Flooded Strobe

Hey all,

Unfortunately, I flooded the battery pack on my Ikelite Strobe... salt water...

I soaked it in white vinegar, but hasn't come clean.... afraid to try to put a new battery in it... any suggestions or ways I can clean it fully??

THANKS IN ADVANCE

@carlyunderwater

I don't know Ikelite's, but if the battery compartment is sealed (that is, if this flooding didn't affect the internal components in the main body of the strobe) like in Sea & Sea strobes, I have in the past just cleaned up the inside of the strobe with rags made from old t-shirts and long, thin, sturdy pieces of wood (bamboo skewers, specifically) and a little bit of water. With some patience you can make the inside look almost as if nothing happened.

In the Sea & Sea strobes, I disassemble the strobe cap to clean it after a flood since it has an intricate design (and I clean it the same way, with a rag, a little bit of water, a bamboo skewer and some patience), but as long as it's well rinsed and dried, some may consider this not necessary.

Rebuild the pack. It uses 5 or 6 SubC cells, not just one. I've rebuilt a few, but later found that the Batteries Plus Bulb store near me in Bellevue WA would do it for about $30.

See if they can help you: 425-562-5000.

I referred another person from WP to them last year and they helped them too.

You could call Ikelite and talk to one of their technicians. I've done that and found they would freely have a discussion over the phone. I don't know if I would send my equipment in for repair.

Is there an indication of why the strobe flooded?

Which strobe? One like the DS-160 with separate battery pack? Or one of the smaller ones with 4 x AA battery compartment? Which bit are you trying to clean?

Sounds like it's a separate battery pack and you are trying to clean up the strobe side contacts is that correct. The head is supposed to waterproof in itself and the seal is protecting the batteries from flooding. Normally the result should be that you cleanup the head and buy a new battery pack at least that's my understanding?

I would make sure that all the residue is gone from the contacts on the head and put another battery pack on and see if the head powers up. If it does you are ready to go. If it doesn't talk to ikelite. You may need to clean the contacts a little with something like a plastic scourer to get good connection.