Penetrator/Dorcy 220 Go POW!!!

[ScubaSeaMonkey]

I was using my Dorcy 220 for the first time on July 4th weekend. I did a couple of dives down to 130 ft. During those dives, the pressure causes the light to turn on, so I just turned the head just enough to turn the light off (maybe 1/8 of a turn). No problems with it. Anyway, I was just now going through my gear just kind of checking things out and I remembered reading that you shouldn't store your flashlights with the batteries in them. So I started unscrewing the head to remove the batteries and noticed that it was hard to unscrew. It kept getting harder, until finally when it was just about off, all of a sudden, POW!!! It was like I had uncorked a bottle of champagne. The head didn't fly off or anything, but I had to check my bloomers to make sure they were still clean. :mooner:

Apparently pressure was trapped inside there. How can I prevent this from happening again?

 

[TSandM]

Did the battery compartment flood? I can't think of anything else that would create pressure in the light.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

maybe a battery went bad and released some gas, pressurizing the interior.

 

[Tortuga68]

Dunno. Mine have been to 75m without having anything like that happen. Then again I don't take the batteries out between dives

 

[eelnoraa]

most likely, salt water got inside, reacted with battery, produce gas. Take batteries out and clean the light.

 

[ScubaSeaMonkey]

It was dry as a bone inside, so I don't think water got inside. But I did hear one of the batteries making a slight squealing sound after I took them out. So maybe the battery was going bad. I didn't realize they would release gas when they started to go bad. No signs of corrosion anywhere. Maybe it just slowly built up that kind of pressure over the last two weeks. I guess that's why some recommend not storing your lights with the batteries in them.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

I had a camera housing flood while in the rinse bucket. I saw that the dual o-ring was pushed outward, allowing water to flow in. One of the niMH battery was gave away, and apparently release enough gas that normally would not cause the o-ring to move inward when subjected up to 5ATA.