light cannon problems

[mointampa]

Hi
I bought a Underwater Kinetics Light cannon from Larry at Scubatoys.com mid last year and it is the best light I have ever owned. Always get comments from the other divers after the dive saying how they thought the batteries were flat when it 1st powered up

Two weeks ago I turned it off underwater. A minute later I tried to turn it back on but nothing happened. I fiddled with the switch for a while and nothing happened. When I got it back to the dive club I rinsed it and dried it before opening it. A member of the club had a multimeter and tested the different points. The switch didnt seem to have any current running along it when closed but the rest seemed fine.

I found another club member with a light cannon and started swapping components. The batteries 1st...they werent the problem.
The bulb...that still worked.
The ballast the bulb plugs into...that seems to be dead.

Now I emailed Larry and let him know what the problem was. He gave me the email info@uwkinetics.com and said the ballast would be replaced under warranty. I have emailed uwkinetics but it has been a couple of days now and I have not had a response.

Just wondering if anyone else had dealt with uw kinetics and could share their experience, so I can learn about the best way to get my light working. Im hoping the light is fixed soon, as I am planning a trip to truk and palau and it will come in real handy in those wrecks.

Regards
mo.

 

[mossym]

not what you are asking, but never turn your light off underwater, once it's on leave it on, that goes for any light, biggest chance for failure is when something is turning on, so do you really want to take that chance...

 

[Lead_carrier]

but I have heard both good and bad about them. I'm sure Larry will help out anyway he can. Short of it is. When you turn off a HID, you have to give it time too cool down before refiring it. Good luck on with getting it fixed up.

 

[scubamate]

Have Larry give you a new one and let him send it back. Doing that, UK will most likely replace it and he can put the replacement into inventory to replace the one he gave you.

This is my biggest issue with mail order, any warranty issues are your responsibility and you are inconvenienced, have to pay shipping, (both ways), if the manufacturer will honor the warranty.

I may pay a few percent more, but I don't have issues like this. i.e. my camera and housing have been replaced 3 times in 2 years. (never flooded) and I haven't paid a penny. I take it back, the dive shop gives me a replacement and sends my back. They receive a new one and put it in inventory.

 

[mointampa]

There were a couple of minutes before turning off and on, that should be plenty of time according to the manual...still no word from uwkinetics, I fired off another email to larry to see if I can send the ballast part to him to swap over. Thanks for the support.

 

[No Fish]

What kind of batteries are you using?

 

[Otter]

I had a problem with my UK LC and high capacity NiMH batteries last year...there is a post somewhere on it....anyways, during the dive, the light simply went out. I went back to my LDS, they mailed it to UK, and I had a new ballast (same everything else) within a week....great service. Because UK didn't give me an entire new light, I doubt Larry will be able to simply swap one for ya. BTW, UK said that it was not an issue with the high-cap batteries, but 3 of the 4 us using those batteries had problems. My last trip, I just used alkalines and had no problems.....I'll try the rechargable ones again when diving locally to see if this ballast is more forgiving.

 

[Tavi]

The same thing happened with my wifes Light Cannon. UK replaced the part, no problem. We didn't deal with them directly, our LDS did.

BTW I only use Duracell batteries. I've tried others and had problems. I've heard the same from others too. It's a great light, but it's finnicky

 

[mointampa]

I always use duracells after reading the problems people were having with energizers. It was on its 3rd set of batteries. I bought a 4th set to check if the batteries were the problem but it still didn't fire up with the new ones.

 

[Orlando Eric]

Problems with energizers?.. I started reading this tonight.. maybe that is wat is wrong with my lights. I get them at Sam's club in a Hugh pack. I am going to try Duracells in the morning.. hope this works.. diving Sat (tomm) night.

Is the battery niples too small for the contacts? I wondered if that was a problem?