Strobe Firing Randomly for No Obvious Reason

During a pool session meant to check on buoyancy characteristics of a new dome port and checkout of an off-camera strobe setup, I experienced my on-camera strobe fire randomly, independent of pressing my housing shutter button.

The strobe is a Sea & Sea YS-D2.

Inspection of my camera housing, strobe trigger PCB, strobe battery compartment and strobe Nikon 5-Pin electronic connection showed no evidence of leakage.  In fact, the strobe battery compartment and electronic connection look like new.  The strobe fired as expected using an optical fiber both in water and on the surface.

This morning I got in the pool again but this time with just the suspect strobe and sure enough, it fired independently several times.  Upon inspection, battery and electronic connector compartments were again dry.

Inspection of the strobe’s exterior shows normal wear and tear but no visible cracks at least to the naked eye.

I recently had the manual control knob replaced and am beginning to suspect a possible micro-crack that went previously unnoticed.  I can’t think of any other reasonable explanation.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Fortunately, I have time to recover before my next scheduled dive.

I have opened several Sea&Sea YS-D2 strobes and found they are very complicated, with several circuit boards packed with tiny solid state components.  Once opened the circuit boards are highly vulnerable to damage. Also, the control switches and their O-rings are packed in several layers of plastic, again vulnerable to being damaged, or to micro water leaks, if worked on. 
 If your strobe was opened, something may have been damaged, and it may be wise to be prepared for the worst, namely, this strobe may continue to flash erratically. 

3 hours ago, Kraken de Mabini said:

I have opened several Sea&Sea YS-D2 strobes and found they are very complicated, with several circuit boards packed with tiny solid state components.  Once opened the circuit boards are highly vulnerable to damage. Also, the control switches and their O-rings are packed in several layers of plastic, again vulnerable to being damaged, or to micro water leaks, if worked on. 
 If your strobe was opened, something may have been damaged, and it may be wise to be prepared for the worst, namely, this strobe may continue to flash erratically. 

I've had my share of luck with Sea & Sea strobes and had already decided to upgrade when the time came.  Time's up.  Would you expect the newer Retro strobes, or other brands to have a more robust construction?

My experience has been with Sea&Sea and Inon strobes, and have found the Inon Z240 and Z330 to be more reliable and problem free. I have no knowledge of, or experience with, Retras, except that they are almost twice as expensive as Inons.

A strobe that fires randomly with an e-sync attached but does not do so with fibre optic cables - you have to suspect the cable - even if it looks OK. there might be an internal short.  Do you have a different cable available that you substitute to test with - that would be the gold standard test. 

As for testing the cable you could place an ohm meter across the ground and trigger pins of the cable while not connected to anything.  The is guide shows you the pins being used :  https://reefphoto.com/blogs/lighting/troubleshooting-strobes-with-electrical-sync

10 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

A strobe that fires randomly with an e-sync attached but does not do so with fibre optic cables - you have to suspect the cable - even if it looks OK. there might be an internal short.  Do you have a different cable available that you substitute to test with - that would be the gold standard test. 

As for testing the cable you could place an ohm meter across the ground and trigger pins of the cable while not connected to anything.  The is guide shows you the pins being used :  https://reefphoto.com/blogs/lighting/troubleshooting-strobes-with-electrical-sync

The strobe fired without any sync cables attached at all during the second session.  It was just me and the strobe in the pool.  No camera, no cables.

During the first session the strobe fired with fibre optic cables.  The e-synch port inspection was simply to eliminate the potential of a flooding due to a loose cap or faulty o-ring.

If it is firing on its own then it's sounds like new strobes will be needed unfortunately.  You could try and have it repaired but it could be throwing good money after bad.

as to what to buy the INON strobes do have a good reliability reputation- at least not too many problems are reported on the forums here.  The Retra strobes also have their fans and they have more even coverage in their light due to the circular flash tube.

The lessons from this, and similar, Sea&Sea strobe failures, is that attempted strobe repairs most of the time will be a waste of time and money, and that the S&S YS-D1 and -D2 strobes are more prone to failure than others, such as Inon or Retra.   
Let us hope the S&S YS-D3 series proves to be reliable and long lived. 

I'm with Chris and Elias: Inon (Z240, Z330) and Retra (Pro, Pro-X, Prime, Prime-X) seem highly reliable for WP users. From my own experience the Z240 and the Retras have been highly reliable and I would not hesitate to recommend them or buy them.

Don't bother with a repair!

Actually in bright light, external light can trigger the strobe sensor. I have had strobes firing on board the dive boat when the optical fiber has been removed from the strobe sensor. Try putting a bit of tape over the optical port and see if that might be the issue.

Bill

2 hours ago, bvanant said:

Actually in bright light, external light can trigger the strobe sensor. I have had strobes firing on board the dive boat when the optical fiber has been removed from the strobe sensor. Try putting a bit of tape over the optical port and see if that might be the issue.

Bill

 

I've never heard of this and will definitely rule this out.  I was in the pool at high noon on a cloudless day during both sessions.  Come to think about it, my sync cords did become detached several times during the first pool session.

I was just about to place an order for a pair of Retro Pro X strobes with extended battery pack and came here to research diffuser and accessory options.

23 minutes ago, Redwing said:

I was just about to place an order for a pair of Retro Pro X strobes with extended battery pack and came here to research diffuser and accessory options.

It’d be worth you starting a new thread for this. I’m sure you’ll get lots of advice. 

4 hours ago, TimG said:

It’d be worth you starting a new thread for this. I’m sure you’ll get lots of advice. 

Will do.  For now, I'll stick to trouble shooting the problem.

6 hours ago, bvanant said:

Actually in bright light, external light can trigger the strobe sensor. I have had strobes firing on board the dive boat when the optical fiber has been removed from the strobe sensor. Try putting a bit of tape over the optical port and see if that might be the issue.

Bill

 

I just replicated your observation.  First I placed my iPhone flashlight against the optical sensor.  Then pointed the optical sensor toward the setting sun.  Both initiated a flash, although inconsistently, but similar to what I experienced in the pool.

I placed a piece of tape over the sensor, but was not able to get the strobe to flash.  Removed the tape and the strobe flashed against sunlight and iPhone flashlight.

I'll replicate this test tomorrow at the pool, just to confirm that water intrusion is not the issue.

Just to close out this thread.  I returned to the pool again with my strobe.  With the optical sensor covered with tape, I was unable to make the strobe fire by pointing sensor toward the sun.  

Removed the tape and with practice I was able to fire the strobe at will by pointing the sensor toward the sun.  

Thanks for everyone’s suggestions.  What I experienced was a feature, not a failure.  

Great thinking from bvanant!

Another entry for the Have You Tried [insert something slightly odd here].

Not so much great thinking but painful observation.

Bill