How screwed am I?

[Mbarger82]

Transferring lights to the new tank tonight and my rms rail broke and ended up getting three of my xr15 lights wet. Only one was plugged in and power was pulled off immediately. I opened the bottoms of them up and packed with rice and sitting under a fan. Lights were in the water maybe 5 seconds. Any chance I’ll plug them in and they’ll work in a few days, or should I start shopping for new lights ASAP?

 

[Uncle99]

Ouch!
Dropped a blackbox in once.
It lived

 

[xxkenny90xx]

They will probably work once dry. The problem is the salt that got inside will stay inside and greatly reduce their lifespan (corrosion). I would like to recommend a soak in alcohol to get the salt out but let's hear what others have to say before you go that far.

 

[Fishyfish22]

If you contact ecotech they might be willing to work with you

 

[Mbarger82]

They will probably work once dry. The problem is the salt that got inside will stay inside and greatly reduce their lifespan (corrosion). I would like to recommend a soak in alcohol to get the salt out but let's hear what others have to say before you go that far.

The one that was plugged in I took outside and hit with some electronics cleaner in hopes it didn’t fry. Had a smell, but was still on and working when I unplugged it.

 

[Brett S]

The XR 15 lights are pretty easy to disassemble completely. I would take it apart and try to wash the circuit boards and LED puck with distilled water and/or alcohol to get rid of any residual salt. Even if the light works now any salt left in there will cause corrosion and failure over time. Once you rinse the boards off give it a while to dry before you reassemble.

 

[Tastee]

I haven’t done it myself but I have read that Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol) is the best way to dry out electrics. It is hydrous and after washing out salt etc and absorbing any remaining water will evaporate out cleanly.

 

[SaltISlife]

Electronics will be fine if they get wet with no power. You can dip an entire motherboard from a pc in a bathtub and nothing will happen to it.

Just let it dry for a few days. Be patient. You can also use wd 40. Wd stands for water displacement.

What id do is take it apart and rinse the salt off in the sink and let it dry for 3-4 days

 

[Sayn3ver]

The salt is the killer. After hurricane sandy I was working in Atlantic City area and it's amazing what salt does to wire and electrical components.

What was not readily apparent in the beginning was the paper in the nonmetallic sheathed cable (romex) wicked the saltwater up the jacket internally.

So even if the house only flooded with about 2ft of water the jacket all the wiring really needed replacement because the exposed ground was corroding many feet above that inside due to the paper liner wicking all that salt water up like a piece of litmus paper.

I would definitely carefully open up the units and use either rubbing or denatured alcohol, cotton swabs or lint free paper towels and try and get the boards and all those exposed and hidden solder connections cleaned off. I don't own one but any connectors too that have the exposed pins.