Originally Posted by
Harold_4074
If all of the units are of similar age, use, and storage history, it is possible that the storage environment affected an electrical contact in much the same way that a flashlight stored in the glove compartment of a car can become erratic---it starts working if you shake it to break up the corrosion. The circuitry before the trigger transformer is low-voltage, so your peanut trigger could be pretty sensitive to tarnished contacts.
It is also possible that the high-voltage side of the trigger is suffering from leakage--moisture could definitely kill it, but it seems possible that other things which could condense inside (think of the plasticizer from upholstery that fogs up the inside of your car windows) and be conductive enough to cause a problem. I would think that 283s are modern enough to have decent trigger capacitors, but electrolytics have a finite life due to electrolyte evaporation. (This is in reference to the trigger capacitor, not the main flash capacitor).
If it is a matter of tarnished contacts, you could probably repair them, but unless you are quite knowledgeable about electrical hazards and photoflash circuitry it would probably be better to replace the units.
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