Lights fell in the tank

Suohhen

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 2, 2020
Messages
709
Reaction score
489
Location
Santa Cruz
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The long and short of it is anything electronic dropped into saltwater while being powered will most likely randomly fry black ROM chips on the circuit board that run on various voltages controlled by resistors. ROM chips are super sensitive to overvoltage that occurs when the saltwater arcs the ROM chips

Zap > Fry > Dead

Drying it out in rice to absorb all the moisture....or..... cleaning the circuit board with rodi or 90% rubbing alcohol is futile bc most likely the ROM chip is already damaged beyond repair

These ROM chip have hard coded instructions in their memory to do certain things electronically.

Only takes 1 to fry to interrupt the circuit board 'system' and render the whole board useless.

Al will probably put in a new circuit board

cyber-2377718_640.jpg
So your saying the lights now have dementia?
 

Tarponwriter

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 29, 2019
Messages
9
Reaction score
7
Location
ORLANDO
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Two AI prime 16 HD fell into the tank last night. Brand new lights, first day on tank... Now they just flicker and flash a color show...red, blue, white, makes me want to cry.
Do you think they will dry out and work again? I was thinking that maybe I should fill a bucket of RO water and give them another dunk to get any salt out and off of them and then let them dry. ... Do you think they will ever work again?

anybody else stupid enough to have this happen ?

Do you think they are just trash now? or maybe I can send them in for clean and repair, ... but that would probably be as much as buying another new one?

maybe put them in a bowl of rice?

they should be waterproof!
 

Tarponwriter

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 29, 2019
Messages
9
Reaction score
7
Location
ORLANDO
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Two AI prime 16 HD fell into the tank last night. Brand new lights, first day on tank... Now they just flicker and flash a color show...red, blue, white, makes me want to cry.
Do you think they will dry out and work again? I was thinking that maybe I should fill a bucket of RO water and give them another dunk to get any salt out and off of them and then let them dry. ... Do you think they will ever work again?

anybody else stupid enough to have this happen ?

Do you think they are just trash now? or maybe I can send them in for clean and repair, ... but that would probably be as much as buying another new one?

maybe put them in a bowl of rice?

they should be waterproof!
 

Tarponwriter

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 29, 2019
Messages
9
Reaction score
7
Location
ORLANDO
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I had an EcoTech Gen 4 Radion take a plunge from my Giesmann hybrid bracket while doing a cleaning a few years back. I acted immediately, pulled it from the tank, ran freshwater over it, disassembled it, ran freshwater over all the components then dried it totally dry with a hair dryer. I reassembled, and miraculously, it worked! Unit was reinstalled the next day and has been running last 2 years without issue. I think the key is immediately rinsing with freshwater to combat salt intrusion, which if left inside the electronics, will kill the unit. Good luck!
 

jtone_philthy_aquatics

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 17, 2018
Messages
272
Reaction score
209
Location
missouri
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Have you tried to contact ai? Or maybe the company you purchased from? I’m sure one of the two would help you out. You can probably get them replaced all together
 

whs6704

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 29, 2015
Messages
51
Reaction score
35
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Two AI prime 16 HD fell into the tank last night. Brand new lights, first day on tank... Now they just flicker and flash a color show...red, blue, white, makes me want to cry.
Do you think they will dry out and work again? I was thinking that maybe I should fill a bucket of RO water and give them another dunk to get any salt out and off of them and then let them dry. ... Do you think they will ever work again?

anybody else stupid enough to have this happen ?

Do you think they are just trash now? or maybe I can send them in for clean and repair, ... but that would probably be as much as buying another new one?

maybe put them in a bowl of rice?

they should be waterproof!
Put them in a lot of rice. Like you would your phone
 

Dburr1014

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2016
Messages
8,180
Reaction score
8,127
Location
CT
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Stick them in the oven at its lowest temperature for at least an hour. It will dry them out quickly and don't worry that things will melt, they will be fine.
My lowest temp I think is 170 or so? Even tho when oven is first on it says 350. Plastic melts at about 200.

That really sucks. Hope this helps someone if not at least you.
 

alain Bouchard

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 13, 2019
Messages
418
Reaction score
709
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
repaired a lot of wet electronic in my life. it got into saltwater, just drying it wont help, salt will still cause short circuit. By pluging it before doing a deep cleanup of the circuit it is possible you caused irreversible damages to the circuit board. Now, you should dismantle every pieces of it; rinse every electronic parts with ro/di water (non conductive + absorb more elements); once clean and dry, you brush all electronic circuits with clean toothbrush and isopropyl alcool. be sure to clean deeply between the legs of the chips and under parts where salt could have accumulated. let dry, then try and hope.
 

