After the flood

[saying]

Now I'm not talking about a UK HID or anything, here. I don't know if that changes the answer any... it's just backstory.

I used my little PT Sea Star the other day and when I got home I opened it to let the batteries out and, surprise, there was more than batteries in there. So, do I need to send it back to PT (or just buy a new one... the postage is barely worth it)? Or, do I just need to let it completely dry and use it again with new batteries?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Normally you just need to rinse or soak the internal parts thoroughly to remove any salt deposits and then let things dry completely. As long as it has not spent too much time corroding in the dive bag, it should be fine.

You also should remove the o-rings, inspect them and confirm there are no salt crystals or other contaminants on the O-rings or on the sealing surfaces and that there is no damage to either. The relub the o-rings and put it all back together.

New batteries are a must even if they are rechargeable as you do not want to reuse a flooded rechargeable battery.

 

[metaldector]

I had a similar lite and situation. I dried the lite out, new battery and dove again only to find there was a crack in the base of the lite. I filled the lite with fresh water and replace the o-ring and top with bulb and let it sit for about 10 minutes only to find it in a puddle of water. It went into the trash. Oh well I found it on the bottom of a spring, so it was free. But I do think I'd return it to the manufacturer, because without getting feedback from consumers they may never know about the problems and therefore will not fix the problems. Plus that lite had a lifetime guarentee so I would have had a new lite sent to me for the cost of postage.