Sea&sea strobe issue while on vacation

[Where2Next]

Hello, I am less than half way thru my dive vacation in Turks and Caicos. I have used my housing, focus light, and strobe on 7 dives so far this trip. Yesterday my strobe would not turn on during 2nd dive. I noticed on the front of the strobe in the tiny lower light area a little fogging. I turned it off and surfaced. When I got back to the cottage, I dried everything off and opened the battery area of the Sea&Sea YS-01 strobe and there was no water, not even condensation. I took the batteries out and left it open till this morning. I put new batteries, energizer lithium, in and closed it up. (O-ring is in good shape and greased perfect) I closed the back of the strobe up and did not turn it on. It made a high pitch quiet squeal, like if the strobe was on. I opened it back up and the batteries are super hot. All the contacts look great, the strobe is in great shape, about 45 dives using it.

Any suggestions on what is happening and how I can fix this? Thxs.

 

[KeithG]

Some thoughts idea and questions....and clarification?
- the quiet sequel and hot batteries indicates the flash was recycling - which indicates it was on?
- does the target light work?
- by it won't turn on - do you mean the strobe will not fire? Does the ready light come on?

- slight internal fogging may occasionally happen of you leave the strobe in very cold air conditioning and then drag it out into the hot sun. Try not to let the strobe get so cold. I store mine in the warmest room (often the bathroom, under the sink). The main chamber of the strobe is sealed, and also sealed from the battery compartment so there is no means of additional moisture entering other via a crack in a faulty housing.

Maybe double check your mode switch? I once "forgot" the correct setting and had a "broken" strobe for a dive until I released that I had set it on the wrong mode.

 

[Where2Next]

Nothing is on. Unfortunately this is not a Duh moment. Here is a video demonstrating what is happening... Nov 25, 2013 - YouTube I think it may be done for.

 

[KeithG]

That's unfortunate. Duh problems are normally the cheapest to solve.

 

[Larry C]

Try cleaning the contacts with a swab and some alcohol. Then bend out the cap contacts slightly to make sure they are getting good pressure on the batteries. I've had issues with my S & S strobes where they won't turn on, and after doing those things they work fine. The capacitor requires a very strong battery. If there's even slight corrosion or light contact, the light won't come on. It's possible to get a drop of seawater on the contacts when you open the battery compartment, and that's all it takes. For heavier corrosion, I've wrapped a piece of crocus cloth or sandpaper around a popsicle stick and sanded the inner contacts.

 

[gert7to3]

Are you sure you should be using lithium batteries? I have an Ikelite LED light that specifically warns against lithium batteries because they have higher voltage.

If the batteries are getting hot so quickly, that sounds like a short. Could they have been put in wrong. Late to the party, hope the problem was solved.

 

[Aquarius Redang]

hi
i'm also had similar problem, do you had any solution for the problem? how's your stobe now? it is back to normal?

 

[ShootingUnderwater.com]

Has anyone figured this out yet? I too had a similar issue with my brand new YS-D1's. Luckily, a friend of mine brought an extra so my trip wasn't ruined. I sent my strobe in for repair to find out that it's believed to be a battery issue. If you're using a high power battery and rapid firing, the batteries heat up and cause something like a short (the way condensation would) which stops the strobe from working. I also tried the other tricks with new batteries, cleaning the contacts, pinching the tabs, etc. Nothing worked.

I'm hoping the strobe continues to perform after it's repair session - I'm switching batteries and carrying a spare cap. Hopefully, I won't have this problem again.
~R