Condensation inside Flashlight - Catapult v2

[BoogieMann]

Gday everyone

This is my first post so please forgive my long post and bad storytelling.

I've been a lurker for fair few months now lovecpf ,and bought myself a Thrunite Catapult V2. I just wanted to get some opinions on this problem and possible solutions.

I went pier fishing with a mate of mine and took the flashlight so I could test it in a real world situation. Night time of course lol. Fish weren't biting so we thought we'd play with the flashlight a bit, you know, dip it in the water, see if we can see the ocean floor or any fish. After a little while I saw some condensation on the lens and found out that it was on the inside of the lens. I just ignored it at first. I thought the only thing I should've been irritated with was the fact that less light is getting out. Pretty bad problem I reckon, but when I got home, I found something worse.

What happened was the condensation had formed on the external surface of the reflector, on the inside of the head. This had accumulated and formed droplets of water at the base about 1mm in diameter, right next to the SST-50. I don't know, but I think that's big and could do some damage.

I'm gonna assume that led's don't like water lol. The solution I was thinking of is:
-Place the reflector+head+lens (not the led/driver section) inside the freezer for about 10 mins.
-Then grab the LED/driver section and screw them together with generous serving of NLGI-2 grease.

My logic (what little I picked up from school lol) is that the cold air has less water, less water means less condensation.
It also means that the air is more dense, so when the flashlight heats up, it'll create a greater air pressure inside the head than the outside air. I'm hoping this should also stop water from entering the head.

I have looked, but if there is any other thread like this, could I please get the link. Since this is only my 3rd flashlight and my most expensive by far, I want to know everyone's opinion of this solution, and ask if I am missing anything. Is this procedure gonna ruin my beloved catapult?

Many thanks

ps: I'm aware that salt water is a lot worse than normal water lol

 

[Southpawtact]

Same thing just happened to me! Someone please tell us what to do!

 

[horizonseeker]

you took a relatively hot flashlight (driving a SST-50 will heat up the head fast but if you are holding the body towards the tail, you won't feel the heat), and you dipped it into cool water. The air inside the lens will form condensation. This is not abnormal for cooling air.

I doubt the water inside is salt water unless you compromised the o-ring sealing of the head.

Dry the head out is probably the best you can do, use a radiant heat source evenly. I would only worry if you have heavy condensation when using it under room temperature.

 

[stallion2]

seems a little odd for the light to develop condensation so soon after emersing it in water...i'm guessing that you do have a small leak. if the condensation were due simply to cooling down a hot light by placing it in water then the condensation should dissipate as the light is given a chance to warm back up. if you had sealed the light up at a time when it was especially warm and humid then that would make it a little easier for condensation to develop w/out the seals being breached.

i've used the refrigerator trick a couple times on binoculars that were supposed to be water-proof, nitrogen filled. takes a week or so to work but probably not necessary to do w/ the light as its much easier to dismantle.