I went diving last week and noticed during the dive that my Ikelite DS 125 wasn't working and the modeling light was very dim. I attributed it to a weak battery. When I got home and took the battery off water ran out of the battery. I then noticed the damage pictured in the photo.
Has anybody else seen this kind of damage on theirs before? I never hit this strobe against anything real hard or put any undue stress on it. I only have 25-30 dives on this strobe. I have another one with 50 or 60 dives on it and it is fine. Was there something I could have done to cause this?
Thanks.
(mod edit, changed image to an attachment since the hotlink does not seem to be working.)
Can you try again w/ the image? I have had a similar problem once w/ a DS125 battery pack.
Cheers
James
I have had a DS-125 battery flood for aparently no reason. I never did figure out what I did that caused the flood.
The good news is that the strobe is waterproof even without the battery, so most likely there is no damage to the strobe itself and all you need is a new battery pack.
Edit.....
I just noticed that the link is good, your host is just blocking the hotlink. You can see the picture here.
On second thought, no I have no Idea how that would happen. Looks like a defective pack. I would definately send that battery pack back to Ikelite.
I still cannot see the picture... ? Please e-mail to jean@ikelite.com.
Jean
Since I seem to be the only one who can see the image, I changed it to an attachment. Everyone should be able to see it now.....
Yep - I get a 403 forbidden message from Kodakgallery too. Thanks for trying though William. Maybe you have to be logged in to kodakgallery
James
I had this before on an old (serial number <2000) DS125 (the bayonet used to be made of two pieces bonded together).
Ikelite replaced it with no charge.
There are two possibilities, either the plastic ring was damaged when removing the battery pack by exerting pressure when the latch wasn't rotated a full 90 degrees, or, when the battery flooded, the force of expanding gas busted the ring.
I have a couple of battery packs that don't quite line up with the slots in the strobe body and are difficult to remove, even when the latch is in the right position. You have to be very careful not to force the battery when removing it for recharging or storage.
I would send it back to Ike for evaluation - they will either replace it at no cost or give you the option of buying a new one at a large discount.
Finally can see the picture, this kind of damage is definitely not normal. Usually something like that only occurs when there is some kind of major impact to the strobe's battery pack. But it could have also been a random weakness in the plastic.
Please return both the strobe head and battery pack as soon as possible for evaluation and repair.
Jean
Looks to me like the pins are corroded and that there might have been water inside the strobe part. Even though they claim that the electronic part of the strobe is sealed and can't flood, I had one be totaled, and the only thing I saw on the electronic part of the strobe was some corrosion on the pins. They could not repair it, and I had to replace it, at my cost as it was out of warranty.
I'd still send it in to Ikelite in the hope that it can be repaired. They will do all to it they can. Good luck.
Sorry about the link. Thanks for putting it on as an attachment. I appreciate all the replies.
I have sent the strobe back to Ikelite to see what they say. I never hit it on anyting more than a slight bump and I never forced the latch. I was totally surprised when I took it apart and water ran out. Even broken like this it seals pretty tight, but when you put some pressure on it, you can see the gasket coming open slightly.
I am going to go with the bad plastic theory.
To wrap this up. Ikelite fixed the strobe no questions asked and did not charge me for it. Thank you Ikelite.
