How long does Ikelite D161 strobe last?

I have used my Ikelite D161 strobes a lot over the past 4 or 5 years.  I think they are going, because they don't seem to flash at the brightest level -- or they need a long time to recharge to flash at that level.  Has anyone had experience with telling when a flash is starting to go?  And if there is a good way to test it?  I appreciate any advice.

The ikelite strobes seem to have a good reliability reputation.  It could be that the battery pack is the issue  - Do you know anyone else with an ikelte strobe you could borrow a battery pack from to see if your strobe performs better with a newer battery pack?

That's a great idea, Chris. Thanks for the suggestion.

Also look for threads about rebuilding the battery packs. 

I've used a set of Ikelite DS161 strobes frequently over the past twelve years. The strobes are still performing exceptionally well, but my battery packs are beginning to show their age. All four of my battery packs were manufactured in 2016.

I do a monthly maintenance routine on my strobes and battery packs. Basically, I use the video lights on the DS161's to discharge most of the power in the batteries before recharging the batteries. The strobes are immersed in a bucket of cold water while discharging the battery packs.

In addition to my battery discharge/charging routine, I 'exercise' the capacitors  in the strobes. This involves hooking the camera and strobes to a housing and discharging/cycling the capacitor about a dozen times. I do this routine with all of my strobes. In addition to Ikelites, I've got some Sea & Sea strobes and old Nikonos SB105's.

It's not a bad idea to send your strobes to Ikelite for servicing from time to time. The strobes have internal o-rings and the Ikelite techs can upgrade the firmware in the strobes if needed.

-Tinman

That is such great information, Tinman!  I really appreciate it.  I will give your suggestions a try of draining the battery and doing some of the other maintenance.

Hope it helps. Despite being a bit 'long-in-the-tooth' of my Ikelite battery packs, all four will hold charges enough to provide power throughout days with multiple dives. I think the conditioning routine has helped increase the longevity of the battery packs.

It's probably overkill, but I also do monthly conditioning with the AA Eneloop batteries I use to power my Sea & Sea and Nikonos strobes. I have charging stations that suck the power out of the Eneloop's before charging them.

My Ikelite DS161's and DS160's are probably due for service. While Ikelite strobes are typically very reliable and don't often flood, the internal o-rings on the strobe controls can become worn. Service work is way cheaper than buying a new strobe to replace a flooded one. The Ikelite service department folks are easy to deal with.

-Tinman 

It's definitely overkill, but everyone needs a hobby!

It's pretty cheap and easy to get the Ikelite packs rebuilt with fresh cells. If there is a Battery+Bulbs shop nearby they may be able to do is very inexpensively. As a DIY project you can do it in an hour or two with a soldering iron and some e6000 glue plus $25 of batteries.

Overkill... yeah, sure! (LOL)

Plugging Eneloop batteries into a conditioning charger takes me less than sixty seconds... it's not much of a hobby. (LOL)

Yeah, I'd rather spend a few minutes a month doing a conditioning routine will keep my Ikelite battery packs going rather than messing with a DIY project, but that's just me.

And of course I agree, people need to have hobbies! (LOL)

-Tinman