Strobe maintenance

Just wondering what sort of cleaning and maintenance you all do on your strobes and assorted connectors after a dive trip. Also, anyone have tips for unfreezing metals that have frozen together, i.e, bolts, screws, etc. Or is that an impossible task?

Thanks!

Hi

Nothing more than the usual rinse in fresh water for the strobes - obviously with all the covers/o-rings etc in place. And then leave them to dry. If you are storing them for a longish time before the next dive it might be worth taking the o-rings off the battery cover and storing them.

Same with any connectors.

You might try soaking metals that are stuck together in WD40. Is it salt that has locked them up? Or rust? Or the metals reacting together?

If rust, the WD40 might do the trick. Salt can sometimes be shifted with white vinegar - again soaked overnight. If metals reacting.... tricky and I'll leave that to someone else!

Best wishes

Thanks, Tim. I think the metals have reacted. But I'll give these other methods a try.

SS

Thanks, Tim. I think the metals have reacted. But I'll give these other methods a try.

 

SS

Argh! That is a pain. I had that once with the threads of a TTL convertor and a sync cable. I could not separate them using "gentle" means. In the end I had to use a pair of pliers and force them apart - damaging one set of threads which I had to replace.

It may be "galvanic" action when two different metals form a unintended bond. A quick google search came up with this solution which sounds interesting....

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-way-to-separate-metals-bound-by-galvanic-corrosion-Namely-aluminum-and-steel-bicycle-seatpost.

Good luck with it. If you find a solution, could you let us know? I'm sure others would be interested.

There is some bright blue gunk you can buy which you can use to coat the threads which seems to stop galvanic action happening on typical u/w gear. I used it after my problem - it's called Duralac.

I think you can also fit a piece of zinc somewhere on your housing which can prevent the problem too - but others might correct me on that.

If you do a search on Wetpixel for Galvanic Action you'll find various posts about it.

I have been using Lanocote on threaded metal fasteners.

It is basically a waxy material made from lanolin and seems to work like a charm preventing galvanic corrosion.

You can buy it from boatyards for marine hardware and Backscatter stocks it.

ian