Any suggestions?

[southernstyle]

So I had a loose connection on one of the wires the other day and the excal got some saltwater (not much) inside. There was just a few drops of water and condensation inside and it started acting very erratic. Took one of the ends off so it could dry out. Has anyone ever had to do this before? Is there anything special I should do before putting it back together?
I went out with the White's MXT while the excal is trying to recover (fingers crossed) and found a silver ring and a pair of polarized Oakleys.

 

[Dig]

You might hit it with a hair dryer and then pop a silica pack in their to help absorb the rest of the moisture.

 

[Cupajo]

There are spray electronics cleaners for circuit boards at Radio Shack that should be used to get the salt out before sealing it up again and then the silica pack (or two small ones) should be sealed up inside.

I would only spray the parts that need to have the salt removed (carefully place cotton balls to catch any overspray and remove them when finished and tipping the unit up will keep it from being saturated).

The cleaner is fast drying so shouldn't leave any residue.

I have also sprayed some on an electronics cleaning type Q-tip with long wooden handle (also availible at RS) and used it damp, not wet to clean any suspected areas, but light, gentle touch is the order of the day!

Apply silicone grease to the O-ring seals (wipe off the excess) and carefully put it back together.

Mine leaked from one of the knob seals and I was faced with the same issue.

After cleaning it up and resealing the unit I submerged it in fresh water and inspected it carefully for leaks.

When I found no leaks I placed it in the bottom of a five gallon pail for a moment and no leaks.

I worked my way up to the bottom of a 55 gallon barrel and 24 hours with no leak and satisfied that everything is OK for wading, I went hunting!

Good luck,

CJ

 

[southernstyle]

There are spray electronics cleaners for circuit boards at Radio Shack that should be used to get the salt out before sealing it up again and then the silica pack (or two small ones) should be sealed up inside.

I would only spray the parts that need to have the salt removed (carefully place cotton balls to catch any overspray and remove them when finished and tipping the unit up will keep it from being saturated).

The cleaner is fast drying so shouldn't leave any residue.

I have also sprayed some on an electronics cleaning type Q-tip with long wooden handle (also availible at RS) and used it damp, not wet to clean any suspected areas, but light, gentle touch is the order of the day!

Apply silicone grease to the O-ring seals (wipe off the excess) and carefully put it back together.

Mine leaked from one of the knob seals and I was faced with the same issue.

After cleaning it up and resealing the unit I submerged it in fresh water and inspected it carefully for leaks.

When I found no leaks I placed it in the bottom of a five gallon pail for a moment and no leaks.

I worked my way up to the bottom of a 55 gallon barrel and 24 hours with no leak and satisfied that everything is OK for wading, I went hunting!

Good luck,

CJ

I didn't think about the spray. Thanks. I did not pull the whole unit out of the housing though. I guess I would do this the same way??? Remove the other 2 set screws at the other end and then just pull the plastic housing from around the circuit board?

Chris

 

[southernstyle]

Well I can't (or should I say, don't know how) do that, because of the knobs.

 

[JOHNMARKHAM]

OK from an electronics tech here..
this is what you need to do..go to home depot or Lowe's in the electrical dept and get a can of PLASTIC SAFE CONTACT CLEANER.....it ll clean out salt and leaves a perfection on the rest and will not hurt anything at all on the main PC board of the machine,you can spray very much all over unit,then let dry add a couple of dry packs to inside, then seal with a goop you can keep from a pool supply store or even at Lowe's or home depot..tighten set screws but not to crack casing, and make sure end cap is put back on straight..then go hunt..
but then what do i know..i do this stuff everyday..
good luck
hh
john.

 

[southernstyle]

OK from an electronics tech here..
this is what you need to do..go to home depot or Lowe's in the electrical dept and get a can of PLASTIC SAFE CONTACT CLEANER.....it ll clean out salt and leaves a perfection on the rest and will not hurt anything at all on the main PC board of the machine,you can spray very much all over unit,then let dry add a couple of dry packs to inside, then seal with a goop you can keep from a pool supply store or even at Lowe's or home depot..tighten set screws but not to crack casing, and make sure end cap is put back on straight..then go hunt..
but then what do i know..i do this stuff everyday..
good luck
hh
john.

