Aquatica A7D housing - AF-ON lever got stuck

After 3 days of ocean diving the AF-ON/Star lever on my Aquatica A7D housing got stuck.

I did soak the housing in the fresh water after each dive and one more time when I got home.

During the rinse I pushed, pulled and rotated the lever several times and it worked ok.

However when I dried the housing I noticed that the lever was stuck and I could not move

(both pull inward-outward and rotate) it even if I pressed it pretty hard.

I tried to soak it in the vinegar solution. After 12 hours I was barely able to rotate the lever for may be 1 or 2 mm.

Any idea what to do? Is it salt or sand which got in there?

How can I remove and clean it - just remove the spring and push outward?

Thank you,

Ignati

Ignati, it is a somewhat complex assembly, I would recommend that you get in touch with Backscatter, they are an authorized service center and they can look at it, it is most likely a built up of salt, they can do an overhaul at the same time, if the housing has not been serviced for a while, it might be a good idea to do so.