Sea & Sea 110a mirrored parts gone!

[Ardy]

I seem to be in the middle of 'Fateful February' - Having flooded my inon Z240 and had several other expensive gear problems on my trip to Bali I figured it was all behind me.

Wrong!

Thought I would do a reset up of my camera and SnS 110a and test it out. Took the 110a diffuser off and nearly had a heart attack as I noticed the mirroring was missing in several parts. I thought it too might have flooded!

It seems to be working OK but has anyone else noticed this?

Is it normal or have I had a flood?

 

[KeithG]

Not normal. Open it up and check!

But first do a sanity check. What do you mean by "several parts"? The YS110 has 3 tubes. You only need to be worried about the mirroring behind each of the tubes. Ignore the flat surface surrounding the focus light. That is just for show.

S&S strobes are simple to dis-assemble and re-assemble. They all have the same basic 2 piece shell design with the gubbins attached to the back half. There are 3 philips head screws that hold the 2 halves together. The screws are hidden under those 3 "mantis eye" patches that straddle the front and back half. Peel the patches off with your finger nail. Or a small pointy object. Remove the 3 screws and pull the front off. Inspect internals for signs of water damage. Re-assemble in reverse.

Resist the urge to touch the innards with your tongue as the capacitor may still be holding a very dangerous amount of energy. Maybe have your divebuddy touch it (but only if your insurance premiums are paid up). Using the cat is verboten.

 

[bvanant]

I have a couple of cats that I might volunteer. Seriously if you don't have some idea of what you are doing be VERY careful, a charged capacitor is not something for the uninitiated to be playing with.
Bill

 

[Ardy]

Thanks guys it is on the flat parts and not behind the flash tubes. I think I will leave it alone as my instincts of how to deal with these problems is not too smart at the moment!

 

[KeithG]

Thanks guys it is on the flat parts and not behind the flash tubes. I think I will leave it alone as my instincts of how to deal with these problems is not too smart at the moment!

Are they conductive? (I have no clue.) If not then no worries.

Conductive crap lodging near the tube electrodes could be bad. Or they may just burn up?

If the silver flakes are all falling down to the bottom of the strobe, you should be fine. If you are flopping the strobes about randomly (like during travel to your next splash) then some of the detritus may get lodged in not nice places around the tube electrodes.

Several choices:
1) open the strobes & clean (vacuum?) the crap out of the front, do not touch (or lick, or get a cat to touch or lick) the gubbins!
2) Ostrich! (stick your head in the sand & ignore it - do Ostriches really do this?)
3) test the worst case world - point the strobe upwards, shake it around to get the flakes down by the tubes, fire it off a lot, then shake it some more and fire it some more. Better to learn this at home.

Option #3 reminds me of a car episode I had (many) years ago with my dive buddy. We had just started dating and her car was a little wonky. She has taken it to a local garage and it was pronounced "iffy". Being the farm boy mechanical expert, she deferred to me. We got it out on a highway & I told her to put her foot to the floor. It lasted about 20 seconds. Threw a rod. Oil everywhere. Not "iffy" anymore. Problem solved. For some strange reason she still takes me on dive trips.

Cheers...

P.S. Post the strobe to me, you will feel way better! Zen awaits.

 

[Ardy]

Giffenk: There is no Zen in this. If you are suggesting 'just do it' (great Zen quote stolen by Nike) then I am not evolved enough to step into that stream of consciousness.

Think I will just live with my flaky flash as I can't see any floaty bits!