Baby's First Flood? YSD2 Strobe ...

[ladiver33]

Hello -
Currently on a dive trip. Two dives today and no issues or problems in the water. Camera and strobes working for yhe entity of both dives. Brought the camera home and was getting ready to clean o-rings and noticed one of the strobes would not turn on. Opened it up and discovered what looked like melted chocolate all over the battery compartment. Pics below (post cleaning)

I cleaned the battery compartment with rag and dropped some new batteries in on the very off chance that it would turn on. And.....It did! Strobe fired. I shut it off and removed the new batteries for now..

Have 4 more dives on this trip. Any foreseeable issues using the strobe tomorrow morning or should I quit while I am ahead and send this off for service?

There was nothing alarming along the oring and the strobes were powered on until I got back to the surface..Could this just be a bad battery issue? (doesnt look like the batteries exploded)

 

[Interceptor121]

I think the batteries have overheated somehow. I have had eneloop melting whilst charging

 

[ThatDogDontHunt]

Hello -
Currently on a dive trip. Two dives today and no issues or problems in the water. Camera and strobes working for yhe entity of both dives. Brought the camera home and was getting ready to clean o-rings and noticed one of the strobes would not turn on. Opened it up and discovered what looked like melted chocolate all over the battery compartment. Pics below (post cleaning)

I cleaned the battery compartment with rag and dropped some new batteries in on the very off chance that it would turn on. And.....It did! Strobe fired. I shut it off and removed the new batteries for now..

Have 4 more dives on this trip. Any foreseeable issues using the strobe tomorrow morning or should I quit while I am ahead and send this off for service?

There was nothing alarming along the oring and the strobes were powered on until I got back to the surface..Could this just be a bad battery issue? (doesnt look like the batteries exploded)

Looks like the aftermath of a typical battery compartment flood.

I would want to do a better job of cleaning as there may be some residue that will eat into the contacts? Brown tarnish on the polycarbonate is ugly but should be okay.

If you Google you can find several threads about emergency cleaning of flooded battery compartments.

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

Sounds like your battery cap is not sealed any more, i would suggest replacing it.
Even if you dont see any visible damage on the O-ring , it could be a production fault with the cap.

The battery "chocolate" is a result of water gushing in while the flash was on, they were essentially fried.

 

[ThatDogDontHunt]

You could tear down the cap yourself?

My flooded sea & sea strobe

 

[Chris Ross]

You will need to flush out the compartment, maybe clean it with an old toothbrush or something and thoroughly dry it out,

I would not trust the o-ring as it sounds like the strobe has flooded. The S&S cap has a pressure relief valve in it and you need to verify the condition of that it may leak again through that pathway. Ultimately you will need to clean up the contacts s well as you can, A new cap will take care of the corrosion on those contacts.

The battery compartment is sealed from the main electronics compartment but there are reports of that seal failing as well, I wouldn't push you luck without a new cap or overhauling the cap as outlined in the post above.

 

[laikabear]

They sell the battery compartment door separately for post-flooding. I'd personally not reuse it and would replace the battery door, but I am a beginner and others surely know better.

 

[ladiver33]

Thank you for all the replies and help! It is super appreciated. Especially the cap parts photo.

I cleaned the strobe some more using alcohol wipes and qtips. It cleaned up quite well, no brown remaining on the compartment. Tested the battery compartment by leaving it soak for a few hours soaking in fresh water. No leaks! I believe I was very fortunate to catch this when I did...

Cleaned and regreased the orings did another soak test and all was well. Completed two dives today with the existing cap. Two more dives tomorrow and that cap goes in the trash and off to get a new cap and a spare. So pleased that this was not a ruined trip.