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I was shooting a wedding yesterday and was using one of my YN685's extensively during the getting ready session. The flash showed "hot" about halfway through. I never had this happen before but I took the batteries out, put the flash in my bag and grabbed my other 685 to keep on shooting.

I figured it will be working again during the reception (5 hours later) so I could use it as an off camera flash. But regardless, it still showed "hot." I tried using the flash again this morning and it hasn't changed. I've tried different batteries as well.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I just made this account to answer, so I cannot comment yet, but the cable Matt asks for, and how to exchange it are shown in this video: youtube.com/watch?v=07_ybOyf1ts \$\endgroup\$
    – Floris Gerber
    Dec 28, 2019 at 23:45

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Often, by the time Yongnuo flashes shut down due to heat, it's already at the point where they're permanently damaged. It sounds like that has happened with your YN685.

This just comes with the territory of buying cheap flashes. They're usually very good until they quit working but they tend to quit working much sooner than their higher priced counterparts.

I've personally had the same thing happen to me with a YN-568EX II in the past. In the case of that YN-568EX II, it will power on and give one full power flash (regardless of the power level setting) and then not do anything for about 30 minutes or so.

I use Yongnuo flashes extensively and have had pretty good luck with them. My primary speedlight right now is a YN685. Most of the time I use it for fairly low-powered fill flash which tends to not stress a flash as much as frequent full or near-full powered bursts would.

But I always have a Canon 430EX II with me 'just in case'.

The time that a YN-568EX II fried itself (I had been using HSS for fill in daylight - which also demands a lot of power in short time periods), having the 430EX II with me allowed me to continue shooting at an event that started around noon and lasted almost until midnight.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Thanks. It's still not working so I will declare it dead. This is one my oldest YN685's and that usually stays on my camera for most of the day and is used for fill light during the reception, which means it's probably popping half to full power shots almost every time. It's lasted me a good dozen or so weddings so I'm not too disappointed. At only $100, it's basically disposable. \$\endgroup\$
    – Matt
    Oct 9, 2017 at 2:16
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It isn’t heat. The stupid thing has a cable the comes loose inside. I’ve fixed mine several times it keeps coming loose when I tilt / swivel the head.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Wow, really? Any ideas on specific cables I should look for when taking it apart and where I should start? And any safety precautions? The flash has been sitting alone untouched and without batteries for about 2 months but those capacitors can hold a charge for quite a while and don’t have any resistors lying around to uncharge them. \$\endgroup\$
    – Matt
    Dec 23, 2017 at 16:10

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