Follow-up on Flooded Sunpak G-Flash

[Aggie Diver]

I was trying to come up with some ideas to try and protect the battery compartment, but it seems like they would have the potential to cause the unit to overheat or catch fire (like wrapping the batteries in a torn paper towel or something similar to catch the water.

Anyone have any ideas in the meantime until hopefully Tocad gets their crap together?

 

[chuck41]

I was trying to come up with some ideas to try and protect the battery compartment, but it seems like they would have the potential to cause the unit to overheat or catch fire (like wrapping the batteries in a torn paper towel or something similar to catch the water.

Anyone have any ideas in the meantime until hopefully Tocad gets their crap together?

:bfish: When mine comes back from repair I intend to find a slightly thicker "O" ring and see if I can get that to fit into it. The battery compartment is NOT separate from the rest of the unit which is the problem. You have to change batteries every dive and that Rube Goldberg compartment door design just is not adequite to the task. I am crossing my fingers that they will have a fix and when mine gets back it will be incorporated into the replacement unit. I will be diving in fresh water all summer so that should help a bit.

 

[Larry C]

Never did hear back from ToCAD America by e-mail, so I finally sent the thing to NJ today. According to the Website, it's a 15 day return, so with 8 days each way UPS maybe I'll have a strobe again in a month or so.:huh:

 

[SeaYoda]

I guess LeisurePro is doing OK in this race - my strobe has been back in the water twice and I just rebuilt the arm to take on a spin Saturday. If the battery hatch were better on this thing I could be very happy with it. As it is, I dive with the knowledge that it may have to go back to LP dripping again one day. Hope everybody gets their's back soon.

 

[chuck41]

Good news is: Tocad was very responsive and I got my repaired/replaced G-Flash back, :huh: bad news is there is no update on the lousy battery cover. You can bet I will be v-e-r-y careful in closing this thing up and if it will open without the use of the little pry device, I will change something and try it again before taking that thing under water. This is a great strobe with a terrible battery cover design. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a good weather resistant strobe, but not for use in diving!! At least not until they fix that cover problem. :shakehead

 

[SeaYoda]

... This is a great strobe with a terrible battery cover design. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a good weather resistant strobe, but not for use in diving!! At least not until they fix that cover problem. :shakehead

I feel your pain .

 

[DiverRick69]

Has anyone had one of these that didn't leak? I just received mine from Helix, (wish I had looked for this thread before I ordered) and am trying to decide whether to send it back and go for something else. I can already see that the battery door latch springs are not going to cut it. The lower latch has some slop and the "dot" is not going to remain completely orange. I guess it will depend partly on Helix's return policy. I am going to send an e-mail asking for return authorization. I expect there will be some sort of restocking charge plus the loss of postage both ways. I ordered it because of the price and because I have had good luck with other Sunpak flashes (on land only). If the return looks like it is going to cost me a lot, I may keep it and try some of the things suggested here, like thicker O-rings and checking the screws on the door.

 

[dbh]

If you are a DAN member, get the equipment insurance through their website. When it floods, they give you the insured value (less deductible). You can take the money and get a reliable strobe.

DEPP replaces it...then you are back to squre one.

Dave

 

[DiverRick69]

DAN's deductible for water damage is $250 or 10% of agreed value, whichever is greater. These strobes only sell for $180, so it will be hard to collect unless you can convince the insurance company that you paid at least twice that.

 

[Dee]

DEPP replaces it...then you are back to squre one.

In the past DEPP allowed me to apply their replacement cost to another upgraded model. It was a couple years ago but it's worth asking about.