Crack in battery cover of my brand-new YS250!!!

Just jostling for some positive thoughts here - I did a shore dive yesterday, and after about 45 min, I saw a thin stream of bubbles coming from one of my strobes - the origin was a teeny little hairline crack in the battery cover. There was a bit of water inside the strobe after the dive - maybe 15 mL. This was dive #6 on these strobes - the second from shore (4 were done off a boat, where my rig was not out of my sight) - the strobe hasn't been dropped or otherwise (physically) traumatized... The battery cover has been removed and replaced 4 times, max. I am CRUSHED! I had to pack up my pretty, shiny strobe to go back for evaluation... My rig looks very off-balance with one gorgeous, shiny YS250 and one old, battered YS90...

Has anyone heard of this happening before? Am hoping that this will be a warranty thing and that I won't have to file an insurance claim...but even still, at least it happened now, when I have over a month before I leave for Indonesia....

Allison

Sorry to hear that Allison, I"m curious, do you know if the cover was over tightened? Did you roll the cover back after tightening it so the semicircle on the cover lined up? I'm guessing it can get overpressured if you don't.

Steve

Steve - it's certainly possible that I cranked it down too hard, but it really has only been opened and closed a few times - I'd like to think I am not strong enough to have overtightened it, but hey, all that lugging of gear across the sand, maybe I don't know my own strength! I'll let them do the diagnostics and figure it out... It's all insured, so the worst case scenario would be some annoyance and a deductible payment - not the end of the world!

all that lugging of gear across the sand, maybe I don't know my own strength!

Hope they get it fixed up for you. I was refering to the alignment marks on the top of the battery cover. It's noted in the manual on page 10 (english version) With mine it's very easy to over crank the cover and then I usually have to turn it back so the marks line up. It's an easy thing to forget until you get in the habit. Seems counter intuitive not to tighten the heck out of the thing but that's what it says.

The manual doesn't say why we're supposed to do this or what happens if you don't, so I could be all wet. You may have just gotten a bad part. Glad they are going to get you fixed up.

Have fun,

Steve

Hope they get it fixed up for you. I was refering to the alignment marks on the top of the battery cover. It's noted in the manual on page 10 (english version) With mine it's very easy to over crank the cover and then I usually have to turn it back so the marks line up. It's an easy thing to forget until you get in the habit. Seems counter intuitive not to tighten the heck out of the thing but that's what it says.

The manual doesn't say why we're supposed to do this or what happens if you don't, so I could be all wet. You may have just gotten a bad part. Glad they are going to get you fixed up.

Have fun,

Steve

Hey big Stevie,

Funny that you should mention that about the 'line-up' marks. . . .

S&S have the same marks on the YS TTL convertors with the same remarks in the manual.

I never paid any attention and just cranked the bastard closed, BUT, now you mention it, we are probably crushing the 'o'ring and doing it some damage?

Allison,

I'm about to go into hossie and have a total knee reconstruction from a stupid fall while about to go shore diving. . . .

I would love someone big and strong to lug all my gear over the sand for a while. . . .

Bruce...

I'm about to go into hossie and have a total knee reconstruction from a stupid fall while about to go shore diving. . . .

Hey Bruce,

While the Doc has you in there tell him you want the knee to just go up and back so you can swim faster. No, wait a minute , then you'd just be going in circles.

Good luck partner, they say swimming is good therapy!

Steve

Hey Bruce,

While the Doc has you in there tell him you want the knee to just go up and back so you can swim faster. No, wait a minute , then you'd just be going in circles.

 

Good luck partner, they say swimming is good therapy!

 

Steve

Hey Stevie,

I just got back from a 'second' opinion on the leg. Seems like the first doc was "off his meds" and was seeing ghosts on the x-rays. . . .

This 'more' qualified gentleman recommends a quick clean up and oil change with the arthiroscope and back in the water in FOUR weeks for rehab. . . . woohoo. . .

Sorry Allison.

Bruce...

Whoo hooo is right!

Just jostling for some positive thoughts here - I did a shore dive yesterday, and after about 45 min, I saw a thin stream of bubbles coming from one of my strobes - the origin was a teeny little hairline crack in the battery cover. There was a bit of water inside the strobe after the dive - maybe 15 mL. This was dive #6 on these strobes - the second from shore (4 were done off a boat, where my rig was not out of my sight) - the strobe hasn't been dropped or otherwise (physically) traumatized... The battery cover has been removed and replaced 4 times, max. I am CRUSHED! I had to pack up my pretty, shiny strobe to go back for evaluation... My rig looks very off-balance with one gorgeous, shiny YS250 and one old, battered YS90...

 

Has anyone heard of this happening before? Am hoping that this will be a warranty thing and that I won't have to file an insurance claim...but even still, at least it happened now, when I have over a month before I leave for Indonesia....

 

Allison

Hi Allison,

We have seen a very small number of issues regarding the YS-250 hairline cracks in the battery cap, just a handful out of the hundreds of strobes we have sold since they came out. All have been covered under warranty. We can do a quick warranty eval on it if you send it in, and hopefully get it all sorted out before your trip.

Best regards,

Jim

Hi, Guys -

Bruce - good news on your knee - you know, I am sort of a surf wuss and the last person you'd want carrying your gear across the sand... But I am always willing to direct the slaves that Steve seems to think I have among the local surfer population (simply by way of being a girl)

Steve - as you can tell by the way I craftily ignored your question, I have, indeed, been overtightening my strobe covers!!! I went back and looked at the book, then promptly loosened the one that I have here. That said, the crack was on the side of the cover, not anywhere near the valve - seemed like a stress thing from torque more than anything, but given the limited # of times I've even touched it, I was a bit taken aback.

Jim - the strobe was shipped first thing yesterday to Sea and Sea - sounds like this has happened before, so I feel ever so slightly hopeful.... They are fab strobes, stuff happens. It'll get figured out! Thanks so much for offering to look - very much appreciated!

(In the meantime, I am going to try to get out tonight with my lopsided rig, if the surf allows...at least I can get practice in with ONE big gun before the trip.)

That happenned to me too. Exactly the same way (brand new, overtightening...) so I flooded the strobe... Fortunately, these strobes have an isolated battery compartment so I only lost the bettery. Warranty did not cover in my case (I guess I was one of the early adopters) and I had to pay for the battery and the cap...

So, I haven't heard back formally yet, but I did speak to someone in service... Looks like my electronics are OK, I just lost the battery, and the cap needs to be replaced. He told me that they did have a few issues with hairline cracks in battery caps in the early 250s - and he said that the crack in my battery cover was in that exact spot... Right now, it looks like a warranty thing. I did ask about overtightening, as I don't want this happening again, and he said he thought it was unlikely, especially given where the crack was and how new the strobe is.

Sounds like it will be en route home tomorrow - not a minute too soon. I miss it!!! The YS90's pathetically slow recycling time was v obvious paired w/the 250 last weekend. There were a lot of expletives.

David, I wonder about yours now...was it really overtightening??

Thanks for the input - much appreciated, everyone.