While trying to disassemble an Ikelite arm system, I stripped the head of the screw that connects the SA-100 ball adapter to my DS-125. Any ideas on how to get the ball mount off myself, or should I just send the strobe to Ikelite and see if they can remove the stripped screw and replace it with a new one?
I was trying to separate things so I could sell the complete arm system (http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31167). So now I have an incomplete arm system and a strobe with a permanent ball mount. Wonderful....
I'd send it to Ikelite. They are VERY GOOD about repairs and cust. service in general. I've returned a couple things to them and they were repaired at little or no cost. And the problems were of my doing, like a flooded strobe battery compartment and damaged threads on a port.
Great service.
if its just a screw head that's a waste of money to send to ikelite. go to the hardware store and you can find drill bits taht remove screws. 'screw extractors' i think they're called. its a 2 sided drill bit, the first side drills a small hole into the screw head and the other side locks itself into that hole and unscrews the screw. its surprisingly simple. cheers,
chris
Unless you have prior experience in this, send it to Ikelite. Problems you are likely to encounter are: drilling hole off center, damaging screw threads, breaking screw extracter off in hole; now you have a hardened plug in your hole!
12 years as instrument machinist
Yeah, I think I'll just to Ikelite. I would try the screw extractor but my drill is not slender enough to be able to get up against the body of the strobe at the right angle. Thanks for the tips.
And those screws are really small - an extractor bit isn't likely to work very well. IF you insisted on doing it yourself, I'd bet you'd be better off just drilling another hole and tapping it for another screw somewhat offcenter; the ball mount is just aluminum after all.
I have the opposite problem: my screws always fall out of those holes (the holes in the ball mount have themselves been stripped of threads). So I keep a roll of that teflon tape you use for pipes and wrap it around the slide mount to help "wedge" the ball into the slot in the strobe casing with friction. I'm always fraid in doing so that I'm going to somehow crack open the strobe housing though.
When I install any stainless to aluminum screw, or even the metal stainless threads on my synch cord bulkheads I slather them with o-ring grease
Screws and cords come undone like butter even after 3 solid weeks of salt water immersion diving.
As far as cords and the constant "maintenance" I see people tempting fate on trips in a ridiculous sometimes nightly ritual I always ask: "If it doesn't leak and fires the FIRST time you take it underwater why on earth would you EVER disconnect it on a trip unless you were going snorkeling without your strobe(s) ? "
I do this of course in my "nice humble" persona
So the answer to avoid the above problem = O-RING GREASE.....
YMMV
dhaas
If its not close to an o-ring, try a type of marine grease. I use Aqua Lube but its hard to find. Stays on the threads for a long time. Easy disassembly of parts.
I might've tried any of these fine suggestions had I been the original owner of the strobe. Alas....
If its not close to an o-ring, try a type of marine grease. I use Aqua Lube but its hard to find. Stays on the threads for a long time. Easy disassembly of parts.
Just don't google aqualube if you are at work, apparently there is a big difference between aqua lube and aqualube but my office won't let me get to the aqualube site.
Bill
I might've tried any of these fine suggestions had I been the original owner of the strobe. Alas....
Ikelite doesn't care if you're the original owner or not. They'll fix it, probably at no cost.
They sent me some replacement parts today for my housing at no cost. I'm not the original owner nor have I ever registered it with them. They're really great.
Ikelite doesn't care if you're the original owner or not. They'll fix it, probably at no cost.
They sent me some replacement parts today for my housing at no cost. I'm not the original owner nor have I ever registered it with them. They're really great.
I know. When I wrote that "I might've tried any of these fine suggestions had I been the original owner of the strobe," I was referring to the fact that I didn't have the opportunity to lube up the screws with grease before installing the ball mount. I got the rig used, so the mount was already installed and the screw may very well have been stuck by then.
I'm definitely going to send the strobe to Ikelite.