jmanrow

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 5, 2010
Messages
25
Reaction score
33
Location
Sherwood, Oregon
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
As long as they are turned off then it is a good idea to rinse in ro water, they are already wet so no more damage will be done, then let them dry completely, maybe use a hairdryer if you want to speed up the drying process, if nothing has fried then they will work again.
That is the only thing you can do and hope nothing has fried.
Good luck.
I agree with windermerejack. The salt water is causing shorts in the circuitry, so whatever you do, in their current condition don't plug them in. I have rescued a few items by rinsing them in freshwater, then putting them over the air vents on my floor and made sure they were totally dry before giving them another try. A hair dryer should work also.
You might also try calling the manufacturer, and explain what happened. It wouldn't hurt to give that a try. Best of luck!
 

jmanrow

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 5, 2010
Messages
25
Reaction score
33
Location
Sherwood, Oregon
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I agree with windermerejack. The salt water is causing shorts in the circuitry, so whatever you do, in their current condition don't plug them in. I have rescued a few items by rinsing them in freshwater, then putting them over the air vents on my floor and made sure they were totally dry before giving them another try. A hair dryer should work also.
You might also try calling the manufacturer, and explain what happened. It wouldn't hurt to give that a try. Best of luck!
I just finished reading through the complete thread, and I am glad to hear that AI is doing a rebuild on your fixtures. Cheers!
 

ClownSchool

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 3, 2021
Messages
602
Reaction score
726
Location
US
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Two AI prime 16 HD fell into the tank last night. Brand new lights, first day on tank... Now they just flicker and flash a color show...red, blue, white, makes me want to cry.
Do you think they will dry out and work again? I was thinking that maybe I should fill a bucket of RO water and give them another dunk to get any salt out and off of them and then let them dry. ... Do you think they will ever work again?

anybody else stupid enough to have this happen ?

Do you think they are just trash now? or maybe I can send them in for clean and repair, ... but that would probably be as much as buying another new one?

maybe put them in a bowl of rice?

they should be waterproof!
Should NOT have plugged them in. You should have bough a big bag of rice and buried them for about a week, then Checked them.
 

Lost in the Sauce

BANGERANG!!!!
View Badges
Joined
Feb 10, 2021
Messages
18,889
Reaction score
91,536
Location
Southern California
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If they fell in while on theyre toast. If you send them in to ai they should be able to repair them for less than the cost of new.

If they fell in while off and you turned them on theyre likely toast.

If they fell in while off they can be saved by taking them apart and rinsing in ro, then left to dry.
Unfortunately, I think this is the right answer.

Sorry OP
 

outhouse

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
May 25, 2021
Messages
1,322
Reaction score
1,016
Location
Auburn ca
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Did that last week. Took hair dryer to all parts. The timers needed replacing that were built in. I had to take the cover off the driver's and hair dry them again and their working again
 
OP
OP
Mark3

Mark3

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Messages
409
Reaction score
297
Location
SPRING HILL
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
UPDATE: AI checked them out...one was toast, unrepairable....the other one they fixed under warranty no charge.
Sold me a new one for the toasted one at 40% off.
They both come back with new one year warranty and no shipping cost.
I'm happy with how it turned out...for $125 I learned not to drop lights inside the tank...and I will be getting more lights from AI.
 

PeterC99

Solarbenchmark.com
View Badges
Joined
Aug 28, 2020
Messages
6,384
Reaction score
30,054
Location
White Plains, NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
UPDATE: AI checked them out...one was toast, unrepairable....the other one they fixed under warranty no charge.
Sold me a new one for the toasted one at 40% off.
They both come back with new one year warranty and no shipping cost.
I'm happy with how it turned out...for $125 I learned not to drop lights inside the tank...and I will be getting more lights from AI.
Nice!
 

TheDragonsReef

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 25, 2020
Messages
1,729
Reaction score
3,199
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
UPDATE: AI checked them out...one was toast, unrepairable....the other one they fixed under warranty no charge.
Sold me a new one for the toasted one at 40% off.
They both come back with new one year warranty and no shipping cost.
I'm happy with how it turned out...for $125 I learned not to drop lights inside the tank...and I will be getting more lights from AI.
AI has the best customer support that ive ever dealt with. Ill be a loyal supporter for years to come based on that alone haha
 

BiggestE222

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2021
Messages
451
Reaction score
367
Location
carrollton
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Two AI prime 16 HD fell into the tank last night. Brand new lights, first day on tank... Now they just flicker and flash a color show...red, blue, white, makes me want to cry.
Do you think they will dry out and work again? I was thinking that maybe I should fill a bucket of RO water and give them another dunk to get any salt out and off of them and then let them dry. ... Do you think they will ever work again?

anybody else stupid enough to have this happen ?

Do you think they are just trash now? or maybe I can send them in for clean and repair, ... but that would probably be as much as buying another new one?

maybe put them in a bowl of rice?

they should be waterproof!
Nope they are dead. How did that happen.
 

BiggestE222

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2021
Messages
451
Reaction score
367
Location
carrollton
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I would send them in! I had a Hydra 52 HD that lost a channel, and they repaired it for a very reasonable cost. Like $80 or something like that.

It might be different depending on what is wrong inside, but they have really stood behind their product for me.

Whiskey
Lol he would have to get lucky but those incidents are never covered.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 66 37.5%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.5%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.2%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.8%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top