Sea & Sea YS-D2 Problems

Recently I have been diving while using Sea & Sea YS-D2 strobe. After 2 weeks of using the strobe it stopped firing (never flooded the strobe and used enelopes fully charged batteries, btw, I always shoot in manual). The constant light was still functional but the strobe flash just stopped firing. This was on Grand Cayman and my only option was to purchase a display model from Cathy Church shop in Georgetown. The new strobe survived another 3 weeks of photographing but I noticed that the recycle time of it started to increase. Other problem I found on both strobes was that when firing the strobe consecutively 10-15 times the strobe would stop firing and would need to recycle for about 10-15 seconds after which time it would start firing again. This happened on both strobes. Spoke with Sea & Sea today and their tech told me that that was not normal. Anyone had a similar experience? These strobes are $700 a piece and I am afraid they will not last me long time. How do these compare to Inon strobes?

There are a lot of similar threads about the Sea & Sea YS-D2 strobes on Wetpixel. I don't have experience with S&S myself, but have used Ikelite DS-125 & 161 for many years, and now almost 2 years with the Inon 330. Nothing but good things to say about these strobes in terms of reliability and performance. I'd say there is very little complaining about these in UWP forums as well. The Inon 240's had more issues, but these seem to be addressed fully by the 330 model. Biggest issue with the Inon 330 is that it can be hard to find in stock outside of Asia. Ikelites are bulky and heavy, but are super robust and reliable with excellent customer service.

"when firing the strobe consecutively 10-15 times"

How long did this take....seconds, minutes?

Over-heating is a problem from quickly firing at full power many times.

Hi: I fear you may have burned out the strobe by overfiring it. My Sea&Seas have stopped firing when I

take too may shots in a row or fire the strobe pointed down.

I read somewhere that Sea&Sea warrants its strobes for failure for one year from date of purchase, worth giving it a try.

Here is a post on the subject

Strobe Failure – A note of caution

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=63999

and an eye opener:

Ikelite is perhaps the best strobe around, too bad they use only electic sync cord, not fiberoptic w TTL

Hi: I fear you may have burned out the strobe by overfiring it. My Sea&Seas have stopped firing when I

take too may shots in a row or fire the strobe point down.

 

Here is a post on the subject

Strobe Failure – A note of caution

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=63999

 

Ikelite is perhaps the best strobe around, too bad they use only electic sync cord, not fiberoptic w TTL

No you CAN use fiber optic with Ikelite strobes! They sell a fiber optic adapter for this. (I have a pair posted in the classifieds) No TTL but not much of a loss IMHO. Manual strobe power is better most of the time.

The manual does actually say that if you fire the strobes 10 times back to back it needs to cool down 10 minutes

Unless you do quick firing how do you manage to shoot 10 times back to back? Never happened to me so am curious.

I shoot look at the preview on the camera screen that is there 2 seconds reframe shoot again

Unless shooting from the hip I can’t see how that would happen

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It sounds like your strobes were the YS-D2 black label edition made in China and well known for problems.

Because of strobe failures, Sea&Sea closed their China operation and moved strobe manufacturing to

Japan,

The new strobe is the yellow label YS-D2J, I have two and one year later they are still working, fingers crossed.

If you are within the one year warranty, I hope the dealer will replace the strobes, or

contact Sea&Sea directly:

CEO: Stephen Ashmore,

Sea & Sea Head Office

1-4-6 Kitasenzoku, Ota-ku,

Tokyo 145-0062 Japan

https://www.seaandsea.co.jp/

https://www.seaandsea.com

Here is another Wetpixel post on

Our strobe problem.

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=63956

Best of luck! Please post your progress.

The manual does actually say that if you fire the strobes 10 times back to back it needs to cool down 10 minutes

 

Unless you do quick firing how do you manage to shoot 10 times back to back? Never happened to me so am curious.

I shoot look at the preview on the camera screen that is there 2 seconds reframe shoot again

Unless shooting from the hip I can’t see how that would happen

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is actually very common in fast action settings. I've done this many times when diving with groups Sealions, Sharks, Dolphins, etc. I usually don't push the strobe to more than 1/3 power, use a fast shutter, high ISO, and may shoot at least 1 frame / second if not a little more. The Inon and Ikelite strobes I've used have no issues keeping up with this fast recycle time without damage.

I do this frequently enough that it pushed me to finally upgrade from my D800 to the D850 because the memory buffer of the 800 is too small and after about 15 shots the camera stalls and refuses to shoot for up to 30 seconds.

I would consider that rapid firing and I have seen sea and sea ysd2 doing 30 plus consecutive shots at low power even in fast frame rate mode

At 1/3-1/4 of full power it doesn’t seem to overheat to get into a lock

Either the op was shooting at full power or maybe it has the china version

Would be useful to know

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I have had exactly the same issues with my YS-D2... Fire 4-5 shots and then would have to wait for re-cycle

I have 3 half-dead Sea&Sea YS-D series strobes (2 D-1s and 1-D2). I already threw away 1 YS-D1 and one YS-01 in the past.

I kept thinking I was unlucky and giving them another chance for years. Finally I switched to Inon.

What can I tell you...Sea&Sea strobes don't last. They have excellent TTL and are simple to operate, but they last 2-3 trips.

Their service, at least in Asia, is non-existent. You send them for servicing and they charge you the price of a new one, every single time. It has become a joke around here. When they moved their manufacturing to Japan it was too late for me. I mean, why give them another chance? 

Switch to Inon and you will have strobes for years.