Some more Info on the Sea&Sea YSD1

[holzstock]

Jak, I have a similar issue. My D1 is from June or July this year. And it also starts flashing green/red and does nothing else. First I thought I've used empty NiMH's, but this time I used fresh charged ones (Eneloop XXX). Is your case with S&S finished? If yes, how did it end?

BR
Zelko

 

[margmarg]

I've been using my YSD1's since June. So far haven't had any consistent battery problems though a few times I did get the flashing issue but a battery swap fixed it. As it's usually between dives never had time to check what state the batteries were in.

One issue I have had is with TTL sometimes lagging and I get the shutter coming up in the bottom of the photo. This is using a D7000 and optical etc... and I only really used TTL on one trip doing macro so mostly small apertures. I tried setting flash sync down to 1/250 and sometimes the problem would still occur, though if lower towards 1/160 never really had issue.

Lent strobes to someone else who is more familiar with flash/TTL issues in general and they experienced similar problem in multiple trips. They actually ordered their own set and when they tried their own they have yet to have the same problem with shutter coming up into bottom.

Anyone else experience similar issue? Wondering if I have a defective set that is a bit slower to output TTL than it should but have yet to have the opportunity to test a "working" set vs my own and see if the issue is specific to my strobes (ie if I take same exposure/under same lighting conditions with a set and it doesnt happen on other set then my set is faulty...)

Anyone else have similar issues here?

 

[Jak Crow]

Jak, I have a similar issue. My D1 is from June or July this year. And it also starts flashing green/red and does nothing else. First I thought I've used empty NiMH's, but this time I used fresh charged ones (Eneloop XXX). Is your case with S&S finished? If yes, how did it end?

BR
Zelko

My case is still not finished. I'm waiting on American Express to okay the refund at this point.

 

[jlyle]

I took two, new YS D1 strobes to Mexico in August. One of the strobes was hinky - not firing in TTL, flashing with new batteries, etc. I returned the defective unit to the store I bought it from and just got a replacement strobe from Sea and Sea. The new strobe appears to work properly; I'll take it in the water this w/e for a workout.

 

[Xarifa]

I ordered a YS-D1 with my new OM-D (yeah!!), but in my testing, it is not performing correctly.


There is an addendum sheet of paper slipped into the box, that is to be added to the user guide, that says "If the product emits the FULL emission of light in more thant 20 continous bursts, an internal protective circuit will be activated to prevent the reflector in the strobe from overheating, and the strobe will be placed in standby mode (with the Ready/TTL lamp lights out)...If this occurs, allow this product to cool naturally for at least ten minutes.

Is this expected performance from a $700 piece of equipment?


What happened to me was that in test shooting (on land), i took 18 test shots, over a 32-minute period, on 1/4 to 1/2 power (not continuous, and not full power, because I rarely shoot full power ) (I was testing the whole kit, not just the strobe).


On the 18th shot, the strobe did not fire. The indicator light blinked red and green (which indicates spent batteries).

I powered everything down to let it sit. The batteries tested out fine.


Is this part of the 'bum batch' I had read about? (The vendor recommended this strobe, and indicated there were no problems now).

I am requesting to return it, but not sure what to replace it with -- if I should try another one, or go with an Inon?

Any feedback on this happening recently?







---------- Post Merged at 07:56 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:51 AM ----------

PS -- I was shooting outside in 50 degree rain (and I assume the strobe is designed to work in 80 degree water?)

 

[Jak Crow]

Sounds like the same problem I had with one of mine. Since you're already returning it, I would see if the shop you bought it from can get one from a "good batch". I would also start putting pressure on sea&sea to figure out what's going on. I would recommend anyone having this same problem to call sea&sea U.S. office at 800-482-2282 and ask to speak with Christian or John about this.

As far as my own issues; after talking to John, who if I understand correctly, is the president of sea&sea U.S., and explaining the 4 replacements I've gone thru and the flooding of the most recent that was not my fault, and how it was sea&sea that needed to gain my trust at this point, he agreed to replace the flooded unit with a new one without charge. I just received the replacement this weekend so I haven't used it yet.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

PS -- I was shooting outside in 50 degree rain (and I assume the strobe is designed to work in 80 degree water?)

these are underwater strobes, 50 deg rain is still mostly 50 deg air. Water conducts heat away 20x better than air. Thus if the strobe was heating to 110 deg, the water is still dissipating the strobe's heat 10x better than in 50 air.

 

[Xarifa]

Thanks Lwang, I appreciate the insight.

As an update, I returned my strobe, and Backscatter responded with "We have confirmed with Sea & Sea that your strobe is within the serial number range of those effected by a firmware issue. We are sending you a replacement strobe that has updated firmware. You should see no further issues.. "


So that works for me. It looks like the issue is being officially recognized by Sea and Sea, because Wednesday 10/24, I received an email directly from the manufacturer, so others having similar issues now have a direct solution and can check their model serial number:

Dear valued customer,

We are sending you this notice because you purchased one of Sea & Sea's new YS-D1 strobes through Backscatter. We have recently learned that some units of these strobes have been affected by a bug that causes the strobe to indicate batteries are dead before they actually are. Sometimes this occurs after a very limited number of flashes by the strobe.
The Service Department at Sea & Sea has made available a firmware revision for the YS-D1 digital strobe that updates the low battery level indicator functionality to resolve this issue.

Sea & Sea will handle this service directly, and will provide you with a shipping label to send in your strobe(s) to Sea & Sea's headquarters in Long Beach, CA. Please do not send your strobe(s) to Backscatter as we are unable to perform the firmware upgrade.

The serial number range affected by this issue includes:
All units below 104102102 and between 104102251 – 104102552.

You can find the serial number by removing the rear cap from the strobe, and looking inside the battery compartment with the batteries removed. If your YS-D1 digital strobe(s) is in the affected serial number range, please contact Sea & Sea at 800-482-2282 or seaandsea@tusa.com to obtain a Return Authorization and shipping label. Download this Product Notice for further information.

 

[ivakdiver]

I purchased one of these strobes a while ago but have been unable to get it 'wet' till a few days ago. It worked fine with none of the problems others have encountered. It does, however, have a serial number that is listed as needing the firmware upgrade. Guess I'll need to send it as I don't want to be caught with a malfunctioning strobe on a trip. Can anyone explain what is meant by a firmware revision?

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

So has S&S finally gotten to the bottom of the problem? If we purchase strobes with serial numbers higher than 2552 can we be confident of reliable operation?