Cleaning Out A Flooded Ys-01

[fmerkel]

Silicone is non-conductive, wards off moisture, and inhibits further corrosion (some of the plating is gone and it is more susceptible simple air corrosion), ONCE the nasty gunk has been cleaned out. Your instructions are very good.
Doesn't hurt the metal, plastic, or the batteries. If pure liquid silicone is not available you could use the same O-ring grease you use for the strobe. Very thin, just a bit, we are not packing things here.

You don't want to use WD-40 or similar 'water displacement' sprays. They have a petroleum base. OK around electrical stuff but I would not use it around O-rings.

 

[JackConnick]

I wouldn't use any silicone spray. Does nothing and could cause problems later on. Definitely a no-no on the o-ring.

Important thing is to get the old batteries out and get it cleaned up quickly. Rinse it out will fresh water, yep, just pour it in. Wipe the compartment out well and then chase with alcohol, preferably the 92% variety. That will dry it out pretty well. When I was at a resort, I found the spas all have lots of it.

I would just replace the cap. I carry a spare with me on trips. The corrosion will eventually just break the metal clips, which is the same for down below on the electrical contacts. Yes, I was told by the repair guy there's some sort of spring tension there. Maybe he's wrong, but he does them all the time.

But the main thing here is to remember to service the oring to begin with. Keep it and the two contact surfaces clean, lightly greased with S&S grease. Then be sure to turn the cap until you hear it click locked.

 

[KeithG]

Important thing is to get the old batteries out and it cleaned up quickly. Rinse it out will fresh water, yep, just pour it in. wipe out well...

Agreed. My only flood (knock on wood, yes I think it was user error and it will NEVER happen again) was quickly cleaned up once back on the dive boat with a supply of fresh water.

This was a salt water Bonaire Caribbean dive. Flood symptoms became evident about 20 minutes into the dive - a series of small bubbles appeared at the edge of the battery cap. The first one I simply wiped away and assumed it was a trapped surface air bubble. 5 minutes and 10 bubbles later I knew I was in trouble. The strobe still worked so I did not panic, much. This was the dive where I found a Frog Fish. I NEEDED both strobes. I knew the battery compartment was sealed so the worst case damage was toasted batteries (absolutely guaranteed) and maybe some more. I had a spare set of batteries, so no worries... I kept diving & shooting. About 40 minutes in the strobe stopped working. So I turned it off. And kept diving. Did some single strobe shots. No need to bother my divebuddy with trivial issues. We surfaced at the boat after 60 minutes.

Once onboard I went into panic triage mode. While still wet, I popped the battery door open and dumped a pile of nasty black sludge and batteries onto the boat deck (not my problem...). This was followed by a quick rinse of the battery compartment with water from the camera bucket. Dump and repeat. Several times. Note that I did not dunk my strobe in the camera bucket - I scooped water from it!). I then filled the battery compartment with water and capped the lid on it. We traveled back to the dock with (hopefully) fresh water inside my strobes battery compartment.

Back in the hotel room I dumped the water into the tub. Left it open during supper, zapped it with the hair dryer and used the strobe on the night dive.

-4 AA batteries.

 

[fmerkel]

Here's a theoretical question about strobe flooding:
-assuming the battery compartment is sealed from the main compartment with all the rest of the critical electronics
-you have activity going on like giffenk did where you are sure flooding it happening
-Premise > a major part of the problem with flooding is electrolysis > eats up the contacts

Would it actually be feasible, nay desirable, to pop the cover and take the batteries out?
(Put them in a pocket, don't throw them on the reef.)

The sooner the better. I think that might result in less damage than waiting the extra time to complete the dive, even if you immediately turn it around. It's going to take time to surface, get out, and finally deal with the problem.
I see no way this would work for a camera. Might for.....some.....lights?

 

[JackConnick]

I wouldn't do it unless you're in shallow water, The battery compartment isn't as pressure proof without the door. And I wouldn't want to put those batteries in my BC pocket....

 

[fmerkel]

I was assuming the compartment would not be at pressure risk. That's good to know.
Yeah, the batteries would need to be a pain to deal with.
Thanks for the extra info.

 

[bnfaustin]

I recently had a 110a flood while on a trip. Had limited access to cleanup supplies so I improvised the following steps and got it working in pretty short order:
- Rinsed the battery compartment and battery compartment cap thoroughly with distilled water,
- Cleaned the O-ring and any grooves thoroughly with q-tips and those little makeup triangular wedges that don't leave any lint behind,
- Rubbed the contacts clean with q-tips soaked in alcohol
- Then rinsed everything with rubbing alcohol to clean out any water that may have been left behind,
- Used the hotel hair drier to dry out everything 100%.

After reassembly the strobe worked perfectly, but I did have to toss out the rechargeable batteries that were in it when it flooded, since they looked swollen and I didn't want to risk messing the strobe or charger up....

 

[tursiops]

I carry a little plastic bottle of white vinegar with me now, when traveling. I haven't needed it yet except to clean some SOLA contacts, but there is always someone on the boat/trip who does.

 

[maat1976]

I just flooded my YS-02. It's definitely dry now, but it needs cleaning ASAP. The cap needs replacing as the contacts were already getting bent. I checked the o-ring fairly religiously so I'm not sure what happened there...

I have vinegar - should I fill the chamber with this and then hair dry? Or just swab the inside? Also, I can remove the bottom contacts - is this worth doing?

Thanks!

 

[KeithG]

I just flooded my YS-02. It's definitely dry now, but it needs cleaning ASAP. The cap needs replacing as the contacts were already getting bent. I checked the o-ring fairly religiously so I'm not sure what happened there...

I have vinegar - should I fill the chamber with this and then hair dry? Or just swab the inside? Also, I can remove the bottom contacts - is this worth doing?
View attachment 373563

Thanks!

No need to panic. Ignore the brown dirt on the "plastic". It is cosmetic. This looks totally salvageable to me. The strobe internals are separate from the battery compartment. I claim your cap will be fine as well. Does the strobe work as is?

The bottom of the battery compartment has 3 metal pieces. 2 pieces are the + and - posts that go through the housing wall into the inside of the strobe. These can only be replaced from the inside. The third metal piece is a simple dual post spring. It is attached via the 2 small screws visible from the inside of the battery compartment. Easy to remove, clean and re-install.

Polish all 4 contact surfaces with a pencil eraser.

Similarly the cap has 2 spring metal pieces (the 4 tabs). Removal of the visible screws will free them from the cap. Use a toothbrush to clean, bend them back into shape, then polish with a pencil eraser. Re-install.