How to fix my Sea & Sea YS-D1 Strobe?

[Hike]

I have a new YS-D1 and after using it one time to try it out, I went to try it out a few days later and it had no power. As I just put in batteries a few days before and only done one 40 minute dive, that I only snapped maybe 20 photos, I thought this was odd. I opened the battery compartment and it was completely corroded inside. I am not sure if it flooded or not (but I really dont think so, as I didnt see any water inside and the oring was fine when I closed it and it appeared ok when I opened it also, I also dunked the strobe underwater before diving to make sure there were no leaks. Anyhow, I have basically considered this to be a battery exploded inside. I know the Sea and Sea strobes have a completely isolated battery compartment, so even if it was a flood, I should still be able to salvage this strobe?
The real problem comes now, as one of the connectors is broken off do to heavy corrosion from the battery acid, I want to send it to Sea & Sea to fix, but I live in China and sending it out of the country and getting it back is very difficult. I contacted Blue Water Photo (where I bought the strobe) but there is not really much Scott can do for me unless I ship the strobe to him anyhow, i have asked him to help contact Sea & Sea to see if I can get this fixed in china or hong kong and am waiting a follow up.
I contacted Sea & Sea directly via their website three days ago and have hear nothing back. I also contacted their distributors in China and Hong Kong and got no reply.
Is this a real minor job that I can just have a regular electronics repair shop work on? I would prefer to have it serviced professionally, but want my strobe up and running over all else.

Please help.

I just managed to get somebody from the Chinese distributor on the phone. He told me basically they were new with Sea and Sea, but for about $50, I could send it them and they could forward onto Japan, where they would assess it. Right now, this sounds as the best option, but I am still waiting to hear back from Sea and Sea and their hong kong distributor.

 

[Larry C]

It sounds like you had a minor flood and the salt water destroyed a battery. I've done it before with my Sea & Sea strobes. The battery compartment is well isolated, but not totally. The first time I flooded my YS-110, I was on a trip in a remote location, so I went to the local pharmacy, bought vinegar and alcohol and cleaned it the best I could. In the years since, it has needed periodic cleaning of the contacts and a new cap. Eventually, it failed because the contacts were corroded enough to limit the charging of the capacitor. It is currently at Backscatter getting the battery contacts replaced. Normally, it's about $185 to replace the contacts, but since I already had changed the cap, it's costing me about $60 less.
You might talk to Fun-in-underwater or Divervision if you need local help. They carry Sea & Sea products in China and Taiwan. I don't know if they do service.
Sea & Sea strobes don't like being suddenly dumped in the water. That's how I flooded mine, on a Whale shark snorkel where we had to all jump in together and couldn't have our cameras handed to us. Even though the strobe couldn't be used to shoot the whale sharks, I had no way to cap my cords and had to leave it on the camera. Always check your o-ring in the sunlight for dirt, hair, etc. and wipe it with a clean fingertip if necessary before closing.

 

[Hike]

Thanks for the heads up. I am just amazed at Sea & Sea's lack of response. I emailed, Sea and Sea directly, also their chinese and hong kong distributor and received no answer from anybody in five days now. The only way I could get anybody was to call the chinese distributor, who doesnt speak any english, the general consensus seems to be to pay the $50 and have them ship it back to japan, where they estimate it will be somewhere from $90 to $180 to do the repair. I tried to clean it myself, but the connector was so fragile due to the corrosion that it instantly broke off. I will check with Fun in water before i send it out.

 

[Jak Crow]

I just had a new -D1 flood as well, and from the way the shop is talking, it sounds like sea and sea is going to try and charge me for it even though it was perfectly sealed before the dive. In the future, make sure you insure your equipment, which I did, which should cover the cost of such a repair.

 

[ivakdiver]

Boy, I just ordered one of these. Now, I'm concerned. Anyone else out there run into problems?

 

[Mel Moncrieff]

I recently bought two of these strobes, and both stopped firing on the first dive, giving me an alternate green and red flashing signal which is to indicate low batteries. But my batteries were freshly charged, and tested as such. Several others on the same trip had the same problem. The store that sold them to us told us to return them to Sea and Sea for repair or replacement, and that this was a known issue. I hope this goes smoothly, because if fixed, I think these will be really great strobes.

 

[Jak Crow]

I recently bought two of these strobes, and both stopped firing on the first dive, giving me an alternate green and red flashing signal which is to indicate low batteries. But my batteries were freshly charged, and tested as such. Several others on the same trip had the same problem. The store that sold them to us told us to return them to Sea and Sea for repair or replacement, and that this was a known issue. I hope this goes smoothly, because if fixed, I think these will be really great strobes.

I had one do this on me too. And it was replaced with one from a "known good batch". Of course, then my other one flooded on me for no reason, but after both myself and my LDS had several conversations with sea&sea, they're going to replace my flooded one with a new unit and won't be charging me for the repair of the flooded one.

 

[Mel Moncrieff]

Sea and Sea was prompt in replacing my defective strobes, and the new ones worked initially, but then died on our second trip. Both my wife and I have had issues--continually getting the red and green flashing low battery indicator, even with fresh batteries. So now we have had 6/6 strobes failing on at least 1/3 of our dives. When I spoke to Reef Photo reps, they said that half their customers are having problems and Bluewater Photo customers are also experiencing issues. This is unacceptable! Others who have purchased the strobes seem to have no problems, and when they work, they are great. Sea and Sea needs to be more forthcoming about the issue, and responsible photo stores need to pull these strobes off their shelves until the problem is resolved!

 

[ivakdiver]

I haven't had an opportunity to actually do a test on mine, and won't for some time, getting a bit worried with the troubles you have encountered.

 

[Hashsaz]

I had one do this on me too. And it was replaced with one from a "known good batch". Of course, then my other one flooded on me for no reason, but after both myself and my LDS had several conversations with sea&sea, they're going to replace my flooded one with a new unit and won't be charging me for the repair of the flooded one.

Sea and Sea was prompt in replacing my defective strobes, and the new ones worked initially, but then died on our second trip. Both my wife and I have had issues--continually getting the red and green flashing low battery indicator, even with fresh batteries. So now we have had 6/6 strobes failing on at least 1/3 of our dives. When I spoke to Reef Photo reps, they said that half their customers are having problems and Bluewater Photo customers are also experiencing issues. This is unacceptable! Others who have purchased the strobes seem to have no problems, and when they work, they are great. Sea and Sea needs to be more forthcoming about the issue, and responsible photo stores need to pull these strobes off their shelves until the problem is resolved!

Spoke to my LDS, this is how he respond to the issue:
The issue is not big issue, it's the battery signal light does not work perfectly match to battery level. It is not a hardware default issue needs to recall and replacement. It's can be fixed through firmware update. Sea & Sea Hong Kong distributor has received software and hardware kits to conduct firmware update locally.


If anyone else having the same problem, please talk to your dive store and they should help you for the update.