humidity Sea & Sea Ys-d1 issue

[Karim 3]

Dears 

I bought a ys-d1 strobe from Austria " used " , I went to the water the first dive of the day and everything went perfect , without changing the batteries I go for the second dive of  and suddenly the strobe started to fire on his own continuously very fast , so I plugged it off , and when I went out from the water, I checked  the battery compartment and it s dry , not even single drop , but I noticed that there is some  humidity inside the upper part of the strobe , and the target light is turned ON continuously,  and the red led is not ON at all , I get in contact again with the previous owner and he assured that he didn't face any issue before , and when I contacted sea&sea they said that either there is small cracks OR water leaking from the battery compartment " which is very strange for me because the battery compartment is sealed from the electronic part." 

SO i opened the strobe and I found inside the electronic part a humidity sac and for sure there r marks of fire explosion inside . 

I attached some pics where u will see the burned part of the humidity sac 

 

My question is

Do Sea&sea use humidity Sac inside their products ? 

Any solution ? 

Thank you 

Cheers

 

[ChrisRoss 150]

Unfortunately I think your strobe is likely beyond repair as the YS-D1 is pretty old now.  It looks to me like the transformer has burnt out.  I don't believe the strobe manufacturers leave desiccant packs in their strobes - it looks to me like someone has had the strobe open and added the pack.  You could ask around to see if there is a local repair facility - but even if they can repair the electronics the minor leaks are an issue and that may be related to the casing.  If it were me I would write it off and get another strobe.

[Kraken de Mabini 203]

 I have opened and disassembled several Sea & Sea YS-D1 strobes, and none had a dessicant pack. It looks like you were sold a leaky, defective strobe about to have a short circuit and failure. The seller knew this as he had reason, such as a leak, to open the strobe and add the dessicant pack.
You may consider asking the seller for a refund, and if that fails, you might ask Adam if the seller qualifies for the inclusion in the "definite scammers" list. 

[Karim 3]

On 5/13/2022 at 2:23 AM, ChrisRoss said:

Unfortunately I think your strobe is likely beyond repair as the YS-D1 is pretty old now.  It looks to me like the transformer has burnt out.  I don't believe the strobe manufacturers leave desiccant packs in their strobes - it looks to me like someone has had the strobe open and added the pack.  You could ask around to see if there is a local repair facility - but even if they can repair the electronics the minor leaks are an issue and that may be related to the casing.  If it were me I would write it off and get another strobe.

Thank you for the reply 

[Karim 3]

5 hours ago, Kraken de Mabini said:

 I have opened and disassembled several Sea & Sea YS-D1 strobes, and none had a dessicant pack. It looks like you were sold a leaky, defective strobe about to have a short circuit and failure. The seller knew this as he had reason, such as a leak, to open the strobe and add the dessicant pack.
You may consider asking the seller for a refund, and if that fails, you might ask Adam if the seller qualifies for the inclusion in the "definite scammers" list. 

That's a great input , I sent an email to Seaandsea with the case and I will face him with the evidence and I will ask for full refund otherwise I will report him as scammer everywhere

[DiveDude 1]

Hello,

I have a similar problem. One of my Sea&Sea YS-D1 flashes has moisture visible in the front of the housing (see pictures). The error looks similar to the one described here, the LED is glowing solid and the flash is not firing. The flash last worked fine in freshwater.

Hence the question: how can I open the flash if possible without destroying it? Is there a seal in there that I can check? Should I clean the board with alcohol?

It is most likely not worth repairing, so I would like to try it myself.

Greetings
DiveDude

[adamhanlon 0]

At the risk of sounding a little risk averse, unless you know exactly what is going on inside a strobe, my understanding is that they are quite dangerous to work on.

The capacitors generate and can hold a significant charge, which can damage you if you don't discharge it safely. 

Using alcohol on an item that generates a significant EM spark strikes me as being an explosive option!

However, I am sure there are lots of others on the forum that may be able to provide more relevant advice!

[DiveDude 1]

15 minutes ago, adamhanlon said:

At the risk of sounding a little risk averse, unless you know exactly what is going on inside a strobe, my understanding is that they are quite dangerous to work on.

The capacitors generate and can hold a significant charge, which can damage you if you don't discharge it safely. 

Using alcohol on an item that generates a significant EM spark strikes me as being an explosive option!

However, I am sure there are lots of others on the forum that may be able to provide more relevant advice!

Hi Adam,

I am completely aware of the risk you are highlighting. The flash has been in the drawer for over 6 months now, no batteries have been inserted since then. I had tried in the meantime to find a suitable service partner, unfortunately without success. The last chance is now to take it apart and test it. If this also fails, the flash will be disposed of properly.

Regards

DiveDude

[ChrisRoss 150]

56 minutes ago, DiveDude said:

Hi Adam,

I am completely aware of the risk you are highlighting. The flash has been in the drawer for over 6 months now, no batteries have been inserted since then. I had tried in the meantime to find a suitable service partner, unfortunately without success. The last chance is now to take it apart and test it. If this also fails, the flash will be disposed of properly.

