Strobes wont stay put

Hi all. After 14yrs of diving, Ive finally gotten a proper housing for my Nikon D300. Ive tested my rig and everything seems to work well with the base set up and Im trying to prepare for a trip to Guadalupe island in Oct. I live in Indy so Ikelite is a 15min drive and Ive had them go through my strobe and housing to check everything out for a clean bill of health. My issue Im sorting out is with the strobe arms. It seems no matter how tight I try to get the knobs, they still dont stay put. The ball joint set up keeps allowing things to move and drop down. Is this just because Im on land and its too much, is it a bad set up or just classic user error? Any suggestions or tricks would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Adam

Yes, on land, the strobe's weight on the far side of a very long lever just exerts too much force on the ball joint. Put it in a tub or a pool and you'll see radically different behavior.

Yes, on land, the strobe's weight on the far side of a very long lever just exerts too much force on the ball joint. Put it in a tub or a pool and you'll see radically different behavior.

Ok perfect. Thats what I was hoping the case was. Thank you much!

Adam

In surface cages at Guadalupe, we didn’t use strobes. Natural light worked fine. Deep cage may require strobes, depending on the ambient light. I was on the Solmar V.

But weight was one of the reasons that I got rid of the Ike 125s and went to the S&S D1s, now D2s. The other reason was the proprietary batteries.

If it were me I'd buy a set of NEW clamps and see what happens. I can keep my strobes (granted, they're not DS160/61s) held high over my housing without them falling. It they still fall with brand new clamps then just return the clamps. If they don't drop then you know it's probably your current set of clamps.

If it were me I'd buy a set of NEW clamps and see what happens. I can keep my strobes (granted, they're not DS160/61s) held high over my housing without them falling. It they still fall with brand new clamps then just return the clamps. If they don't drop then you know it's probably your current set of clamps.

Thats definitely a thought I may try. Ill be on the Bell Amie

It's more likely to be the balls than the clamps, if the o-rings on them are wearing out.

Or elements from different suppliers (adapter/arm/clamp)

Not all has the same exact measure...

Hi all. After 14yrs of diving, Ive finally gotten a proper housing for my Nikon D300. Ive tested my rig and everything seems to work well with the base set up and Im trying to prepare for a trip to Guadalupe island in Oct. I live in Indy so Ikelite is a 15min drive and Ive had them go through my strobe and housing to check everything out for a clean bill of health. My issue Im sorting out is with the strobe arms. It seems no matter how tight I try to get the knobs, they still dont stay put. The ball joint set up keeps allowing things to move and drop down. Is this just because Im on land and its too much, is it a bad set up or just classic user error? Any suggestions or tricks would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Adamikelitesetup.jpg

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

It's more likely to be the balls than the clamps, if the o-rings on them are wearing out.

That's a good point. Might actually be the O-rings on the arms/balls rather than the clamps. If you can find replacement O-rings you might try that as well. Note: O-rings sizes are dependent on the arm manufacturer (found this out the hard way).

It will always be a problem on land. Especially with heavy Ikelite strobes. I have small carabiners mounted near the strobes and a loop of line on the housing handles to hold the strobes in place while carrying on land.

The quality of balls & clamps matters too. I recently got a couple of the new Aquatica clamps (with the red logo in the middle) and they're fantastic compared to my old ones. Gonna upgrade my whole system with those.

But no balls/clamps will support the weight of strobes on land.

It does help to fold the arms inward over the housing when transporting, getting in/out of the water, long swims or dealing with currents.

I picked up some new clamps from kitdive as well as some seafrogs double ball arms and things seem to be sticking in place now. I still wouldnt expect them to stay for long periods of time on land but the new items seem to have a lot more grab

It will always be a problem on land. Especially with heavy Ikelite strobes. I have small carabiners mounted near the strobes and a loop of line on the housing handles to hold the strobes in place while carrying on land.

 

The quality of balls & clamps matters too. I recently got a couple of the new Aquatica clamps (with the red logo in the middle) and they're fantastic compared to my old ones. Gonna upgrade my whole system with those.

 

But no balls/clamps will support the weight of strobes on land.

 

It does help to fold the arms inward over the housing when transporting, getting in/out of the water, long swims or dealing with currents.

I have this same problem with only new nauticam arms, clamps and o rings. My video lights are very heavy tho..

Skickat från min VTR-L29 via Tapatalk

As pbalves suggested I have the problem when I combine items from different manufacturers the orings used differ but there are also some small variations of size

It should not happen with the same brand but no doubt there is a tipping point with long arms where is impossible for the balls and clamps to hold the torque of the arm

if you put the arms in a closed position with the first segment going up and the second going down with the third straight only the clamp closer to the housing is under stress so if you manage to have a matching combination there it should work. The ops set up with arms of similar length will never fit in this category and you have 3 different torques to fight and therefore is likely to move under shake no matter what

The total of handle leght plus first segment needs to equal second segment and strobe element plus strobe length. If I was the op I would stick them in that position or similar to that and see how it works.

Pulling up the rig as shown in the picture will result in the arms moving no matter what under stress

Do u have a picture of your carabiners and the line setup?

I have this same problem with only new nauticam arms, clamps and o rings. My video lights are very heavy tho..

 

Skickat från min VTR-L29 via Tapatalk

Here's a quick snap. This isn't the ideal way to rig it for this purpose, but since I switched to optical sync I've taken to mostly carrying my strobes separate, including on my weight belt until I'm in the water. This carabiner position works best for that.

Aquatica handles have a pass through hole in the center which is great for the loops. They also act as hand straps (much easier to shoot one handed) and points to mount a shoulder strap for carrying longer distances.

Also shows the new vs old aquatica clamps. New ones (with red logo) are fantastic. Very smooth.