Issues/Problem with Sea&Sea YS D2 Strobe?

[dovechoco 1]

Wondering if anyone else have the same issues with YS D2?

 

I was at Raja Ampat recently using a New set of Sea & Sea YS D2 X 2. Both strobes fire with no problem when I tested it on the LOB. However, when I dove to about 15 to 20 meters, both strobes fire for about 10 to 15 times and then the right strobe stopped firing. It was giving me blinking signals, indicating that my battery is dead. I swtched On and Off. It doesnt work. Thinking I must have forgotten to charge one set of the batteries, I tried again during the 2nd dives.

 

As for my 2nd dives set up, I decided to swap the strobes from left to right. Just to make sure it wasnt my syn cord that was giving me problems. I tested again on the LOB before diving with it and both sets of strobes fires well with no problem. I have 16 pieces of Enloope batteries so, i have the privilege of using a different set. Same thing happened again. it will fire for about 10 to 15 times at the depth of between 15 to 20 meters before the same strobe which was initially giving me problem failed to fire again!!! This time there was no warning lights. It just cut off. When I turn On and Off again, the blinking red/gree lights appeared warning i have problem with battery or something else wrong with it.

 

I tried one more time with the YS D2, checked and re-checked everything syn cord etc. Swapped the unit from left to right. It fires well on LOB. Again, it will fire for 10 to 15 times, at about 15 to 20 meters in the water before the same unit dies on me. Same warning blinking lights.

 

Fortunately, I have also brought along my old set of YS D1 x 2 just in case. I decided to revert back to YS D1 for the rest of my dives. I have no problem with the YS D1. It fires well on LOB and also in the water all with the same settings.

 

On 12th Dec 2015, I have returned the problem unit to my retailer in Malaysia which was then sent to the distributor in overseas. I have no idea who the distributor is but I was told, it has been sent back to Sea&Sea in Japan. I have written an email to the retailer in Malaysia describing my experience with the problematic strobe which was then forwarded to the ditributor and Sea&Sea. I have indicated I do not want a Repair unit as it was brand new when I used them. As at today 5th Jan, 2016, I have no new information or updates despite following up.

 

On the positive note, while i had the 10 to 15 times of usage, I must agree the beep sound to re confirm that my strobes were ready to fire again are very useful. The lighted up indicator and knobs are one of the plus point too. Its just the reliability that kills the overall experience of this new YS D2.

 

Does anyone else have similar problem? I will update on the progress of YS D2 which has been returned to the retailer.

 

 

 

 

[tangfish 7]

Sorry to hear that you had this problem and on a trip to Raja Ampat of all times.

 

Please let us know what ends up happening.

[frogfish 5]

Dovechoko,

 

I'm also very sorry to hear you have experienced these problems, and hope you were still able to get some good shots using one strobe. Please do let us know whether and how this was resolved. I was about to purchase a pair of the new Sea & Sea YS-D2 strobes, but I've decided to hold off until we learn more about the problem you experienced and how things worked out.

 

Robert

[dovechoco 1]

Dovechoko,

 

I'm also very sorry to hear you have experienced these problems, and hope you were still able to get some good shots using one strobe. Please do let us know whether and how this was resolved. I was about to purchase a pair of the new Sea & Sea YS-D2 strobes, but I've decided to hold off until we learn more about the problem you experienced and how things worked out.

 

Robert

 

Frogfish,

I was lucky to also bring a pair of YS D1 with me for my Raja Ampat trip and I did not encounter any problems

 

It has been 1.5 months now since I handed over my strobe to my retailer in Malaysia. I have written to Sea&Sea in USA for contacts in Japan whom I can communicate. I have written 2 emails to Sea&Sea Japan but none of them were answered.

 

On 18th Jan 2016, I have received watsapps message from my retailer in Malaysia that there is still no updates on my strobe.

 

Does anyone else know who I should be contacting in Sea&Sea Japan?

 

It is extremely frustrusting especially when the strobe is brand new, no fault of mine.

[frogfish 5]

Hi Dovechoko,

 

Any news yet on the problem with your YS-D2s? Or about getting the malfunctioning new strobe repaired?

