FJ Strobes Are Not Firing

When working with the FJ Wireless system, ensuring proper functionality and connectivity is essential for a seamless shooting experience. This guide will walk you through troubleshooting steps with your FJ Strobes.

By following these steps, you can quickly identify and resolve any challenges, helping you maintain consistent performance across your FJ Wireless Strobes. This comprehensive guide is designed to educate and assist you with your FJ Wireless gear.

Topics on this page:

1. Test Fire

On your host unit, trigger or speedlight, press the test fire button to test fire all connected strobes. Test firing will fire the strobes at the designated power outputs. If you find one of your strobes is not firing from the host, press the on-board test fire button on that strobe.

If your strobe does not test fire from the host unit but does fire when pressing the onboard test fire button, consider all the sections below.

If your strobe does not test fire when pressing the onboard test fire button, Contact Westcott support.

2. Understanding Over-Heating Modes

Understand using strobes extensively or in hot, humid or direct sunlight conditions will cause the unit to become hot and can trigger overheating safety protocols. When these overheating stages are activated, performance will slow down in an attempt to protect the unit while allowing it to still be used. Handle the unit with care and do not touch the bulb, glass dome, or metal modifiers until cooled to a safe temperature.

FJ400ii & FJ800

Stage 1: When the internal temperature reaches 149°F (65°C), the strobe’s display will show [OH] to indicate overheating. At this point, the unit automatically increases its recycle time by 1 second. This controlled delay allows the internal components to cool while still enabling the user to continue shooting safely.
Stage 2: If the internal temperature rises to 167°F (75°C), the [OH] indicator remains on, and the strobe will further extend the recycle time by an additional 4 seconds. This precautionary step helps further cool the unit without requiring a complete shutdown.
Stage 3: When the strobe reaches a critical temperature of 176°F (80°C), the [OH] warning remains on, and the unit will automatically disable its flash function to prevent damage. During this stage, the strobe will remain inactive until it cools down to a safe operating temperature, at which point normal operation will resume.

FJ400

The FJ400 is equipped with self-monitoring cooling fans to ensure safe operation. When the unit reaches hot operating temperatures, its performance will slow down in an attempt to protect the unit. It is also equipped with an automatic shutoff feature.
In the rare event that the strobe has reached an unsafe operating temperature, the screen will display OH (overheat) and stop firing.
Once the unit has cooled, the OH will disappear from the screen and it will then be safe to continue operation.

FJ200

Stage 1: Once the strobe reaches an internal operating temperature of 131°F (55°C) the screen will display a red [Bulb Icon] and the recycle time will increase to 2 seconds to cool the unit while allowing for further operation.
Stage 2: Once the strobe reaches an internal operating temperature of 167°F (75°C) the screen will display a red [OH] icon and the unit will be inoperable for an estimated 10 minutes until an adequate internal temperature has been reached to continue operation.
Once the unit has cooled, the [OH] will disappear from the screen and it will then be safe to continue operation.

3. Canon RT Triggering

In the event you are triggering your FJ400 or FJ200 via the Canon RT system, please refer to our Using FJ Triggers with Canon RT Speedlites: Setup and Tips

Important Update on Canon RT Compatibility in the FJ Wireless Flash System

4. Optical Triggering

FJ400ii or FJ800, please refer to our Optically Triggering FJ800 and FJ400ii article
FJ400 or FJ200, please refer to our Optical triggering on the FJ400 and FJ200 article.

5. Ensure Proper Wireless Connection

Channel

In order to trigger the strobes wirelessly, it is important the channel (CH) matches on both your host unit and the strobe.

Note: Wescott suggests using channels 5 and above to avoid interference with other radio devices.

FJ400ii and FJ800

Under menu 1, touch the CH tab and use the slider or -+ buttons to select the desired channel.

FJ400

Under menu 2, press the CH button and then rotate the control dial until the desired channel is selected

FJ200

Quick press the center Control Dial once to enter the Settings menu.
Rotate the Control Dial until the Channel is selected.
Quick press the center Control Dial again and rotate the dial until the desired channel is selected

Group

Once the channel is confirmed, you can specify want group you would like the strobe to be on. Having each unit in different groups will allow you to control each one individually. Alternatively, having all your strobes on the same channel will result in them having the same output setting.

FJ400ii and FJ800

Under menu 1, touch the GR tab and use the slider or -+ buttons to select the desired group.

FJ400

Under menu 2, press the GR button and then rotate the control dial until the desired group is selected

FJ200

Quick press the center Control Dial once to enter the Settings menu.
Rotate the Control Dial until Group is selected.
Quick press the center Control Dial again and rotate the dial until the desired group is selected

6. Check the Host Unit

Oftentimes, failure to fire wirelessly can be traced back to the host unit. Please refer to our FJ80 Speedlights and FJ Triggers troubleshooting sections.

7. Update Firmware

Check Firmware

Ensure all your FJ Wireless gear and camera are running the latest firmware. You can check what version your equipment is on by looking at the bottom right of the screen when powering on. To download the latest firmware and follow along with detailed instructions, refer to our Firmware page.

Reinstall firmware

In some cases, firmware can be uploaded to your unit with an error causing odd issues like the screen powering on but using the touch screen to power it on does nothing.

Delete any downloaded firmware on your computer
restart your computer
redownload the current firmware version and follow firmware installations as instructed.
1. Firmware and Instructions.
Eject the connected unit before unplugging it.
Power on the unit

Contact Westcott Support if the options above do not solve your issue.

FJ Strobes Are Not FiringUpdated a month ago