Been buying cheapo chinese lights online to test for possible budget backups for open water. On its first dive, one of the dealextreme 18650 battery powered lights took on water at 18 meters, unnoticed by me. It kept shining, and I could not see water when I looked at the glass. After the dive, unaware of any problems, I rinsed the light, to screw it apart for service when I got back home.
When I god back, it was hard to unscrew it, so having some bad experience in the past, decided to treat it as flooded.
I got a plumbers wrench, eye protection, gloves, thick work jacket and went to my industrial sink, and attempted to unscrew the light, making sure to point any openings away from me. The back of the light flew away with an explosive pop as the gases were coming out of the body. It left a dent in the steel sink.
There was some corrosive fluid everywhere and it was lucky to have taken the necessary precautions. The light had severely corroded in the few hours that had passed, Could have gone way sour if the liquid got on the skin or eyes.
Lessons learned - how I am going to operate in the future
Do not use lithium batteries in lights that have not been pressure tested personally.
Take all lights to maximum operating depth, without battery, to test for leak (somehow real life tests sometimes produce different results from pressure pot testing)
Stick to non-rechargeable batteries in backup lights
Use a charging box outside-the-house to charge batteries and not leave chargers unattended
Treat all lights as flooded unless proven otherwise. Disassemble with same rules as for hazmat and explosive.
When I god back, it was hard to unscrew it, so having some bad experience in the past, decided to treat it as flooded.
I got a plumbers wrench, eye protection, gloves, thick work jacket and went to my industrial sink, and attempted to unscrew the light, making sure to point any openings away from me. The back of the light flew away with an explosive pop as the gases were coming out of the body. It left a dent in the steel sink.
There was some corrosive fluid everywhere and it was lucky to have taken the necessary precautions. The light had severely corroded in the few hours that had passed, Could have gone way sour if the liquid got on the skin or eyes.
Lessons learned - how I am going to operate in the future
Do not use lithium batteries in lights that have not been pressure tested personally.
Take all lights to maximum operating depth, without battery, to test for leak (somehow real life tests sometimes produce different results from pressure pot testing)
Stick to non-rechargeable batteries in backup lights
Use a charging box outside-the-house to charge batteries and not leave chargers unattended
Treat all lights as flooded unless proven otherwise. Disassemble with same rules as for hazmat and explosive.
