Is there a safety issue with Sea & Sea strobes?
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Recently, there are talks circulating in Hong Kong's diving community that there is a safety problem with Sea & Sea strobes, and a recall is being made. In order to clarify the situation, I called Widex Import & Export Limited, the sole agent for Sea & Sea in Hong Kong, for further details. The following report is based on information provided by Widex. The reported incidents It involved mainly two incidents being reported to Sea & Sea in writing. The first one involved battery cap popping off as it was being unscrewed and chipped a tooth of a camera technician. The second involved the rear portion of the strobe being separated from the front portion when the strobe was activated. In both incidents, the strobes have been flooded and left without any repair for some period. In addition to those two incidents, there are three or four incidents involving battery cap popping off being reported orally. All these incidents also involved continue use of the stobe after being flooded. None of these incidents involved any injuries. Cause of these incidents According to Sea & Sea, the cause of these incidents is due to gas accumuation in the battery chamber from wet batteries. Sea & Sea believes that those incidents can be avoided if the users had immediately stopped using their strobes after flooded. Newer models of Sea & Sea strobes are equipped with over-pressure release valve and are thus free from these problems. Sea & Sea believes that as over 70,000 strobes have been produced and shipped without the release value, the occurance of similar incidents is extremely rare. Sea & Sea to replace battery caps free of charge. Sea & Sea consider a recall is unnecessary, as the replacement of battery cap with release valve is sufficient. Widex will, on behalf of Sea & Sea, provide replacement caps free of charge to strobe owners who made such requests. Sea & Sea strobes that are affected and entitled to the new replacement caps are listed below:
For further details, please contact Mr. Billy W.C. Wong of Widex by e-mail or by phone at 2369-8318. Karl Lung
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