How to fix a broken Sea & Sea Fiber cable?

[kstokell 4]

One of my fiber cables between my EM-1 Nauticam housing and my YS-D2 strobe has broken :-(.

 

It is a Sea & Sea type cable and appears to have the connectors molded onto the ends of the fiber, I have tried to pull one end out of the connector but this does not seem to work, does anyone know a temporary way to fix this problem until I get some replacement cables shipped out from the US?

 

Also I'm a little disappointed as this cable is only nine months old and I bought the Sea & Sea version especially as I had been told it was more durable than the cheaper options, is this normal?

 

I've attached a photo to show where the cable has broken.

 

Thanks in advance,

Kevin

Edited January 9, 2017 by kstokell

[bnf-austin 4]

I got some of these connectors:

http://www.xit404.com/collections/fiber-mounts/products/fiber-optic-connector-inon-to-sea-sea-kit

And keep them with me for emergency field repair.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[blibecap 29]

You will have to heat up the end of the Fiber cable and straiten it out so it could fit in the socket. trim off the end flush with a sharp razor blade so it is a clean squared off cut. Take a small drill and drill out the old fiber optic from the end that is connected to the housing, the end with the o-ring on it. Drill all the way threw the top of the plug so that the fiber has a strait path. Insert the trimmed fiber-optic cable into the hole and secure it with adhesive, possibly super glue or epoxy.

 

Good luck with a temporary field fix.

 

Bill Libecap

Cincinnati, Ohio USA

[trimix125 73]

Hi,
make sure you are exact in the middle of the cap, specially the Sea & Sea strobes seem to need that...
My Conclusio from the ttl Trigger thread.

Regards and good luck,
Wolfgang

[Fofo 9]

Or if your Nauticam housing allows (it probably does, since I can do it in mine, although it's a different camera model), after cutting the end of the cable square with a very sharp blade you could insert it directly into the fiber optic cable holder.

 

My Nauticam housing has two large connectors for the ends of these cables, but in between those has two small holes that accept cables without connectors. You may need to push a little bit, but this is good, it holds it in place.

 

Good luck!

[kstokell 4]

Thanks Bill for this tip, but I afraid I will damage the plug and then I'll really be "up the creek with no paddle" as they say.

 

You will have to heat up the end of the Fiber cable and straiten it out so it could fit in the socket. trim off the end flush with a sharp razor blade so it is a clean squared off cut. Take a small drill and drill out the old fiber optic from the end that is connected to the housing, the end with the o-ring on it. Drill all the way threw the top of the plug so that the fiber has a strait path. Insert the trimmed fiber-optic cable into the hole and secure it with adhesive, possibly super glue or epoxy.

 

Good luck with a temporary field fix.

 

Bill Libecap

Cincinnati, Ohio USA

 

 

Also thanks to the other Bill, I will definitely get some of these for future emergencies, but as I live in Curacao, getting specialist parts is a real bummer, so for now I have to come up with a temporary solution.

I got some of these connectors:
http://www.xit404.com/collections/fiber-mounts/products/fiber-optic-connector-inon-to-sea-sea-kit
And keep them with me for emergency field repair.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

So for now I managed to find some plastic tubing which is a really tight fit over the fiber cable. I cut both ends of the fiber with a very sharp cutter, and then cut a small length of the tubing put a small incision in both ends and using WD40 as a lubricant pushed both fibers into the tubing until they met, finally I used super glue to seal both ends of the tubing. I've tested on the surface and it seems to work OK, tomorrow I will take it in the water and keep my fingers crossed that it keeps working!

 

Thanks again,

Kevin

[blibecap 29]

That looks like a good solution as long as you can get the light to transfer and keep the cables aligned. if you apply a little heat to the tubing it would be possible to straiten it out perfectly.

[RobertJ 0]

I just fixed my Cable the other night. It had broken right at the plug.

