I adapted an Ikelite strobe land use.

hi,

I adapted an Ikelite 150 for land use. Why??? Because I was bored and had an old cable lying around. Plus you don't get that kind of power from an on camera flash. It's like using a portable battery powered stobe which are very expensive i might add. I adapted mine to be used as a wireless stobe using pocket wizards but you can take a normal sync cord and do it. I just cut the cords and spliced them together and viola. CAUTION: this may annoy your family!

You might want to be careful about using underwater strobes above water. A lot of underwater lighting products (some strobes included) rely on the contact with water to dissipate heat and prevent overheating. I don't know about the ikelite strobes specifically, but it seems like this has a potential for overheating problems which could result in the early burnout of your flash tube.

ymmv

Thank for your concern...I use professional strobes daily and the heat build up is more associated with modeling lights then the actual flash popping. The actual flash tubes that's in my ikelite 150 is like a dyna-light flash tube. I've never had one of those burn out yet. Those flash tubes can handle 2400 watt seconds and the ikelite 150 is only 150 watt seconds. I see your point though about keeping the aiming bulb off above water. I was concerned about this initially but the strobe head stays cool to the touch.

Nice!!!

I was just thinking about doing this with my DS-125s, but not to use as a portable. I want to use them for studio work.

I figure the cost of cables, adaptors, and stands, maybe some reflectors will be much less than a full above water stobe kit, and I really don't see myself doing this kind shooting that frequently anyway.

Also I really like the idea of less gear with multiple uses.

What kind of results have you been getting?

What type of cable are you using?

I'm thinking of getting 2 sync cord extensions, a hot shoe extension, and then I just need to find 2 stands with ball socket mounts or that I can mount a ball socket adptor to.

Nice!!!

 

I was just thinking about doing this with my DS-125s, but not to use as a portable. I want to use them for studio work.

 

I figure the cost of cables, adaptors, and stands, maybe some reflectors will be much less than a full above water stobe kit, and I really don't see myself doing this kind shooting that frequently anyway.

 

Also I really like the idea of less gear with multiple uses.

 

What kind of results have you been getting?

What type of cable are you using?

 

I'm thinking of getting 2 sync cord extensions, a hot shoe extension, and then I just need to find 2 stands with ball socket mounts or that I can mount a ball socket adptor to.

Why not get an EV controller for at least one of them? Synch only one, the other is synched 'optically', and you can place it all over the place in the studio without tripping over long cables.

I was thinking of doing this on my rig, too: leave one arm optically linked and the other synched directly, so I could detach and let my buddy/wife aim it from further away for wide-angle lighting? (I know, I'm dreaming. )

I burned out two Ikelite SS400's this way. They DO overheat and get damaged when not used underwater.

Cheers

James

PS: that's interestin to hear that they use Dynalite tubes, I wonder if I can fix mine...

...They DO overheat and get damaged when not used underwater...

probably as there is no airflow through the unit like there is with terrestrial strobes. The water on the housing acts as a heat sink.

Crap!!!

There goes that idea.

I already had most of the parts picked out. Oh well at least I didn't place my order yet.

You can always just put the flash in a big zip-lock bag full of water :-)

No - all kidding aside, I'm not saying you can't get away with it for a few shots, but anything more than that and you run a pretty big risk.

Cheers

James

You can always just put the flash in a big zip-lock bag full of water :-)

 

No - all kidding aside, I'm not saying you can't get away with it for a few shots, but anything more than that and you run a pretty big risk.

 

Cheers

James

Is it okay to test strobes topside? ...and how much is too much?

I think Ike says no more than 16 full power flashes in quick succession without a good 10 minute cool down or something like that...its in the instruction manual...

and i'd expect that is at least half of what it took them to get it to burn out, so as long as your not taking 50 pictures as fast as it will recycle i think your fine...

didnt Ikelite use to sell cords with a PC connector on the camera end ?

didnt Ikelite use to sell cords with a PC connector on the camera end ?

They still do. I just saw it on B&H's website yesterday. Does seem strange that they'd sell that if there'se such a high risk of burning them out.

I think Ike says no more than 16 full power flashes in quick succession without a good 10 minute cool down or something like that...its in the instruction manual...

 

and i'd expect that is at least half of what it took them to get it to burn out, so as long as your not taking 50 pictures as fast as it will recycle i think your fine...

I think Ikelite mean fast as in flashing again as soon as the strobe is charged. If you take a shot, review, adjust and take another shot, it will probably be allright.

For the PC connection, I know the site

http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

so beware of the strobe voltage your camera can handle.

would connecting my old Ikelite Ai strobe with a PC cord to my canon 20D be allright.....it is not mentioned in this overview....

I guess James is the only who can really tell is if we'd be alright or not.

James, were you doing a lot of rapid fire shooing when you burned yours out?

Here's another thought.

We all know that water conducts heat better than air, so everything being equal an HID light, strobe, etc. is going to overheat much more quickly on land than in the water.

BUT...

What about a strobe being used indoors with AC on or outdoors in colder weather VS. one being used in warm water (high 70s - low 80s).

Which will everheat more quickly?

The thermal conductivity of water is like orders of magnitude higher than air. That's why drysuits were invented :-) I would guess the air would have to be sub-zero before it would be comparable - if you can get the coefficients, there is a simple linear equation for heat transfer you can try out :-)

Cheers

James

Here you go. Or according to a few other links water transfer heat about 20x faster than air.

So, yeah I guess 20 degrees or so isn't really going to make all that much difference.

Wow I haven't read this post for a while. Sorry for the delayed response. Yes, you do run a risk of burning the strobe out. That's why I converted a huge old Ikelite 150 that was just sitting there. I have popped the flash above water over 50 times in a row without a problem. I wouldn't take a 400ws strobe and do the same thing. The voltage is another concern you must measure the pc cord voltage. Just be very careful to measure the right prongs in the bulkhead! I actually got around the voltage problem by using radio slaves. I haven't actually used them to shoot anything other than test shots. But it is fun to play with...for a flash that is collecting dust.