SL960D not firing under water

[parzdiver]

I have a SL960D strobe which I am using with a Canon SD750 camera in a Canon WP-DC14 housing.

I am not able to get the strobe to fire properly underwater and it is probably because I am rigging the fiber cable to get the camera flash. Essentially, I used black tape to tape the end of the fiber to the diffuser, right in front of the flash. On the surface, the strobe will fire every time. Problem is, the strobe essentially doesn't fire 90% of the time under water.

What is the best way to attach the strobe to make it fire? Or am I missing something else completely?

Thanks for any assistance!

 

[SeaLife Joe]

parzdiver,

Could you send me a couple of pics of how you have this set up so I csn get a better look.

Thanks

 

[parzdiver]

parzdiver,

Could you send me a couple of pics of how you have this set up so I csn get a better look.

Thanks

It is a bit apart right now, but went I get a chance I will show you how I had it configured.

 

[parzdiver]

I hope these pictures help.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[MarineResearch]

I hate to ask the obvious, but is the camera set on "automatic flash"?

 

[sladerer]

I've found the fiber optic flash link on the SeaLife strobes very particular. Based on the pics, I'd say
you have too much fiber exposed - try leaving just an 1/8th to a 3/16th of an inch of fiber showing.
You may also want to experiment with optimal positioning of the end of the fiber in relation to the flash,
and make sure there a no nicks on the exposed piece of fiber.

 

[parzdiver]

I hate to ask the obvious, but is the camera set on "automatic flash"?

The camera was set to flash on every shot. I did verify the camera flash was firing, but the strobe was not.

 

[parzdiver]

I've found the fiber optic flash link on the SeaLife strobes very particular. Based on the pics, I'd say
you have too much fiber exposed - try leaving just an 1/8th to a 3/16th of an inch of fiber showing.
You may also want to experiment with optimal positioning of the end of the fiber in relation to the flash,
and make sure there a no nicks on the exposed piece of fiber.

The fiber came to me cut as it is.

One other thing I will try is taping the fiber directly to the housing. One concern is the positioning of the fiber - does the fiber need to be positioned such that the light is hitting the very end of the cable or can it hit the exposed portion on the "side?"

The other concern I have is it would limit my ability to disconnect the housing from the strobe.

 

[sladerer]

Since I have my strobe/flashlink connected to a SeaLife camera, I can only give you a sense
of how the "official" setup looks. The fiber runs through the mount such that the end of the
cut is facing the flash - I don't believe that it will work if it is hitting the "side" of the fiber. My
1" deep knowledge of the physics of the fiber supports this supposition.

In addition to the cut end facing the flash, the SeaLife setup brings the fiber to the flash off-center.
Not sure if this is important, but it sits about 1/3 in from the left side of the flash (looking at
the front of the camera) and in the middle of the flash vertically.

Finally, if you have a enough excess, I'd try clipping it and then strip off about 1/5" of the
sleeve making sure not to nick the fiber during the stripping process. Any nick could potentially
cause an interruption of the light moving along the fiber.

 

[SeaLife Joe]

Parzdiver,

Sorry but the fiber optic cable is not set up correctly at the camera end. With the flash there should have been a half dome piece with a clear ring of velcro. The fiber optic cable need to be inserted into that and then this whole piece attached infront of the cameras flash. Do you have the half dome piece?

I am not in the office yet but when I get in, I will send some pics of how it should look like.

That is the problem with firing under water. We will also need to get you to cut the cable at that end so that none of the clear fiber is showing.

Will be in touch.