 

I fried my YS-D1s in December (I still don't want to talk about it), so I'm interested in replacing them with YS-D2s instead of just getting the YS-D1s repaired. But your experience is a serious concern. I don't know anybody with Sea&Sea Japan, but I plan to visit Andrew Yeo, the Sea & Sea distributor in Singapore when I am there next week.

 

Robert

[tangfish 7]

Robert, sorry to say but the D2 is just as prone to frying from successive shots and overheating (I assume this is the problem you had) as the D1 is.

 

They did not address this limitation of the strobe in the redesign to the D2. For now the same holds true that when shooting in warm water you simply have to let the strobe cool down after a number of successive shots at or near full strength. (It explains this in the manual, which most people don't read)

 

Not so convenient when you find a manta and a whaleshark in the same bait ball I must say!

[dovechoco 1]

Hi Dovechoko,

 

Any news yet on the problem with your YS-D2s? Or about getting the malfunctioning new strobe repaired?

 

I fried my YS-D1s in December (I still don't want to talk about it), so I'm interested in replacing them with YS-D2s instead of just getting the YS-D1s repaired. But your experience is a serious concern. I don't know anybody with Sea&Sea Japan, but I plan to visit Andrew Yeo, the Sea & Sea distributor in Singapore when I am there next week.

 

Robert

 

Hello Robert,

It has been 3 months now since I have retuned my unit. No news from my retailer when i visited his outlet 6th March 2016 BUT he did mention, 3 more units of YS D2 has been returned due to faulty issues. He did not exactly mention what is the issue as it has to be tested by Sea & Sea company themselves.

[custom 4]

 

Hello Dovechoco,

That is a bummer no doubt. In answer to your question-yes. I owned 3-D1's. I made sure before purchase that they were the "good batch" that had the blinking low battery lights issue resolved . However, I still had that issue with 2 (sent back for reprogramming circuitry). The other issue, which was more serious was 2 had the flashtubes explode. Those repairs took 3 months each and not covered under warranty. They were 15 months old. That of course was utter nonsense to me. I have been doing u/w photography for 25 years and used Seacam/Nikonos/Inon/Ikelite/and other Sea&Sea strobes-NEVER had a blown flashtube. 1. I do this for a fun hobby/non commercially or professionally used (not heavily used). 2. No lithium Ion batteries were used. Eneloop NiMh 2400. 3. At the time I was using fiber optic cables in cool water (ttl,so rapid fire wasn't possible because of my setup) meaning no cables on high power, out of water, in rapid fire for extended periods(who does that). Had them repaired/ sold then replaced them with the new and improved D2's. Love the new features/size/power. However, I am glad I have 3. Just returned 5 days ago from a 10 day live aboard in the Solomon Islands. I had my seldom used 3rd strobe set up on tripod in sand with a snoot. After about 15 shots-flashtube EXPLODED. The strobe was on 3/4 power over a 10 minute time frame. Totally unacceptable, no excuses other than fix the problem (obviously did not resolve issue from D1's). They are still only 9 months old, so waiting to hear from Sea&Sea (last week sent photos plus). I am sure it will be the typical 3 months plus repair, which is really poor business. FWIW Cheers, Wayne

[tangfish 7]

I've had the exact same thing as Custom happen to my D1s. The flash tube design shortcoming/flaw was not addressed in the D2, which is why I did not upgrade to them. SEA&SEA's explanation to me was [paraphrasing] "we are very sorry but this can happen because the flash tubes are those taken from conventional land based flash units and simply housed in an underwater housing (sealed, traps heat) - we do not have the resources to design from the ground up a flash tube assembly just for this strobe". They told me not to fire them 10 times at high setting 'in a row' and that if I did I had to wait 10 minutes for them to cool down. It does indeed say this in the manual of both the D1 and the D2. However, when I asked them "ok, what about 12 shots at 80% strength - what's the cool down time there?" they said they couldn't answer and to just use my best judgment in not rapid firing them like I must have to burn them out.

