Inon z240 faulty

I have 2 inon z240's which i bought exactly 1 year ago, brand new. I have a canon 5d mkiii, ikelite housing and so always shoot in manual and with the pre-flash button pushed in on the strobe. Just the other day i was out shooting and noticed that one of my strobes seemed to be stuck on low power and no matter what i changed on the manual power setting it was giving the same low output.

I exited the water and had a look at the sync cables and battery compartment for water ingress but nothing at all.

I noticed when i switched the strobe setting to S-TTL i could get a full power flash output but when back on manual i could not adjust it again. This is showing the exact same symptoms as when the pre-flash button is not locked in.

So onwards to that evening where i do some research online and notice a lot of people getting this same issue and the culprit seems to be the magnet in the pre-flash button corroding therefore not engaging the switch inside the inon strobe unit. I went ahead and removed the button only to notice the magnet is completely intact, not surprising considering it's less than a year old. So the problem must be inside... maybe a sticky or faulty switch... such as you get on a car relay sometimes in which the solution is often to tap it with something.

As a last ditch attempt at getting my beloved strobe back to working order i pushed in the Pre-Flash button and tapped the side of the strobe with my multi tool and bingo it's working perfectly again. I presume as long as i don't let the switch out then it should keep the switch engaged and i can continue shooting for now.

I am currently working in Tonga and getting things shipped to and from here is extremely impractical therefore i will probably continue using the strobe for now as long as it holds up. However has anyone else had this issue as i can't find anything else online about it....

Any input would be much appreciated!

Attach your multi tool to B/C for use at depth!

Happens to me regularly with my Z240s. I switch between S-TTL and Full and after a while it usually starts working again. Sometimes turning it off for five minutes helps as well, or pulling the pre-flash button out. I keep an eye on the red light and charging noise to check whether I'm getting a full dump out of the strobe.

Beware of repeated shots at full power in warm water as the Z240s overheat and (as well as browning the tubes) it cooks the internal electronics.

Thanks for the advice (Multi tool with me at all times now!)

I'm a bit disappointed that after only 1 year i have this issue but im in contact with my supplier at the moment. It would definitely seem to be an internal issue.

Liz when you say you can get browning of tubes from too many full power flashes. Is it obvious just by looking from the outside? I Had a look at mine but can't seem to see any glaring discolouration. I do dive in warm water and occasionally will use full power for long periods for wide shots but not too often.

The tubes start to look a bit burned, but it can be hard to tell looking at them in bright sunlight as the reflectors blind you. Tubes should be 100% clear and white, not yellow tinted or with brown specks. Burned tubes may indicate slightly melted internals as well (I melted a capacitor once) but not necessarily. Just something to watch out for. Hopefully inon will produce a strobe with overheating protections built in.

Inon won't replace tubes or individual components. They basically swap out the entire internals of the strobe for a warranty "service".

I have 2 inon z240's which i bought exactly 1 year ago, brand new. I have a canon 5d mkiii, ikelite housing and so always shoot in manual and with the pre-flash button pushed in on the strobe. Just the other day i was out shooting and noticed that one of my strobes seemed to be stuck on low power and no matter what i changed on the manual power setting it was giving the same low output.

 

I exited the water and had a look at the sync cables and battery compartment for water ingress but nothing at all.

 

I noticed when i switched the strobe setting to S-TTL i could get a full power flash output but when back on manual i could not adjust it again. This is showing the exact same symptoms as when the pre-flash button is not locked in.

 

So onwards to that evening where i do some research online and notice a lot of people getting this same issue and the culprit seems to be the magnet in the pre-flash button corroding therefore not engaging the switch inside the inon strobe unit. I went ahead and removed the button only to notice the magnet is completely intact, not surprising considering it's less than a year old. So the problem must be inside... maybe a sticky or faulty switch... such as you get on a car relay sometimes in which the solution is often to tap it with something.

 

As a last ditch attempt at getting my beloved strobe back to working order i pushed in the Pre-Flash button and tapped the side of the strobe with my multi tool and bingo it's working perfectly again. I presume as long as i don't let the switch out then it should keep the switch engaged and i can continue shooting for now.

 

I am currently working in Tonga and getting things shipped to and from here is extremely impractical therefore i will probably continue using the strobe for now as long as it holds up. However has anyone else had this issue as i can't find anything else online about it....

 

Any input would be much appreciated!

 

Silly question, which spot did you exactly taped with that magic multitool of yours ?

As just got to Komodo, and one of my Z240s developed exactly the same issue :S Tried switching it off, changing between S-TTL and full mode, and nothing...and of course it had to happen as soon as warranty has expired and on a trip....