Brand new Backscatter HF-1 flooded

[icouldcarelessbutdont]

So, six dives into use and it's flooded, has anyone else had this issue? I hear the battery compartment is sealed, but don't have easy access to a manual and barely have service here in Curacao.

I imagine the batteries need to be replaced, but if the battery compartment is sealed, what is the recommended method of cleaning it?

For $1,000 I wouldn't expect a strobe light to fail so easily either. The o-rings are new, look new, have no knocks, scratches, or defects in them, and it was completely screwed on, so I'm absolutely confused and likely not able to have two lights here in Curacao as it seems no one sells anything beyond basic SCUBA equipment here.

Any advice is appreciated, delayed response from me is to be expected, cellular and Internet here is the pits. Thanks in advance.

 

[bvanant]

Take the batteries out they are gone. I would first rinse out all the crud with fresh water, then put some diet (or real) coke in the battery compartment. The phosphoric acid will dissolve most of the corroded stuff, then rinse a couple of times and then dry it out. Should power back up perfectly.
Bill

 

[icouldcarelessbutdont]

T

Take the batteries out they are gone. I would first rinse out all the crud with fresh water, then put some diet (or real) coke in the battery compartment. The phosphoric acid will dissolve most of the corroded stuff, then rinse a couple of times and then dry it out. Should power back up perfectly.
Bill

Thanks for this, but would this follow what Backscatter would advise as well? I mean, six dives, all factory installed components, sounds like they need to send me a new light and figure out what their issue is.

What I did notice just now, it donged on me, I looked at the o-rings on both, the one the flooded, the o-rings do not fill in the entire groove and are noticeably smaller (in terms of how thick the gaskets are) than the ones in the other light that didn't flood, I assume these are made in China and imagine quality control over components isn't watched over like a hawk by personnel from Backscatter, buts that is my assumption. I have worked in manufacturing where we did stuff in China and we had a dedicated team who would walk the factory floors to make sure they weren't trying to swap out anything we spec'd for some cheaper component they could increase their own margins on (which ultimately led us to pull from China and move to Czech Republic and things got way better). Once again, speculation, but why would I attempt a dive again with what has already flooded? Why also should I trust the replacement gaskets they sent as well?

What would you do? Also, know any place selling batteries for this in Curacao? Seems like photography equipment and specialized batteries here don't exist, like laws.

 

[TostitoBandito]

Do nothing to the light and contact the manufacturer. If they are reputable they should at the very least work with you to determine what happened, and may do a repair/replacement regardless of whose fault it was.

It's pointless to dry it out and throw new batteries in without first understanding exactly what failed and why. You'll just flood more gear. Could be something mechanical like an o-ring, a design/manufacturing issue, or it could be user error.

 

[davehicks]

The strobe came with a spare set of orings. Make use of them now after cleaning out the strobe battery compartment. Then order a new set of batteries and a spare set!

I had a similar minor battery compartment flood in an HF-1 and its still working good as new. I don't know what happened to it exactly, but i did have about 150-200 dives on it. I hav done dozens more since then with no issues.

 

[icouldcarelessbutdont]

Do nothing to the light and contact the manufacturer. If they are reputable they should at the very least work with you to determine what happened, and may do a repair/replacement regardless of whose fault it was.

It's pointless to dry it out and throw new batteries in without first understanding exactly what failed and why. You'll just flood more gear. Could be something mechanical like an o-ring, a design/manufacturing issue, or it could be user error.

The one thing about it, is this equipment is assembled with two of us validating each other and I'll give backscatter their dues, you can't possibly screw the cap on wrong and it directly bottoms out when you tighten it, so they seem to have worked out the issue with people (albeit I'm sure some have not screwed it on).

Have you dealt with Backscatter before? My experience with the SCUBA industry isn't very bright with a lot of manufacturers, most try to weasel out, especially when you're talking about a device with only six dives on it. I dunno, it's all hyper frustrating. Thanks for replying

 

[icouldcarelessbutdont]

The strobe came with a spare set of orings. Make use of them now after cleaning out the strobe battery compartment. Then order a new set of batteries and a spare set!

I had a similar minor battery compartment flood in an HF-1 and its still working good as new. I don't know what happened to it exactly, but i did have about 150-200 dives on it. I hav done dozens more since then with no issues.

I see, but that was after 150+ dives, totally acceptable, I would accept the fact I blew past 100 dives without maintenance. On all my gear, the ~100 dive limit is where we replace things like o-rings because they're cheap and equipment is expensive.l, and that is all my equipment, the only real exception sometimes is the Teric which we were told up to 200 dives can be totally normal before sending in for maintenance given how we clean our gear.

Since it seems you have experience with Backscatter, is the customer service good and have you dealt with an early failure like this before? Would you say this is a brand worth investing money in for future purchases?

 

[arew+4]

I feel your pain, first dive with a new system on Curacao the camera housing flooded. Luckily it was a TG-5, so no damage, and I was able to take on all the shallow dives the rest of vacation. The O-Ring that came with the housing from Olympus was defective. While greasing it I felt a thin spot, if I was in the US I would have ordered a new one fed ex. Now I inspect everything before I go anywhere.

I have had multiple back scatter products with no issues over the years and would always consider them as a first level option.

I have had a couple of O-Ring floods over the years, mostly flash lights and waterproof cases for cash, keys etc. the ones we tend to neglect. It has always been user error aside from the one defective O-Ring. One old housing leaked because I had a hair on the O-Ring. If it leaked on the 6th dive, it was likely due to damage that occurred while servicing, or contamination.

Photograph everything, rinse flooded compartment quickly, dry thoroughly, put some rice in it. Let it sit for a day or two. Reassemble using the included spares, photograph everything. Give it another go. Best of luck, hope it works out.

 

[davehicks]

Backscatter service is very good, at least in the US. That's why I bought the hf-1 strobes based on my experience with them.

It is very hard to assign blame or root causes to a flood. There are so many variables with user errors, design, and handling that you need to accept that any type of housing compartment can and will fail. I don't think i did anything wrong when mine strobe failed, but perhaps i should have been more proactive in replacing orings. (I will look into getting more spares)

However i was impressed that the HF-1 cleaned up well and survived the flood with no faults. That is good design.

 

[BoltSnap]

I'd send Backscatter an email right away telling them about the incident and ask them about how to proceed.