 

I never had this problem with the YS-250PROs and I'm really hoping they come out with a redesigned successor to those or that they address this shortcoming in the next iteration of the D2. An underwater strobe should simply not overheat from usage or rapid fire (running out of juice is understandable). At least that's what I think as someone who has come across a baby whaleshark and a completely white manta on the same dive :)

[dovechoco 1]

Just an update on my YS D2 situation. I am dovechoco who initially highligted this. No idea why wetpixel lable me as "Guest"

 

After so much of running around, trying to figure what has happened to my 1st unit of YS D2. It was suppose to be in Taiwan distributor who in turn was suppose to send back to Japan Sea &Sea. I couldnt find any means to contact Sea & Sea Japan. I had to voice out my frustration on their Sea&Sea Japanese FB . And true enough, someone from Sea& Sea Japan replied me feeling very apologetic via their FB and later we communicated via email. My 1st unit of YS D2 was never return to Japan Sea &Sea. They have no records of it.

 

I then instructed my retailer in Malaysia to return my 1st unit YS D2 which was sitting in Taiwan Distributor.

 

While waiting for my 1st unit to be returned from Taiwan, I checked on my 2nd unit of YS D2 as it was previously working. To my dismay, i couldnt even switch it on!!! i never leave any batteries in there and it was packed in a hardcase when I transport my gears around.

 

So, both my unit of YS D2 died and they were only 3 dives old. Not 3 trips. But 3 dives!!!

 

I then sent both units of YSD2 back to Sea & Sea Japan. I finally got 2 new replacements on 3rd May 2016. 6 months later from my initial complaint. Its better late then never.

 

1st unit:

My complaints - Will fire initially in the water and land. but will not fire at 15m-20 m in the water. blicking lights appear or will not turn on at all. Will fire again when tested on land

Findings from Sea & Sea Japan - Cant find anything wrong with it. It fires at 15 to 20 meters using their pressure chamber.

 

2nd Unit:

My Complaint - cant switch on at all. It was working in Dec 2016 when i last dove with it. only 3 dives.

Findings from Sea&Sea Japan -Quote: "few parts were defective, whole main circuit board has become broken. (This is not rare according to them.)"

 

Needless to say, the moment i received my new replacement, i sold it away quickly. I cannot afford to take risk and lug potential 2 pieces of lemon with me on my diving trips. Diving trips are not cheap.

Edited May 8, 2016 by dovechoco

[mdetter 0]

Hello Dovechoco,

That is a bummer no doubt. In answer to your question-yes. I owned 3-D1's. I made sure before purchase that they were the "good batch" that had the blinking low battery lights issue resolved . However, I still had that issue with 2 (sent back for reprogramming circuitry). The other issue, which was more serious was 2 had the flashtubes explode. Those repairs took 3 months each and not covered under warranty. They were 15 months old. That of course was utter nonsense to me. I have been doing u/w photography for 25 years and used Seacam/Nikonos/Inon/Ikelite/and other Sea&Sea strobes-NEVER had a blown flashtube. 1. I do this for a fun hobby/non commercially or professionally used (not heavily used). 2. No lithium Ion batteries were used. Eneloop NiMh 2400. 3. At the time I was using fiber optic cables in cool water (ttl,so rapid fire wasn't possible because of my setup) meaning no cables on high power, out of water, in rapid fire for extended periods(who does that). Had them repaired/ sold then replaced them with the new and improved D2's. Love the new features/size/power. However, I am glad I have 3. Just returned 5 days ago from a 10 day live aboard in the Solomon Islands. I had my seldom used 3rd strobe set up on tripod in sand with a snoot. After about 15 shots-flashtube EXPLODED. The strobe was on 3/4 power over a 10 minute time frame. Totally unacceptable, no excuses other than fix the problem (obviously did not resolve issue from D1's). They are still only 9 months old, so waiting to hear from Sea&Sea (last week sent photos plus). I am sure it will be the typical 3 months plus repair, which is really poor business. FWIW Cheers, Wayne

I recently had a very similar problem with both of my D1's in Truk in June. Both flash tubes exploded on my first dive of the trip. I was using envelop pro batteries. My D800 was set to aperture priority with TTL for the strobes. I shot about 20-25 pictures over 15 minutes before the first strobe failed with a clear popping sound. The flash tube shattered internally. The second strobe did this within the next 5 minutes. I have used these strobes on almost 100 dives before this trip, although I usually use all manual exposure. I heard it may be a battery issue but I have been using the same 1.2v 2450 mAh eneloop pro batteries for over a year and 5 previous trips. Bummer,

