EGO VS. Saltwater

[RollandOfGilead]

Just had a day with the family at Calypso Waterpark. What a blast. Had a ego and a stardust with me ALL day in a ziplock bag which was in a eyeglass hardcase, in my pocket, it nearly survived the entire day. Went down waterslides and in the lazy river and the monster wave pool and every time i got out they were dry and vaping strong. Near the end of the day just before closing the wife wanted to hit the lazy river one more time. when I got out the bag was FULL of water, salt water, the batt connection had all kinds of green guck/corrosion all over it. Less than ten min wet and not even connected to anything cuz i took them apart before putting them in the bag. Good thing i have back up batts. I cleaned it out and will give it a few days to dry then i might try charging it to see if it will work or not. my guess is not.

 

[Swampey65]

I'm no expert on batts but, I'm guessing it might not be a good idea to screw an eGo battery that's been through what you describe onto a charger? Did the green goo you describe look like it was from the inside of the battery or just a reaction from the salty water on outside metal?

 

[RollandOfGilead]

I'm no expert on batts but, I'm guessing it might not be a good idea to screw an eGo battery that's been through what you describe onto a charger? Did the green goo you describe look like it was from the inside of the battery or just a reaction from the salty water on outside metal?

Looked like a reaction, obviously goona let it fully dry AND ive got spare chargers

 

[Cobber]

I'm betting it's dead ... that may have been beyond the warranty. Saltwater is not a friend of electronics. I'm not sure if I would plug that into a charger. As a matter of fact I wouldn't plug that into a charger.

I think it's gone
*Taps plays in the background*

 

[Cobber]

Looked like a reaction, obviously goona let it fully dry AND ive got spare chargers

Yes but do you have a spare what ever you are plugging the charger into? Maybe something you'd want to do outside too ... Lipo batteries are dangerous

 

[X P3 Flight Engineer]

I baptized my Twist in the Bay of Fundy (had a few Minke whales 20 feet from the Hobie while out there!) and it still works! Yea!

The green is from the brass parts of the connection and the reaction to salt and water. If you are comfortable with pulling it apart then a Star Dust makes a very good handle to hold the head while gently rocking it side to side and up and down. Don't pull, once it starts to move, it takes very little pressure to come apart and if you pull too hard you will snap the tiny wires inside. If you are not comfortable doing that it is probably OK.

I would, however, recommend flushing it as well as you can with the strongest alcohol you have and allowing it to dry very thoroughly, a day or so depending on how hot and dry it is. I'm sure that I don't have to tell you to be very careful when it is first charged!

Patience.

 

[RollandOfGilead]

Yes but do you have a spare what ever you are plugging the charger into? Maybe something you'd want to do outside too ... Lipo batteries are dangerous

I already figured it was dead... probably WONT try it out now. Next time ill have to double or triple bag it.

Guess i'll need to order another backup. Good thing its payday on thurs.

 

[Mindfield]

Yeah, it's gonna be dead. Water does not conduct electricity itself (it's impurities in the water that carries current), but salt is a very good electrolyte when in solution, so as soon as it touched both the positive and negative connections, and once it got into the button, it would have completed the circuit and the battery would have spent the rest of its time shorting until it died.

 

[therealcmac]

Ohhhhh ya!

 

[cosmic charlie]

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't try just use some not some common since. All the previous suggestions are good, flush with the purist possible isopropyl alcohol, let it dry, then give it another 24 hours, separate connector and look for corrosion on the connections inside around the battery, charge it in a bag or outside, and test it without an atty or carto attached first. Good luck!:beer:
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[DemonCleaner]

Yeah, it's gonna be dead. Water does not conduct electricity itself (it's impurities in the water that carries current), but salt is a very good electrolyte when in solution, so as soon as it touched both the positive and negative connections, and once it got into the button, it would have completed the circuit and the battery would have spent the rest of its time shorting until it died.

Me reed this: Water on battery bad. Stuff in water make battery gone. Me have battery that dry. Me glad.

 

[Kevofar]

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't try just use some not some common since. All the previous suggestions are good, flush with the purist possible isopropyl alcohol, let it dry, then give it another 24 hours, separate connector and look for corrosion on the connections inside around the battery, charge it in a bag or outside, and test it without an atty or carto attached first. Good luck!:beer:
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

Not trying to flame but you said I don't see any reason why you shouldn't try. I do ego batteries are cheep. I feel the time and energy I spent trying to save this one is worth more than getting a new $20 battery. J/S

 

[cosmic charlie]

Not trying to flame but you said I don't see any reason why you shouldn't try. I do ego batteries are cheep. I feel the time and energy I spent trying to save this one is worth more than getting a new $20 battery. J/S

Sure that's valid enough. I mow my own lawn instead of having the neighbor kid do it because I like doing it, I change the oil in my cars instead of taking them to jiffy lube because I enjoy doing it, hell I'd use this as an excuse to order something new then spend two hours screwing around with the old battery just to see if it worked. To each his own.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mindfield]

Ohhhhh ya!

That may be the best thing G4TV has ever done. Apart from Kari Byron, that is.

 

[ChellyNelly]

Except that mowing your own lawn and changing your oil isn't potentially dangerous in the way that attempting this would be. Apples and oranges, really.

 

[Mindfield]

Yeah, to be honest I wouldn't even consider trying to charge it. The likelihood is that whatever was going to happen to the battery due to the short has already happened, but that's not to say that the charger won't short out if you try and charge it, and probably trip a breaker or kill a fuse, assuming a wall charger is used.

Chuck it and buy a new one. It's not worth even the scientific curiosity.

 

[Cobber]

That may be the best thing G4TV has ever done. Apart from Kari Byron, that is.

Morgan Webb > *.g4tv

 

[Mindfield]

Morgan Webb > *.g4tv

We could argue about this all day, let's just split the difference and share...

 

[denali_41]

well the first thing you need to do is rinse that battery in fresh water,,the salt left behind will continue to corrode the inside of the battery,then put it in a bag of dry rice for about a week.

i have went swimming with my ego's many a times before and they are still working great this way

putting li-on batterys in saltwater 2 weeks will make them enviro safe

 

[Mindfield]

well the first thing you need to do is rinse that battery in fresh water,,the salt left behind will continue to corrode the inside of the battery,then put it in a bag of dry rice for about a week.

i have went swimming with my ego's many a times before and they are still working great this way

putting li-on batterys in saltwater 2 weeks will make them enviro safe

They are already environmentally safe. Rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries use lithium salts (lithium oxide or lithium hydroxide) in an organic solvent as the electrolyte, and a layered oxide (lithium cobalt oxide for regular cells, lithium manganese oxide for IMRs) as the positive cathode. The negative cathode is just carbon (graphite). All of these are environmentally neutral. It's only the non-rechargeable lithium batteries that use free metallic lithium and pose an environmental hazard.