Got my sov elite wet

[bruce01364]

Tried to jump over some water and fell right into it. The control box was half submerged a few seconds. I took off the back and parted the foil covering. All I have done is use some compressed air but it just seemed to move the little droplets of water around. Does anyone know how I can dry it out. Can I save it or does getting it wet do too much damage? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Sand Scoop]

I cracked mine open as far as I could without tearing the sticker for the warranty. I then set a fan so it would blow directly on the control box and left it go all day. It worked,dried it out and it works fine.

 

[JHM]

Hair dryer but dont get it too hot

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Put it in a closet for a week to 10 days and that should do the trick, remove the batteries and do not turn it on during this period. Got some good tips, however patience pays off and dumped a few land units in my day shallow warter hunting in fresh water..Salt water presents another problem as the water is corrosive and the unit would have to be cleaned internally...

 

[flsandmastr64]

In 2004 my wife and I lived in Merritt Island Florida and one afternoon my wife decided to take the kids to the beach while I was at work. She was hunting the Sebastian Inlet beach line when she found a buffalo nickel! She was real excited and when she got another hit she knelt down on one knee with the Sovereign across the other knee to prop it up. I had taught her to look for what's called a trough line in the sand where targets will deposit close to the wave action. Well, while she was trying to dig the target (wet sand) a small wave hit her and the detector fell right into the salt water and was actually rolled back when the water receded. My wife recovered the now submersed detector and it was squealing like a banshee! She had the presence of mind to turn it off and take the battery pack out of the unit. I received a call from her and she described all this to me and we both were pretty upset because I knew salt water exposure to electronics is the kiss of death. I worked for Lucent Technologies at the time in semi-conductor manufacturing clean room as a technician and so sought out a friend who was a chemical engineer in addition to querying some of the maintenance techs. All of them told me to disassemble the detector and to spray all electronics and switches with WD-40! When I got home I confirmed that the unit most definitely was not happy, it would just growl and screech so I took the housing apart which wasn't that bad because I had modified this detector for a remote pinpoint switch I placed in the shaft. I 1/4 jack hardwired in the back of the housing and the micro switch in the shaft wired out the back of the shaft with a male 1/4 inch jack you could just plug into the back of the housing. I have the control box facing backwards on the back of the shaft so that you can reach the controls with your left hand by reaching under your right arm. This puts the back end of the housing facing back where the jack is and the connector (quick detach pin point switch). Anyway fortunately when she beach hunts she never uses the meter which I also modified to read in the 180 scale. As soon as I got the housing apart it was pretty obvious salt water had gotten into everything because you could actually see the salt and corrosion was already attacking the copper traces. The switches also felt gritty when you turned them but what really looked the worse was the speaker which to me looked like Mylar or some kind of thin film material...I considered that toast for sure. I soaked everything in WD-40 until it was streaming off the board and components and you could see the salt just washing off everything. Salt exposure will leave a white hazy residue or discoloration even after cleaning it with other solvents but the WD-40 removed the slat and displaced the moisture! I was able to spray the switches enough that they felt smooth and free of sand and whatever else had gotten in there. After a few hours of soaking I dried everything as best I could and powered the unit up and after a little drying attention to the speaker the unit not only came back to life but the speaker sounded perfect compared the to crackling I had heard when the unit was making crazy noises. I put the unit back together and it is still working perfectly today. It's a testament to the robustness of the Mine-lab electronics and the curing properties of WD-40. The Sovereign is one hell of a work horse and is built like a tank...I would never let this detector go because not to many detectors are built to last a lifetime of real world use and I can tell you that with exception of the Explorer which I own it's second to none in depth and ability to operate in every soil condition. I thought I would share this experience in case anyone out there ever drops a detector in salt water which is the worst case scenario next to sulfuric acid!

Happy hunting and good luck to all

 

[bruce01364]

All good ideas. Thanks everyone. Fortunately it was not salt water. At first I tried putting it under a lamp with a 100w bulb. I didn't think of a fan or hairdryer. The first reply mentioned using a fan. It seemed a better idea so tried it and it seems to have worked. I haven't taken it out for a good workout but everything seems OK. The hairdryer would have been faster but anyway, I think my sov is saved. Hope to get a few more years out of it.
Thanks again.

 

[Rick(ND)]

To get the batteries out of it as fast as you can as this is where water will conduct electricity and can short out some or all components. I have worked on many TV some have set plants on top of and when watered they got water in the TV and seen some very serious damage. I dropped my cell phone in the toilet one time and as soon as i grabbed it I took out the battery and shook the water out and set it on the vent of the furnace and let it dry for a day, worked like new.

 

[grumpyolman]

With other electronics that are fresh water wet, putting them in the oven at the lowest setting for a few hours works good. I have done that with a couple of portable radios I found underwater.It's a much more controlled heat than a hair dryer and is a gentle warm to aid drying. Good to read about the WD-40 and it displacing the salt and corrosion. Jim

 

[Art (NWOH)]

Since it's already wet, I would have rinsed it out good with clean water before drying.

I do this with remote controls, computer keyboards, and TV sets that have had something spilled in them. Works OK as long as something has not already been fried.

HH

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Due not spray the interior with wire dryer, WD-40 etc. as unit may dry but not work as it should...got that from a Tech years ago...Salt water unit has to be taken apart and rinsed with cold fresh water....Fresh water just be patient and let it dry out by itself...of course fans, hair dryers may speed up the process but be careful that haor dryer is not too hot...