Sea and Sea housing issue

I've had this issue since buying the housing. The strobes fire consistantly above water, and initially the test fires a few minutes into the dive, but fire rarely after that.

I have a sea & sea D200 housing with sea&Sea strobes. Originally I had a TTL convertor and for some time believed it was the convertor, then various settings on the camera. Then tried different sync cords. Checking the obvious, the sync connectors stay dry, o-ring is fine. Tried different strobes, same results. Again out of the water its fine. Housing has never flooded.

Before I send it back for repair I thought I would ask if anyone else has had this type of problem?

Thanks,

Hi partner, What kind of strobes are you using? Is it happening when you don't use the TTL converter? How do you have the camera setup? Are you shooting manual? I love a good mystery.

Steve

Scubanimal,

No point in scratching ya head until it bleeds mate!

You spent enough money on the bloody thing, so it should arrive in working order...

Send it back...

The longer that you hold onto it, simply adds to the time that you aren't enjoying yourself underwater...

MOST importantly, an email should have been sent to the supplier BEFORE posting this thread...

IMHO...

Hi Stevie,

Did you actually read his thread before asking your questions...

Bruce...

Have you tried different batteries for your strobe? I had this problem back when I was using a DX-1G and a YS-110 strobes. They worked topside and simply refused to fire anymore minutes into th dive. No leaks, flood, etc.

I switched to Eneloops and never had any problem since.

Did you actually read his thread before asking your questions...

There are a number of things that could cause the behavior he's seeing. A little more info would be helpful.

Steve

Hi Steve,

You asked him what sort of strobes he was using? He stated that he had tried different strobes with the same results.

You asked him if he had tried to use the system without the TTL converter turned on. He said it made no difference on or off.

You asked what settings he was using? He stated that he had used various camera settings including manual.

He has tried different sync cords and still gets the same result. It works above water but not below...

I think that he gave a pretty good idea as to what he had done to try and remedy the situation...

Your questions were moot...

SEND IT BACK...

Bruce...

Guys,

Thank you for your interest. I have tried different strobes, both with and without the TTL converter, several different sync cords. The strobes worked just fine with my Oly 5050. I've been using the same brand batteries for a while, and yes I too have had the experience that some batteries are work better than others.

One thing I probably should have mentioned is I was able to get the housing at a discount due to my working with a dive shop, the catch i just found out is that the warrent does not apply. Only to full "retail" purchases.

yes, of course the first think I did is contact the shop. There used to be a Sea&Sea repair shop near here (carlsbad) but it has since been closed so before I send it in I wanted to make sure I was not doing something dumb like forgetting some setting or other silly thing.

Again Thank you for your interest and comments.

You may want to recheck your sync cords and receptacles again. A sunken or corroded pin may not firing problem.

This may or may not relate directly to your problem, since I have a different system but you never know. YS90's worked fine with my Nexus D70. When I bought YS110's they wouldn't fire. Just upgraded to D300 but haven't tried sync cords with that yet, so that is still unknown for me. My D70 problem had to do with the way the hot shoe adapter in the housing was wired along with an electronic/wiring change in the 110'vs 90's. My fix was to put a piece of scotch tape over the 2 rear contacts on the camera hotshoe, so only the center & forward pin were exposed. Works great. Try & see if this has any effect on your system. For some reason all S&S strobes don't even work with all S&S housings, which I find to be a bad design philosophy.

If your housing has fiber optic ports try those with strobes on slave. Dove D300 with FO for first time this weekend - worked great.

Hi Steve,

You asked him what sort of strobes he was using? He stated that he had tried different strobes with the same results.

You asked him if he had tried to use the system without the TTL converter turned on. He said it made no difference on or off.

You asked what settings he was using? He stated that he had used various camera settings including manual.

He has tried different sync cords and still gets the same result. It works above water but not below...

I think that he gave a pretty good idea as to what he had done to try and remedy the situation...

Your questions were moot..

SEND IT BACK...

I can't think of any reason being at depth would cause a wiring malfunction. If somebody has seen this, I'd like to understand it.