[chris.pienaar3@gmail.com 1]

My D2 was operating haphazardly with no output control after about 18 dives. Was replaced under warranty, took several months from South Africa to Japan and back.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Fruitographer 3]

I have a single YS-D2 strobe and experienced issues with power when I first bought it. Occasionally I would put fresh batteries in it and do a test fire on land, as soon as I got in the water it wouldn't turn off and act like the batteries were dead. I would put another set of fresh batteries in and it would work fine. It was very inconsistent with it's behavior but it always seem to come down to a power issue.

 

I'm excellent at troubleshooting automotive electrical issues and have done extensive amounts of custom wiring for computer networks so I feel very comfortable trying to figure what was wrong. My first step was to check the electrical connections to see if something was causing intermittent power loss. At first everything looked great and all connections were clean. When it happened again I double checked the battery terminal. There was a slight coating of something on one of the terminals that you could barely see. It was darker in color and only looked like a smudge that would never be enough to cause a problem. I cleaned it off and brought it back to fresh clean metal and haven't had a problem since.

 

So If you're having a problem with your strobe, try cleaning the battery contacts and get them down to fresh clean metal. It worked for me so hopefully it will help some one else as well.

[Captain Jack 0]

Sea & Sea YS-D2 Strobe Problem

Problem

I have been using a pair of YS-D2 strobes for 7 months and have done about 90 dives with my set up. In this time, I have returned both strobes to have the flash tube replaced which suggests a serious problem with over heating. Here are the possible causes of overheating:

• Taking a rapid burst of photos. The dealer recommend I buy a TTL converter so that I never miss an important shot. This appears to be incompatible with the overheating problem so I definitely recommend not using a TTL converter with the YS-D2 strobe.
• Diving in warm water
• Using a high power setting. To reduce the power either use a higher aperture, ISO or faster shutter speed, which will affect your creativity underwater!

The first batch of YS-D2 strobes had a reputation for overheating. Either I have a pair from this batch, or the problem hasn’t been rectified?

Warranty

Be aware that Sea & Sea do not include the flash tube within the product warranty which suggests that this is a big problem with the YS-D2 strobe! The 1st time this happened, I had to complain strongly to my vendor to get the flash tube replaced under warranty. I’m waiting to see what happens the 2nd time but hopefully they will honour the warranty as its only 7 months since I purchased the strobes. The cost of replacing the flash tube out of warranty is over $200 so I’m inclined to buy a different brand of strobe should this happen rather than repair the YS-D2.

Recommendation

My recommendation is to avoid buying the YS-D2 strobe! Sea & Sea need to rectify the problem and include the flash tube within their warranty.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Captain Jack

[maelstrom 0]

I bought a pair of YS-D2 strobes 2 years ago. Although my Inon z-240 strobes had a long and dependable life the sales rep really pushed me to try the YS-D2s. I have been working in North Dakota for the last 2 year and diving very little. The strobes had less than 25 dives, with no rapid fire use when one just died. Of course, the warrantee has expired.

 

There are no parts to repair this strobe in the USA, and it has to be shipped back to Japan. The final cost will be almost the price of a new one.

 

After reading about these other issues, it is apparent that this is an incredibly poor product. The company's customer support is simply abysmal. I will NEVER buy another Sea & Sea product.

[kerimos 0]

Two years ago when I searched the net for a "Sea and sea ysd2 strobe problems" topic, what I found was minor production complaints. Now there are many topics on this subject.

 

In my case, I purchased 2 new YSD2 strobes and on the first dives they seemed to work ok. They are connected with fiber optic cables to my Nexus housing, and working on a Nikon d800. After a while I realized that the output of the strobes were not the same. I changed the batteries ( the problem could not be the batteries since the strobe would not fire if there wasn't enough power), I switched the fiber optic cables (the problem could not be the cables since the strobe would not fire if it was not triggered by the camera). Nothing has changed. The funny thing was that the strobes looked perfect , they both fired but the outputs were not the same.

