Possible Fault Trend with Ikelite DSLR housing?

[clive francis]

I have just returned from a holiday, the third dive trip in 2 years with my Ikelite D70 housing and it is the second time that the strobe connector on the backplate has had its pins pulled out by the strobe lead.

The first time it happened, luckily for me was on the last day of my first trip with it.

It was returned to camerasunderwater who sent it back to Ike for repair, it came back about a month later (with some of the knobs/controls looser than it went back).

next dive trip it worked fine.

then this dive trip i put it all together the day before to check it and the strobe would not fire, so i disconnected all connectors to check they were OK and as i pulled the stobe lead from the back plate the pins stayed in the strobe lead and departed from the backplate.

to say i was pi%&ed off was an understatement but had little choice but to dive without a strobe and hope for the best!

now camerasunderwater are collecting it and sending it back again, but my question is how many other people have had this problem?

for a connector that is designed to be connected and disconnected many many times why oh why aren't the pins soldered to the strobe cable in the backplate to stop them being pulled out?

 

[Cacia]

I have the Ikelite D-100 housing and am noticing the cable is looking weaker and weaker where it wears. I am not sure I know which "pins" you mean. Are you speaking of the prongs inside the connector?

I have decided to leave mine connected most of the time... why do you disconect? It has always looked very fragile to me.

 

[clive francis]

I have the Ikelite D-100 housing and am noticing the cable is looking weaker and weaker where it wears. I am not sure I know which "pins" you mean. Are you speaking of the prongs inside the connector?

I have decided to leave mine connected most of the time... why do you disconect? It has always looked very fragile to me.

it has been the male pins in the back plate every time, they stay in the female pin on the strobe cable connector.

because i bought the peli 1600 to ship it around in i have to disconnect everytime i fly, otherwise i would leave it connected as it breaks everytime i disconnect it.

being an electronics engineer and worked on many military projects i can't understand why they are not soldered to the wires or fixed to a solid base, these connectores are designed to be connected and disconnected thousands of times.

 

[Warren_L]

I've never had a problem with the pins coming out with mine. Been on a few trips with my D70 housing, as well as 100+ dives locally with the camera and no problems in that respect. I did, however, have a problem with the first dual sync cable I got. There was a short or a break in the cable close to the bulkhead connector on the housing. It was causing one strobe to not fire occasionally. I would wiggle the cable a bit near the connector and it would re-establish the connection and then fire properly. I sent the cable back to Ike and they replaced it.

 

[Cacia]

yes, same thing with mine Warren. I made the mistake of jumping in with mine disconected once. back on the boat, I just screwed it in. It looks a little corroded in there, but so far, still works. My housing has taken a beating, I am afraid.

Clive, that's frustrating. I always thought the whole assembly on that part looked a little fragile. I try and leave mine connected because I felt the pins could be misaligned very easily and become bent...I had that happen on a laptop.

 

[kdietz]

I have owned 6 Ikelite housings including 2 D200 housings currently....plus multiple strobes and sync cords and I've never had this problem. One thing is for sure....if you have a problem, send it back to Ikelite and they will make it right.

Catherine, you are pushing your luck

Karl