Scubaanimal, I'm assuming you checked the wiring on the inside of the housing for a loose connection. Intermittents can be a pain to locate.

Steve

I had a similar problem recently with a Sea & Sea YS-27 ... but it definitely wasn't a sync cord problem because the YS-27 was operating as an optical slave.

I'm curious if these are similar problems. When they are failing to fire is the power light on?

In my case, when the YS-27 was failing to fire at depth (it was failing MORE the deeper I went) I finally noticed that the power light was going on and off. Inexplicably, the power would come back on when I rose from the deeps and would start firing again.

The best explanation/theory I have was that the pressure was somehow causing the contacts with the batteries to be "off". Someone (with skills) theorized that the contacts may have gotten "flattened" and that if I "tented" the battery contacts a little it might solve the problem. Have you ever had trouble opening or closing the battery cover? I did once with my YS-27 and that could have been when the contacts got fouled up (if that is in fact the root cause ...).

Unfortunately, I got this advice as I was leaving Grand Cayman and never got to try it out.

Since it fires fine on the surface, I'll have to wait a bit to test it out ...

I agree w/ Steve - no point or need to be belligerent Bruce. The more information the better in my opinion.

Cheers

James

One thing I probably should have mentioned is I was able to get the housing at a discount due to my working with a dive shop, the catch i just found out is that the warrent does not apply. Only to full "retail" purchases.

sorry you're having all these problems

I have several friends with D200's and Ys-110's, they've never had a problem. neither have I with my D80 or D300 & Ys-110's.

Sounds like a very strange problem, like some sort of short in the strobe-firing circuitry underneath the 2 bulkheads.

I can't believe the warranty doesn't apply, who told you that? if you bought it new they should fix it, regardless of the price you paid. was it a new housing? who did you speak with at S&S?

I would do 1 final test with a single strobe, single sync cord. I'd try the test using both the TTL bulkhead and the non-TTL bulkhead. backscatter had a small plastic disc they sell for $5-$10 that will allow you to fire a single strobe using the TTL bulkhead without the TTL converter.

Scott

I agree w/ Steve - no point or need to be belligerent Bruce. The more information the better in my opinion.

 

Cheers

James

Wasn't intentional, coz I don't even know what it means...

My reasoning was simple. If this was a washing machine, it would be sent back.

But then I thought that it doesn't have any complex electronic circuitry, so maybe it's an external combination of issues...maybe?

I was going to say that we are not all engineers and retired rocket scientists etc., but then I remembered that some of us are, and maybe it would be a good source of information...maybe?

I still believe that if you have purchased something new (regardless of price), that is not performing as expected, and you have carried out considerable tests to eliminate variables, that you are entitled to send the unit back for repair or replacement. Why should Mr Animal continue to carry out further tests of the equipment at his expense and personal risk whereby he has to immerse himself multiple times underwater?

If this was a washing machine, how many rinse cycles would you immerse yourself in before sending the unit back? And lets face it, if he does send the unit back with screw heads showing signs of tampering, he will probably void his warranty anyway...

Now I freely admit to not being too bright on a lot of things, but why does writing in capitals mean that I'm shouting...

It takes a great man to admit when he's wrong. . . . . so I will pause and enjoy my greatness...

Didn't mean to ruffle anyone's knickers...

Bruce...

scubanimal, I feel your pain....this would drive me nuts....especially if everything works perfectly fine topside.....If your strobe has worked with different cameras, and the same batts....and if your problem has not been solved with different sync cords...then logic dictates that your housing cord connection or hotshoe connection is flawed..... I do not know if you used a optical or cable connection with your Oly......but I would still look into cable connections on EITHER side before sending the housing in.

The key point you make is the fact that everything seems to work topside......I suspect not a leak but perhaps a poor connection.....salt water is a great conductor. I am no expert but I suspect it doesn't take a obvious leak to short the connection..... I love a good mystery like Steve does! I do hope you sort things out soon and will be following this thread with great interest (in case this horrible problem strikes my system!)