VT Pro battery compartment flooded now what?

[RaginCajun]

Saturday was not a good day. The Mrs and I decided to give a local lake a try and try out my new VT3 and see how well the buddy feature worked with the ole faithful VT Pro.

Somewhere into the first dive the battery compartment flooded. (Boy I'm glad we packed an extra SPG!!)

I immediately opened her up to find water in the battery compartment and opened her up to drain it out. When I got home, I followed the instructions and gave the battery compartment a wash with a 50% vinegar/water solution. It really cleaned up the contacts and it looks perfect.

I brought it to my LDS today and was kind of surprised with the response. They told me to try to dry it out a little better and they wouldn't open it up with a 10 foot pole, but could ship back to Oceanic to let them have a look. The only thing they did was to try a fresh battery and hit it with some compressed air. The blast of air seemed to rejuvinate it a little by invigorating the display allowing a few more characters to light up, but no function, just all the characters lit up.

He also told me that the estimated turn around with Oceanic is 2-3 weeks minimum more if they're back logged. He would not commit to much speculation on the warranty situation. It's under the 2 yr warranty until August 2008.

What's the preliminary prognosis? I'm sure this has happened to someone before. What is Oceanic likely to do? Is there any thing else I can try at home before shipping it in? I"m afraid to get to aggressive with drying it out, but I'm sure that a few minutes in this Texas heat would do something, although I'm not sure if it would be more harm than good.

Any guidance is appreciated.

 

[Bratface]

I had a Uwatec computer that flooded. Essentially it was dead after that happened. My LDS replaced it that day then sent it back to the manufacturer who replaced it for them. I didn't have to go without a computer, but I have an outstanding LDS. Good luck with yours.

 

[RaginCajun]

Well I guess I have a less than stellar LDS because I'm out of a computer for at least 3 weeks offering a loaner was not even a thought for them. (....hmmm so this begs the question why I paid a premium at a LDS anyway? Food for another thread no doubt....)

I am very curious to see what Oceanic says and if this will be a warranty job. The clerk at my LDS said it should be fairly cut & dry and Oceanic should make a judgement pretty quick as to fix, replace or hose me completely.

I'll post the results when I find out.

Cheers

 

[300bar]

Did you try to give Oceanic a call?
They are known to go the extra mile for their customers.
I had some pretty good experiances with them.

 

[Blair Mott]

Oceanic has great customer relations on all there products, but I always rinse lightly with fresh water then dose with high percentage rubbing alcohol ( to dry the water ) then let to dry when ever faced with a flood, but I sure this advice is to late to help with the flood. Sorry to hear about the flood I love that computer. Good luck

 

[RaginCajun]

Thanks for the encouragement with Oceanic. I went straight to my LDS who will send my computer to Oceanic for me, so No, I didnt' contact Oceanic direct first.

I'm hopeful that things will turn out well, and I've read alot of good things about them.

Thanks also for the tip on rubbing alcohol, it's a no brainer but I just wasn't confident that I wouldn't mess up the computer or void the warranty by trying it. I'll remember it if God forbid this happens again.