 

First I trimmed the ends to make sure none of the plastic coating would block the cable. Then I used black Heat-shrink tubing and cut 3 pieces of different lengths and slid them over the long part of the cable, starting with the shortest and ending with the longest as it is the first to be used. I took the longest piece and fit it over the plug end (in your case one of the wire ends), then used a small lighter to shrink the tubing to the plug. I then inserted the other end of the cable int he tubing until the two ends touched. I used the lighter to shrink the tubing onto the cable. Now that they were attached I tested them with the strobes to make sure everything was aligned correctly. Once happy I slide the next shortest piece of the heat-shrink tubing over the area of the break and secured it by shrinking. I then repeated the process with the last piece. These extra pieces were just to reinforce the broken area, as it was at the plug and thus an area where flexing can occur.

 

Took it on a Dive yesterday and it works great. I hope your fix works for you.

[Stoo 46]

A friend of mine busted a cable while we were in northern BC in a very remote area, last October. She trimmed the ends, then with a little assistance, she used a piece of electrical tape to attach the two ends. Once secure, she wrapped a second piece over the first and extended it further along the cables. Amazingly it held up for the rest of the week.

 

When I teach photo workshops, I have a "10 Commandments of UW Photography" sheet. #1 is "O-rings first, Beer second"... #5 is "Sync cables are the root of all evil. Thou shalt always travel with a spare..."

 

Just sayin'!

Edited January 23, 2017 by Stoo

[fleetkeeper 0]

I have the same camera/housing and my sea and sea fiber optic cable broke it the same place as yours. I assume it happened while handing up to boat crew. Discovered after dive when changing batteries in strobes.

Did you find out if they can be fixed? Or whether Nauticam cables are better than Sea and Sea?

[ChrisRoss 150]

The INON plugs/cables are quite good, their cables come fitted with these so you can disassemble the plug and remake the cable if needed. This is the L plug:

 

http://reefphoto.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=135_68_48&products_id=7892

 

they also have a straight plug you can buy.

[Kraken de Mabini 203]

The commercial Sea&Sea and similar fiber optic cables are fragile and way over priced.

One can make one's own cables with Toslink optical fiberoptic cable and Howshot or Inon ends.

 

The ends are sold by Divervision in Taiwan and the cable is sold by eBay:

 

http://www.divervision.com/howshot-dual-fiber-adapter-for-seasea-ys-strobes-fa-ss2.html

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Optical-Fiber-Optic-Toslink-Digital-Audio-Cable-3ft-6ft-12ft-25ft-50ft-gold-Lot/111191542789?hash=item19e3884c05:m:mzcULKIoUryYyITUJDuE57Q

 

The cable can be straightened or coiled by heating it in boiling water for two or so minutes, then straightening it. It can be coiled by first wrapping it around a rod and holding it with transparent tape or masking tape, then boiling it for a two or three minutes.

 

With 4 mm od Toslink cable I made my own strobe cables several years ago and have had no problems. The claims that one needs specially matched cable or braided cable are hogwash and superstition, made up.to justify extortionate, vastly inflated prices.

 

All the cable does is transmit one or several pulses of light of determined duration, and the Toslink cable is designed specifically to transmit the complex light signals of hi fi music. It does an excellent job of carrying the light signal from the camera to the strobe. Plus one saves a bundle of money and has a much tougher, reliable cable.

[davephdv 0]

Thanks Bill for this tip, but I afraid I will damage the plug and then I'll really be "up the creek with no paddle" as they say.

 

 

 

 

Also thanks to the other Bill, I will definitely get some of these for future emergencies, but as I live in Curacao, getting specialist parts is a real bummer, so for now I have to come up with a temporary solution.

 

 

 

So for now I managed to find some plastic tubing which is a really tight fit over the fiber cable. I cut both ends of the fiber with a very sharp cutter, and then cut a small length of the tubing put a small incision in both ends and using WD40 as a lubricant pushed both fibers into the tubing until they met, finally I used super glue to seal both ends of the tubing. I've tested on the surface and it seems to work OK, tomorrow I will take it in the water and keep my fingers crossed that it keeps working!

 

Thanks again,

KevinFiber_Fix1 (Large).jpgFiber_Fix2 (Large).jpg

 

I used duct tape. Worked for about 3 months until I got around to buying a new cable.