 

I took them back to the local distributor here in Turkey, they checked the strobes, both above and under water on a sea and sea housing, with their own cables but they were not able to see the problem. I kept on insisting, and show them my photos . What they did was they lend me one of their own flashes to be used on my next trip to Los Jardenias de la Reina - Cuba.

 

With five (3 seanadsea ysd2 and 2 inon z240) flashes I went to Cuba. Nothing has changed, neither mine nor their extra flash had the same output. Since I have two housings I had to use the only working strobe to save the trip. On my last day when I was packing the strobes I took the diffuser off the working strobe, I was shocked - since there were black and gray smoke residue inside the strobe but the strobe was working fine. It was not flooded nor over used the flash tube simply produced smoke. When I checked my second strobe which did not have the same output as the first one, the tube was ok, but the temporary strobe given by the distributor had the same burn marks. Just like the attached photo I found on the internet.

 

My conclusion :

 

1-some of the Sea and Sea ysd2 strobes has problems with their flash tubes although they fire.

2-one of my flashes had an electronic board/circuit problem that stopped it from firing with the desired or calculated output.

 

What happened next : I took the flashes back to the distributor, they saw and realized the problems , and they sent the flashes back to Japan with a very long letter explaining Sea and Sea what I ve been thru. After 2 months of waiting they replaced my strobes with new ones ,but this time they are yellow (not black). Probably S&S has been aware of the matter and started to ship newly produced strobes and mine are from the new batch.

 

I am very pleased and happy with the Turkish distributor's service but I am done with Sea and Sea.

Edited September 16, 2017 by kerimos

[hellhole 21]

This week they release made in Japan ys-d2. I believe the price is higher... For them I really hope they have no problem with these made in Japan one as confident of the brand has wand quite a bit with their made in China ys-d2.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

[Architeuthis 155]

Is there a Sea&Sea dealer/technician watching this tread?

 

Would indeed be very intersting to know whether Sea&Sea has fixed the problems with flashtube and/or electronics with the new "yellow" version of the D2 (I do not intend to find this out by myself via buying and using another Sea&Sea strobe, we already have three YS-D2 in the family, one of them burned out recently...).

 

Wolfgang

[maelstrom 0]

Sea&Sea should recall and replace EVERY ONE of their Chinese made strobes, free of charge. THey will have no credibility or business from me until and unless they do.

[hellhole 21]

Sea&Sea should recall and replace EVERY ONE of their Chinese made strobes, free of charge. THey will have no credibility or business from me until and unless they do.

Good luck on that rant...

[ianmarsh 37]

Agree with all of the above

 

I purchased two YS-D2 strobes three months ago for a big upcoming trip. I am very apprehensive about even taking them... way to go Sea And Sea. What was I thinking?

 

Now they release a new version that is actually supposed to work properly. I agree. There should be a recall on all Black Sea and Sea YS-D2 and replace them with the new version, no questions asked.

 

I am toying with the idea of taking my old Nikonos SB-105 instead. I KNOW they work.

 

ian

[maelstrom 0]

I have a trip coming up as well, but my one working(so far) YS-D2 is not going. The problem is that Inon is no longer making the equivalent z-240. This should be a golden opportunity for Retra to break into the market, but they are not shipping yet. I decided to have my old Inon 240-zs refurbished. They are over 10 years old with more than 1000 trouble free dives on them. They have lost some power, which was the reason I am replacing them, but some power is better than none. Backscatter tells me they should work like new after the refurbishment.

Edited October 5, 2017 by maelstrom

[tangfish 7]

I bought a pair of Z-240s in a panic midway through a dive trip during which my Sea&Sea strobes failed. I’ve got to say, though they aren’t quite as bright at max power they have been rock solid dependable thus far.

[DavidAg 0]

Suffered lots of angst after one my YS-D2J strobes flooded... just before a trip to Egypt. Ater a thorough cleanup of the battery compartment, I was still getting issues with powering it up. 

Solution: €0.01c worth of aluminium foil at each battery touchpoint to ensure better contacts. Voila!