JTL Versalight J-160, 160 Watt Second Monolight Strobe.

I love it

Excellent product, Nice new upgrade

This light was noisy from the beginning. I've got 5 other strobes and none of them have fans or make any noise while in standby. This one has a fan and is pretty noticeable. I had the flash for 3 months, and had only used it a few times before it developed a problem. Now, when it warms up, it starts firing spontaneously, over and over. I'm pretty sure it's not even worth the cost of shipping it back to be repaired/replaced.

Have had one J-160 for several years; occasional use. Soon after buying it, there was a loud POP with smoke when the control knob was turned up to about 3/4 - left it all the way down (1/8 power) ever since. Test button is not firmly attached and does not press or work. Audible alert never worked either. Finally opened it tonight to see what the deal was; hole blown in the side of one of the smaller electrolytic capacitors (see pic) and one of the two big ones (they hold the charge that is dumped through the strobe) is bulging and shows signs of leakage. That leakage is barely expectable over this much time but all in all, this strobe seems to have shoddy components. All this being said, I was able to get some use out of it at its minimum power for a few years but right now I'm afraid to power it up any more.

Good back light.

Dependable, inexpensive, good as part of a more sophisticated set of lighting...not primaries.

I purchased this light around 2 months ago to use in my photo booth and haven't regretted it since. So far I have done 3 events with and average of 100 uses in my booth a night with the unit running continuously for 4+ hours in a compact space. Time to do some simple math! 4 pictures are taken per use so that's 400 pops a night. That means I'm currently at 1,200+ pops(Tests and personal use) with ZERO problems. The bulb($15) is the only thing that has gone out which I think is fantastic and most likely my fault for not putting the flash away correct. Now maybe I got one of those special units with no problems but I highly doubt that. People tend to purchase things without having prior experience using it. This is a flash unit people! The flash has to be DUMPED every time before you turn it off! I suspect this is the reason why so many people have had problems with this. i.e the unit popping and sparking. Students would constantly forget to dump the flash after using strobes in class and then put them away. A week later you'd hear a story about someone plugging in a light and having the flash tube explode. All in all, this is a good unit for the price. It's $70! My only gripe is that the replacement flash tube is $58... $10 cheaper then the unit itself w/ bulb & flash tube included. So if your tube or flash unit goes out... just purchase another unit. Replacement Tube $58 + Replacement Bulb ($15) = $73. Compared to buying another unit for $70. Hope this helped someone.

We have 2 of these and they are nothing but trouble. 1 shorted out and "popped". Stay away from this junk!!