I just washed my Ti CR2 Ion

You know its not going to be good news when your wife points at the washing machine and says "Is that supposed to be in there?". In this case my mint Ti Ion was most definitely NOT meant be on the spin cycle. I sat throught the last five minutes watching it get very clean before i could open the door, which was rather frustrating to say the least. When i got it out i was convinced it was going to be dead, but i twisted the head and it worked! Low was gone but that must have been water shorting the switch. At least it wasnt dead. I opened the body, took the circlip out and removed the light engine. It was all pretty wet in there but it will dry. Then i encountered a problem. The reflector end is REALLY wet, i need to clean the reflector and window but i dont know how to get to them. I dont want to break this light, despite any appearances to the contrary by my washing it, so i need someone who knows to tell me how to do it please.

First of all, don't touch the reflector with anything.

Some people say try running it through some soapy water but I think that might leave some residue. Higher concentration cleaning Alcohol might work, with a burst of compressed air(not too much) to clean off any dust that might have settled might work.

I'd wait for people with more experience to post before trying.

I would expect something like that to be more waterproof, but that's just me.

Try not to turn it on or off until it has had a good few days to air out.

Regards,
Tempest

Take the battery tube off, the head is 2 part with a tight O ring, use a balloon for grip and twist it open.

Tempest UK said:

Try not to turn it on or off until it has had a good few days to air out.

Regards,
Tempest

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Good advise. The next time you run it through the washer do not turn it on to see if it works until it has checked for moisure by you. Unscrew head, remove battery, remove LE and pat it dry carefully if you see moisture. Remove moisture from battery tube if present. Still apart, put it in a nice warm dry place for a day or so. I ran one of my Arc AAA's through the washer and dryer twice, not on purpose. Never saw any water inside and I guess that is to be expected, considering it had run through the dryer also. LOL.

Bill

Bill

Gunner12 said:

I would expect something like that to be more waterproof, but that's just me.

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I'm also surprised that it got water in it. Hasn't CR2 Ion been known for good water resistance in the past?

I think the washing machine is a pretty rough enviroment. Its a lot different than just being under water.

The oring may have been bad.

Let it dry out completely and see what happens.

Well its already been subjected to detergent and tap water with dissolved mineral content in it like calcium, can't be too much worse. I would go to the store, by a gallon of pure distilled water.

Rinse it out in small individual cups of that several times letting it all run out as best possible (don't reuse each rinse bath) to get any detergent residue off and then air dry, after that rinse it with isopropyl alcohol. The 91% pure stuff is good enough. Let it air dry really well, then if you have to, use some low heat to dry out the optics. Stay below 100 degrees C, 212F, If you can go to about 150 degrees F that would be fine. Four hours, not 5 minutes. if you are fearful of that then get some dry dissicant material, stick the opened up light in a small sealable plastic container with the dessicant, and let the dessicant absorb out all the moisture.

Make sure the dessicant is not in its own sealed plastic container or wrap as that prevents it from working. If its in that breathable Tyvek type bag, that is okay. It should come sealed to know that it hasn't already absorbed moisture out of the air, that should be opened.

Short of a vacuum oven, that is the best you are going to do to pull the moisture out. Its more important to get any detergent residue out first with pure water and then alcohol rinsing. This should not hurt the circuitry at all. Just don't be in a hurry to put batteries in it and turn it on until you are all done drying it out. If it has a rubber cap over the tail switch that can be removed, then do so.

Don't bother rinsing it off with tap water. Its got dissolved minerials in it, chlorine, fluoride, things that don't really help. Use pure distilled water that they sell for ironing shirts and stuff in the supermarket.

Good luck.

I restored a salt water damaged camera for fun once. I soaked and washed in tap water, followed by distlled water.

I then baked for a few hours at 170°F for a few hours and it worked fine after that.