What kind of "goop" and is it like silicon or something that will break loose in case I need to open her back up. By the way, saw your ride on one of the other posts...pretty nice set-up you got there.

Thanks for the help,
Chris

 

[JOHNMARKHAM]

hey Chris
the goop is called LUBE TUBE,multi purpose lubricant-sealant..
i use this all around the battery connections to make sure water stays out completely...
it works great..only a few bucks for a tube...
thanks for the compliments on the ride..it works great for me here in Fla..hunt and ride..
let me know how your pod turns out
hh
john

 

[mtpockets]

yup >.. Hair dryer, elec spray.. Rice. it all wll do the job

 

[Cupajo]

You want to be sure you have the "loose connection " repaired too!

Carefully leak check the unit before you take it back in the salt water.

On my older model the knobs have a slotted shaft that when aligned right will allow the board to be slid out.

Note how they are aligned and it slides right back in the way it came out.

CJ

 

[southernstyle]

You want to be sure you have the "loose connection " repaired too!

Carefully leak check the unit before you take it back in the salt water.

On my older model the knobs have a slotted shaft that when aligned right will allow the board to be slid out.

Note how they are aligned and it slides right back in the way it came out.

CJ

Thank you SO much....I wasn't sure how it came out and didn't want to F it up. It slide right out with the knobs adjusted accordingly. Now I can spray the board properly, instead of trying to spray it while still in the housing unit. It appeared to be dry this am, so I hooked up the battery to it and tested it. It actually seems to be better, except for the fact it didn't recognize metal under the coil, unless it was touching it. However I was able to "tune" it with out it screaming at me. It actually sounded stable again. I am hoping it just needs to be sprayed to get off any salt and some more drying time. As for the "problem connection", I believe that the wire from the coil had backed off a couple of threads from the plastic nut/washer thing. I will without a doubt inspect my machine much more thoroughly next time. Thank you again for all who have helped out with suggestions. I never knew how much fun it was to dig dimes at 18+ inches...My MXT seems like a kids toy now at 10 - 12 inches. It gives new meaning to "Go deep or go home" as I was told once by a ex...haha

Chris

 

[Cupajo]

Remember too Chris that the wire could be the cause of any signal problems and don't take it for granted that it is the water that is causing it!

CJ

 

[southernstyle]

Remember too Chris that the wire could be the cause of any signal problems and don't take it for granted that it is the water that is causing it!

CJ

I wasn't sure if you would visit this posting again, so I posted a new topic for you and JOHNMARKHAM. You both seem to have a bit more knowledge of these machines than I do. When I was spraying the board off with the cleaner. I noticed the little green wire was not attached to anything. It looks like it goes in a gnd 2 hole, and green in the world of electricity is ground. I was just wanting some reassurance before I go soldering a wire to a circuit board, when I'm not sure that it goes there.

Chris

 

[houndawgg]

because the battery leads where between the gasket, when I sealed it.
I called Mr. Bill, from Surfscanner's right from the beach. He told me to flush it with fresh water, right away, which I did at the beach shower. He told me, when you get home, flush it out with rubbing alcohol, and I did that.
That was over three summers ago, and it still works like new.

 

[southernstyle]

OK....dried out, cleaned up, new dry packs and soldered back ground wire. Test run it tomorrow am and see how it does. Thanks again for everyone input and help.
I would never tried to get the board all the way out if it weren't for Cupajo. Now it is cleaned and fixed properly.

Chris

 

[Cupajo]

With solid state circuit boards and a tight housing seal there are rarely any problems caused by "normal" use of these machines.

Most are fairly simple to fix if one knows how and the "how to" is often accessed as easily as it was in this case.

It makes sense to do these small repairs and get back to hunting instead of sending the machine in for the simplest repairs and losing hunting time.

Ya got lucky and I admire your willingness to make the effort to repair it yourself.

Ley us know how things work out.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting Friend,

CJ