem with the flash, you did not describe when and how it failed.

1. Did it fail after attaching to the camera Hot shoe?
2. Did it fail as an external flash unit with wireless remote?
3. Did it fail when used with a flash sync cord?
4. After you inserted batteries, did you pre-test the flash by pressing the power button to see the flash charge, red lamp light, or LCD panel display status?

Michael G