New Ikelite Rig wont fire right out the box

I have been assembling a new rig with a nikon d200, ikelite housing, nikon 105vr and two ds 125 strobes and it wont work right out of the box. Since it is the weekend, I wont be able to call them til monday, so I will see if any of the wetpixelers have any suggestions.

I get a flashing lightning bolt on my camera which means that the attached strobes do not support ttl and are set to it.

I disconnected the dual cord and put on the single one and tried each strobe seperately to no avail.

I then tried the test fire through the cord by shorting the two females on the camera side of the cord and only one strobe fired.

I think I have multiple problems right out the box and two weeks til my next dive trip. I bought the camera and housing two months early to get the hang of it, but I did not get the strobes til this week. Maybe I made a big mistake waiting.

Anyone have any suggestions I can try before spending all day monday on the phone with ikelite?

Are the cords new? The Ikelite cables do break from time to time (and often an inopportune moments.

Are they iTTL (digital) cords? (The should have a blue band on the housing end.)

Have you checked that the hot shoe is OK? Can you connect an SB800 or similar to make sure the hot shoe on the camera is working?

Have you tried firing the strobes using a paperclip? Check out the wiring diagrams here: http://www.ikelite.com/faq/faq_syncwiring.html . You should be able to fire the strobe(s) with a paperclip between ground and trigger.

Everything is new right out of the box, two strobes with the single cord and a dual to go with them.

Dual would not fire so i hooked up a single then the other single. Neither worked so I did the short the female plug thing (think that is the paperclip things you speak of). Only one even worked there. I am beginning to question ikelites quality control.

Ikelite's QC is pretty good.

I think it is one of those obvious things we can't figure out.

Let's take this a step at a time to make sure we are both talking about the same thing.

First, have you test fired each strobe on its own? Short out ground to trigger on the bulkhead of the strobe. Then at least you can be sure the strobe works or not. Do both strobes fire?

If you have verified the strobes, you should next verify the cords. Connect the single cord one strobe and short trigger to ground on the other end of the cord. Do both strobes fire?

Now connect both strobes to the dual sync cord. Make sure that one strobe is connected to the end with the red band and the other strobe is connected to the end with no band at all. The blue band goes to the housing. Short ground to trigger on the end with the blue band. Do both strobes fire? Does one strobe fire?

If all is working so far, connect the blue band end to the housing and try test firing by shorting the hot shoe. Short the centre pin the edges.

For all the test firing, play close attention to the sync wiring diagram on the Ikelite site.

Thanks so far guys

One strobe bad on all tests. the other tests all the way to the hot shoe and good every test.

I might be screwed if this is a camera problem. I have no way to test it. Guess I can go buy a strobe for land shots.

Got any more ideas to help me narrow this down?

jon

Thanks so far guys

 

One strobe bad on all tests. the other tests all the way to the hot shoe and good every test.

 

I might be screwed if this is a camera problem. I have no way to test it. Guess I can go buy a strobe for land shots.

 

Got any more ideas to help me narrow this down?

 

jon

Try various (wiggling) placements of the hot shoe on the camera. I had a Sea and Sea that was a giant PITA to get just right. I had to shim the hot shoe connector with two pieces of zip tie and still it only worked half the time. I would bet a nickel (a big bet for me) that the camera hot shoe is fine.

Bill

Good call Bill

I had to move it about 20 times, but finally the malfunction light went out and I have strobe 1. I think the other strobe is gonna be tougher. I cant even get it to test fire.

I am a bit upset though. I spend four grande on a housing, port, two strobes and all the cords, I really expect to not have to wiggle all the parts to get them to work. I guess I did buy the cheapest housing so I deserve a little extra work.

Jon,

For the record I'm on to my 3rd Ikelite housing (Coolpix 4500, D70 and now D300) and all of them worked as expected, out of the box. I've also had 3 strobes (1 x DS50 and 2 x DS125) and these have all worked fine. The only problems I have had were:

* my own fault (didn't tighten the knob on the sync cord to the DS50 and it flooded the bulkhead)

* damage/wear due to poor design of the sync cables which Ikelite have recently addressed with cable protectors

* a faulty charger which worked fine initially - Ikelite replaced that at no cost to me (other than a couple of dollars to post the old one back).

I think the other strobe is gonna be tougher. I cant even get it to test fire.

When you switch it to "Test", do you get 3 red lights and the modelling light somes on?

When you switch it on, do you hear it charging up the capacitor ( a high pitched whine)? Does the middle red light come on?

Also, do you have the switch on the housing (under the TTL tray) set to 125?

Call Ikelite ASAP. My experience is that they will jump thru hoops like no other company to make you happy and will do anything to have your problem fixed in time for your trip. I am on my second Ike SLR housing (40D) and my desicion to get a second Ike housing has nothing to do with "cheapest price" but everything to do with the way they have handeled every single issue and question I have had in the last 4 years.

Hey guys

modeling light works great, and all three lights come on. It even flashes a green light when connected to dual cord and other strobe fires.

called ikelite and they think the filament cracked or a wire came loose inside the housing. Mike promised me a one day turnaround and he will get it back to me before I fly out next thursday. Hope he delivers.

thanks for the help guys.

jon

By the way, ATJ, your diagnostic / troubleshooting steps were very well thought out, clear, and concise. I'm personally 'stickying' this thread for testing for myself for the future should I ever have problems (knock on wood). Nice assistance!