Nauticam dual fiber optic cable problem

Hi all,

Has anyone experienced one side of their Nauticam dual fiber optic cable not transmitting enough light to fire a strobe? Right now my cable only fires one strobe even with both strobes connected. For example, if I connect Cable 1 to Strobe A and Cable 2 to Strobe B, A fires but B does not. If I switch the cables 1-->B and 2-->A then B fires but A does not. When I disconnect the cables from the strobes and look at the tip of the fiber optic cables when the camera fires, I notice that one cable emits a bright light and the other problem cable emits a much dimmer light. It appears the problem cable isn't emitting enough light to fire the flash (I'm using Z240s). Anyone experience this before?

"One cable emits a bright light and the other problem cable emits a much dimmer light"

Yes, my new Subal ND500  LED trigger had the same problem.  This trigger has two separate circuits on its board, for each LED. One circuit was defective, the LED was continuously half On and did not fire with sufficient light to trigger the strobe.  I had to replace the trigger with a new one.

To check your LED trigger, plug it in the camera's hot shoe, turn the camera On, both LED's should be Off. If one LED is half On, its circuit is defective.  When youshoot the camera both LED's should flash with equal intensity.  If one LED is dim, you need to contact your dealer for a replacement.

Good luck! Please let us know what happens.

You said it is a dual cable, so it is connected to only one optical strobe connector in the housing. Do you have another optical strobe connector on the housing to test?

It might be a misaligned LED on the optical connector on the housing.

But more probably is a cable problem.... 

After rereading the problem, it does seem to be a defect, such as a partial break, in one fiber optic cable  A partial break can at times be located by careful examination.  If the defect is near one of the end plugs, then depending on the make of the cable, the short defective length can be discarded and the end plug reconnected.  For a replacement it may be better make one's cables out of Toslink and grommets, as described here:

 https://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?/topic/60564-diy-fiber-optic-writeup-with-parts/&tab=comments#comment-387130

One big advantage of making one's own Toslink fiber optic cables is that they are break resistant, inexpensive and easy to repair.

So it's like this one:  https://www.nauticam.com/products/nauticam-to-sea-sea-dual-optical-fiber-cable But with INON connector plugs.

First I would suggest shining a bright torch into the housing end connector and comparing brightness that way - this will eliminate housing end alignment issues.  Do you have an LED trigger - confirming that is flashing as required is another step.  If you are triggering by onboard flash, normally alignment would not be an issue.

It looks like you can disassemble the end plugs at both ends, this would give you the opportunity to add a replacement cable if one of yours is defective.  You can also purchase the connector plugs separately and possibly convert to twin cables.  If the break is near the connector you should be able to disassemble, trim off the bad bit of cable and reconnect.

Here is one source for connectors:  http://www.reefwreckandcritter.com/fiber-optic-connectors--cables.html

Googling should find others near your location.

Hi everyone,

Thanks a bunch for your responses, including the links to DIY cables (which I'm seriously considering as a solution). Here's a link to the cable I'm using: https://www.backscatter.com/Nauticam-Dual-Optical-Fiber-Cable-Nauticam-to-Inon

I've already tried trimming the end of the cable off, but that didn't help (although I simply used a pair of scissors, but after reading the DIY threads posted above I'm considering going back and using a razor blade).

I'll examine the flash trigger itself a little more carefully and then see about disassembling the strobe to cable connector to trim that end portion of the cable off.

Update: I fixed it! Seems I hadn't trimmed off enough and that there was a partial break about 1/4 the distance up the cable. Used a box cutter to cut the cable and voila. We're good to go. (My cat chewed the cable a while ago and I missed one of the tooth marks the other day while I was examining the cable... lol)

LOL, brilliant! Well done! 

And give that cat a can of food......