SnS-110a problems

[Vladimir_VRO]

Hello guys. I've faced with problem on firing my SnS-110a. I've been used it for around 1year. But now it doesn't fire. In TTL mode I see green lamp on the rear after shutter but see no fire from strobe. In both manual modes it also doesn't work. We have no dealer here in the Ukraine and also no service. But I'm familiar with electronics only question how disassembl it. Could some one give me short input on disassembling or may be some one could share service manual?

UPD:
1.I use fiber optic connection
2. I hear nose during power on (DC-DC converter seems to works)

 

[Larry C]

Have you changed batteries? It seems stupid, but on my YS-110, I was having a problem with not firing, even though the light was on. I tested the batteries and one of them was bad. Put new batteries in and it was fine. I use rechargeable batteries and sometimes even though the voltage is fine, they won't carry a load.

 

[Warmwater Wank]

If it won't fire via fiber optic could you test to see if it would fire by aiming the camera into the uncovered slave sensor socket on the 110A? If it fires and it's just a fiber optic connection you could deal w/ that easily. If it doesn't fire that way, make sure there are no obstructions (mud etc.) in the slave sensor socket and the camera is in force flash mode. You might bump it to full on-board flash output, just to make sure a pulse of light is reaching the strobe. Maybe you could find another fiber optic cord to test and at least have a spare if it proves not to be a problem?

You could also try firing via a wired synch cord, assuming you have a camera like a G-series w/ a hot shoe (and you can still unscrew the 110A's 5 pin port cap underneath the strobe!). Might not be easy to track down a wired synch cord where you are, so hopefully you don't have to go to that stage.

Knowing if it is in the slave sensor end or the strobe tube end would affect repair decisions. I wouldn't start dissassembling, especially if getting parts is an issue. Oh and Larry C. had a good notion about fresh batteries. I'd add to clean all the battery contact terminals real well. // ww

 

[BluewaterPhoto]

Double check the slave on/off button to make sure it is set to "on"... I've seen many cases where that button accidentally was pushed to the off position, and the strobe wouldn't fire. Good luck! - Scott

 

[Vladimir_VRO]

Thank you all. Some of your ideas was already covered. In TTL mode I see green lamp for 3 sec seems that slave sensor and fiber optic are fine (I've also checked fiber cable visually it is quite strong flash on the end of cable). Good point about batteries but it charged quite fast so it should be OK but I'll try. I've already opened it and see 330V on each HV capacitor so it looks like something with firing circuit.

 

[Vladimir_VRO]

Sad but true. My strobe has gone . Have no idea why it has been worked only around 1 year less than 30 dives. Service mans told me that high voltage part works fine but control board with microcontroller is dead.

 

[HollywoodiversImaging]

Very sorry to hear that. Have you checked with you dealer to see if it will be covered under warranty (if under one year old)?

 

[Vladimir_VRO]

There is no local dealer where I'm living. This strobe was bought in USA online store. In any case after I tried to repair it in local unauthorized service I've lost warranty (I've being hoped that fail was in high voltage parts when decided to fix it here). But most interesting is to know root cause of this FAIL. Could it be due to condensate inside of body (I used to dive in +6...+8 Celsius water when air +30)
I'm going to by something for replace and thinking about INON or S&S.