XR1NX battery corroding

[TheRealScubaSteve]

I changed my XR1NX battery earlier this year (May) for the first time and dove with it happily for over 50 dives, but it went dead on me suddenly three weeks ago. It did not look flooded so I finished the dive with a backup. Once I got home, I noticed that the battery was orange with some sediment and a minuscule amount of condensation.

I cleaned everything well with fresh water and alcohol. The o-ring was lightly lightly lubed and showed no signs or stress nor did the battery cover. I popped in a new battery and it started right up and still had all of my logs, sans the previous one it died on. Next dive it did the same thing.

What the heck is going on? Bad o-ring? Is it possible to have micro cracks in the plastic cover? It's not an expensive computer, but I'd hate to have it flood for real.

 

[xrcjdx]

i'm a semi-pro at flooding aeris/oceanic computers. after rinsing the battery compartment you have to leave it to dry thoroughly. any moisture left inside will of course remain inside and eventually wreak havoc. once you are satisfied the compartment is dry, lightly grease a new o-ring. the old one may or may not still be good, but if bad it might not be apparent. by lightly grease i mean use just barely enough to put a shine on the ring without missing anything. aside from the shine, you should not notice any extra grease on the ring. push the battery contacts down so they are not exerting any upward pressure whatsoever. slip the battery underneath the contacts and the battery should remain firmly in place. the retaining clip should sit flat on top of the battery, with no movement. if it is elevated one side or the other start again. drop the o-ring in. it should fall in nicely with no other handling required. failures almost invariably follow from failing to properly seat the battery cover or the retaining ring. gently place the battery cover in place. put the retaining ring over your index finger. place the index finger on top of the battery cover. the cover always seems to want to roll around. when you are satisfied that the battery cover is in place, position the retaining ring and press it into place with your free hand, ensuring that the battery cover does not move. with your thumb and middle finger of the hand holding the battery cover on, apply even pressure to opposite sides of the retaining ring. you can now lift the index finger off the cover. while maintaining pressure on the sides of the retaining ring, insert the retaining cover wrench and tighten. you should feel the ring lock into place. a frequent cause of problems is either that the battery cover is not properly seated, or uneven pressure is applied to the retaining ring. that the wrench fits in the ring off-center often causes the ring to slip out of position when tightening. that is the reason to use your index finger to hold the cover in place and apply pressure evenly on opposite sides as opposed to holding the cover in place with your thumb, as the manual says. counter pressure on the side opposite of where the wrench goes will help ensure proper seating of the retaining ring. if after all is said and done the unit is going to leak the only way to find out is to put it under pressure. leaving it in the rinse tank won't work. best to take a shore dive. water will start leaking in around 5 - 7 meters. abort the dive and start the process again. i very, very seriously doubt you have problems with the cover or ring.

 

[TheRealScubaSteve]

Thanks for the tips. I'm thinking back and I can't say that either time I held the battery cover firmly in place with one hand while locking everything down with the other. That sounds like a likely culprit.