Is Intova ISS 4000 discontinued?

[ChimarraoMate]

I found this strobe and am very interested in buying it. It looks like some places still have stock, but most are out of stock. The reviews I read online are also a mixed bag, but I saw that you may have had a production issue with a batch at some point. There are really not that many reviews, but I am assuming you have sold a ton of these? Anyway, if I buy two of these, they will be my first strobe package for a 4/3 SLR setup. What is the story on these, can you fill me in? It seems like too good of a product, for the price, to get cut, unless it wasn't?

 

[IntovaJoe]

Hello ChimarraoMate,
We did have a production issue with ISS 4000 and had a lot of leakage issues. As our point and shoot business has evolved into POV cameras, we have streamlined our offering and discontinued strobes. This is a good one and you should enjoy it.
Best Regards,
Joe Ganahl

 

[ChimarraoMate]

Hello ChimarraoMate,
We did have a production issue with ISS 4000 and had a lot of leakage issues. As our point and shoot business has evolved into POV cameras, we have streamlined our offering and discontinued strobes. This is a good one and you should enjoy it.
Best Regards,
Joe Ganahl

First off, I really appreciate the candor here in this forum. Intova seems like an honest business, as I have reviewed your responses in this thread. May I ask, how did the Intova stand by these "production issues" when they occured? Was there any kind of a recall or special repair performed to standby the defect? Is there a group of serial numbers impacted that I would want to steer clear of?

 

[ChimarraoMate]

I called your Intova team and they were very helpful and informative. I went ahead and picked up two ISS 4000 strobes from my dive shop at Sport Chalet. They are being shipped to me from their on-line warehouse which still has stock they are trying to clear out. I also picked up a Double Handled Base Tray, a Stay Slim, some Flex Arms, and a few Fiber Optic Cables. So far so good. I like the way you do the end plugs on the cable with the little allen wrench screws to swap in and out heads. I am really hoping I do not get the 4000 strobes from your defective batch, but I have time to test them out, and if they are defective I think the 2000 with filters are acceptable replacements, given the low cost.

Question 1:
Will you tell me whom to contact about getting o-ring/parts replacements kits for these strobes? Also, since I'll be using them with my Olympus PT-EP10 and Olympus PT-EP06 housings, I am looking to get two more fiber optic plug heads that have the o-rings to make it compatible with housings.

Question 2:
One last question, if I do get defective units, and end up having them replaced with the 2000 stobes, I assume I will want to hold onto the velcro head side of the fiber-optic cable to use with the 2000s? From what I could tell in a few on-line videos, it looks like that is what is used with the 2000 strobes.