Subtronic Alpha

After much searching through Google and on this forum I have finally broken down to ask for advice/help. I have a Subtronic Alpha strobe that I love and has always worked great. I recently took it out of storage and went to charge it and I get the Full Green light and the Red Charge light. When I try to test it it acts as though the battery is dead. Any thoughts on this? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm doing something wrong here and I won't have to send it in, but I won't hold my breath. Also if anyone has a manual in English they could help me out with that would be great as well. Thanks.

Sounds like you may need a new battery. Non-use can lead to battery death. Sorry for the potentially bad news.

Repack the batteries or buy a new battery pack from Subtronic.

Thanks for the responses. Any advice for disassembly? I don't want to accidentally break something from not knowing what I'm doing the first time.

Unscrew both sides... It shouldn't be too hard unless salt built up on the screws. If so, soak them in vinegar for a while and try again.

Remove the back part, where the buttons are. Use a cable on the bulkhead so you have something on which to pull (not the cable, of course).

Be gentle, don't twist. Once it comes out, take the plug from the circuit board.

Now try to slide all the inside of the strobe to the front. Don't touch the bulb! Avoid damaging the slave cell and the spotting light.

Once you have the inner part of the strobe out, be careful so that you don't get electrocuted, just in case the condensers still hold power.

You can easy identify the blue batteries, stacked together. Don't mess up with the condensers, though.

Use a screwdriver to disconnect them and then it's quite logical to figure out the way they come out... There will be some more unscrewing, but easy.

Take it so somewhere when it can be replaced. Mine costed around 60 USD to replace, for bigger capacity than original.

Anything you need, please ask. I e-mail you some pictures if needed.

Cheers.

Bear in mind that the O'rings sometimes need to be replaced or you risk flooding.