Regards

DiveDude

The capacitor may still have a little charge and you should discharge it safely before proceeding or at least test it.

However taking the flash apart to repair seals should be possible.  A lot will depend on whether there is any corrosion on the circuits and you will need to source a new o-ring more than likely.  Just drying the circuit board may be enough if it is fresh water perhaps.  

I think there was a post on here a while back with links to a teardown of this or a similar strobe, but I can't find it now.  The problem is after you get it apart you need to find out which bit is broken.   The closest I found was a post here on a YS-D1 teardown - not the same strobe but perhaps the sealong arrangements are similar? 

[Kraken de Mabini 203]

A strobe that that has been working well and suddenly fails is a bad sad experience, What should one do?  Let us consider the situation.

The electronics for underwater strobes consist of two parts. One is the transformer and capacitor circuit to provide the high voltage needed to fire the xenon flash, and the second circuit evaluates the pre-flash bounce-back light and computes the TTL information so that the flash light gives a good photo.

The first circuit is a easy to inspect and repair. But the second is a set of highly complex; and very delicate circuits; for example with two micro-computer chips, plus dozens of tiny chips that break off easily. As such the electronics are non-repairable by us ordinary mortals.

When protected by the water-proof case, the electronics are reliable and last a long time, but water, particularly salt water, damages them.  What to do? My suggestion is disturb the electronics as little as possible, as they are complex and delicate. The one thing I would do is insert a desiccant pack, and maybe very gently blow some air on the electronics, then re seal the unit.  
I would blow air into the battery compartment to dry it out thoroughly, and then test the strobe.  If this does not work, then send the strobe to be fixed,  My guess is that a knowledgeable tech will just replace the electronics. But finding one to do so is not easy.

 Why is it so difficult to get a strobe fixed? Let us look at it from the strobe makers viewpoint. Why repair a $300 strobe if they can sell you a new one for $650 or $850 ?    
 

 

  

Edited August 5, 2022 by Kraken de Mabini

[DiveDude 1]

Thanks for your feedback 

To disassemble the flash I only need to remove the covers of the 3 screws and the screws themselves, correct? The transparent cover has cables attached, but that can be removed from the board with the connector.

Then carefully discharge capacitor, check circuit board and dry if necessary. Then a function test. If the circuit board(s) are damaged, especially the sophisticated circuit board with the microcontrollers for TTL logic, then the flash is probably a case for electronic waste.

Everything correctly summarized? Is there any information on the seal used, should it have a defect?

Thanks for your answers.

[Kraken de Mabini 203]

I would just unscrew and lift the front round cover, gently blow dry the insides, and reassemble.

I would not disconnect any wires, nor remove the circuit board, nor touch (discharge) the capacitor, just leave the electronics alone, they are very (!) delicate.   Good luck! 

[ChrisRoss 150]

6 hours ago, DiveDude said:

Thanks for your feedback 

To disassemble the flash I only need to remove the covers of the 3 screws and the screws themselves, correct? The transparent cover has cables attached, but that can be removed from the board with the connector.

Then carefully discharge capacitor, check circuit board and dry if necessary. Then a function test. If the circuit board(s) are damaged, especially the sophisticated circuit board with the microcontrollers for TTL logic, then the flash is probably a case for electronic waste.

Everything correctly summarized? Is there any information on the seal used, should it have a defect?

Thanks for your answers.

Apparently they are o-rings - if you are going to this trouble I'd suggest replacing them.  There is also an o-ring on the control shafts to seal them as far as I know.  It could be either that is giving you trouble.  Something has failed to let water in.  It won't be a bit of grit or a hair like with a housing o-ring seal.  The o-ring that is the problem has likely deteriorated.

[Kraken de Mabini 203]

As Chris notes: "Something has failed to let water in."  The most common fail point is the battery cap O ring, which when opened and closed on a daily basis is subjected to dirt, twisting and damage. 

If any other O ring has failed, to track it down involves taking apart the controls and opening the body shell. Once that is done, and assuming the water did no permanent damage, unless specially trained, one will need lots of skill and luck to put everything together again without damage.  Otherwise my crystal ball shows a replacement strobe.  

[DiveDude 1]

Hm, the battery cap including the O-ring is looking very good. I can't remember that I have ever found a single drop of water in the battery compartment. Also there is no obvious scratch or damage on the housing, probably it's the big O-Ring or, like ChrisRoss mentioned, one O-Ring of the controls.

Have any of you taken the knobs apart yet?

[roberto.formiga 16]

Hi Karim,

I'm coming from a trip where one of my YS-D1's flooded and bursted during the safety stop. After getting home I've opened it and the circuitry was badly damaged with signs of a really high short circuit current that burned SMD components and the PCB. Inside I've found the same silica gel package as show in your pictures. I've brought mine brand new, which means they were put there during manufacturing. In my case water came in from the electrical cable socket due to user error or a cable failure.