WTF JUST HAPPENED? Battery failure? Acid?

[wheezy]

guys I have... Maybe HAD a brand new MARES EOS 10RZ. Charged full. Used on one dive last Sunday. Well rinsed and soaked in tub and put away on my drying rack in garage.

Today loading up gear and remembered that I should charge the light. Hit the switch just because and NO light. Humm. Odd.

I Take it upstairs and when I start to unscrew the outer cap it starts spraying What looked like water. Clearly the internals were under pressure.

Upon further inspection I realize the battery hs failed. I kind of panicked and decided to wash everything in fear of acid burn or damage.

Not sure of condition of light at this point.

Any input? Advice? What happened here? The light was 100% for sure NOT on fwiw. I actually double checked that as I sat it on the rack.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Probably too late but rinse well fresh water and put in dry rice. Someone that knows more than I do will hopefully be along quickly.

I lost a computer this way. Problem started before the dive when I changed to a new battery and didn't lube and close properly.

 

[JackD342]

Definitely an intrusion of water, a failure somewhere of an oring or seal. Could be defect, could be user error.
Have your LDS get an RA from Mares, they are really pretty good about that kind of thing.
I had a customer last year brought me a flooded light, not from me, no receipt. They took care of him. I can’t guarantee what will happen with yours, but worth the try.

 

[wheezy]

Sucks. Light was literally brand new. Weird that it worked all dive and worked when rinsing.

Was Amazon purchase.

 

[CuzzA]

Don't use water, use alcohol to remove the acid. Let it dry (light compressed air can help) and hope it still works.

 

[chris kippax]

I have had a similar thing happen. Light flooded but still operated during the dive, once on board light would not turn off. Opened battery compartment and sprayed acid/sea water all over the dive boat floor. That was a cheapish chinese light.
I have a list of scuba manufacturers that I will never buy from again and Mares is on that list.

 

[fmerkel]

It had water intrusion. Does not have to be a lot to start the corrosion, which then can lead to a short, and then the battery goes bonkers trying to dump it's remaining capacity. You can see the damage on the battery and springs. Probably a good thing it was at least partly discharged.

That corrosion 'gunk' could be forced into the switch, internal charging contacts, and the light head driver. Not to mention the rinsing water into the same areas. Challenging to clean up messes like that.

Note on rice drying - That procedure is pretty worthless. It's been debunked in tests over and over again. You can just as well leave it on a sunny window ledge with some air circulation.
You need a good desiccant in a warm spot if you need to dry something out.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Well, there you have it. Shows what I know, lol.

In any event, even though I cleaned my computer up with qtips and didn't use rice to get it dry etc., it was still thoroughly pooched and became a paperweight. Sigh

Pretty sure alcohol cleanup wouldn't have helped it.

@wheezy please do let us know the outcome after you've contacted Mares.

 

[fmerkel]

Got a drop, maybe 2 in my computer over a lot of dives, didn't flood, just seeped a tiny tiny tiny bit over lots of dives. Of course it can't get out since it "pretty much" water tight. Saltwater +electronic circuits + battery = disaster. Sitting and stewing in that condition before it was discovered certainly didn't help.
Good policy to take batteries out of electronics after any dive....generally (says the guy that checks his backup light maybe once a month. )

When it started to act weird I took it apart, but only after I tried to dry it out by putting it in a jar of fresh desiccant in a warm oven. I did that cycle for a couple days. All I got was condensation that migrated to the front. Took 2 days to figure out how to open it up without breaking it apart. That info is not available on the net, that I could find. Several very tiny legs of chips that were soldered to the motherboard were simply gone and the LCD screen had some edge rot starting to happen.

Using desiccants to soak up wet electronics

 

[fmerkel]

At this point you have 3 options as I see it:
1. Contact the seller and see If you can get a warranty. Flooding issues are dicey because they can always be user error, and frequently are.
2. Dry it out, put in a fresh battery > see what happens. I'd take the seals out for this and be ready to abort > fast.
3. Carefully disassemble including taking the lighthead apart so you can see the driver. That's the part sandwiched between the front contact and the LED. Seems you also have a focus mechanism to deal with which will add complexity. Clean it all up, assemble, and try it out. What do you have to lose if warranty does not work?