SVD went for a swim

[Myxlpyxlx]

Took my SVD to the river yesterday instead of a mech. In my defense It was an impromptu boating adventure so I wasn't geared toward it. Strange series of events knocked it into about 10 to 12 feet of water. Took me about a dozen dives to find it but I did, mainly for my new zenith v2. Battery is trashed, took me about 3 hours of cleaning to get the Zenith back up and running. The SVD spent half the day and all night in rice and it still lives!!! This thing has to be the best $40.00 regulated out there. Don't know about voltage drop yet but the ohm checker function is still working and accurate and the VW function seems to be ok. Only hint of rust is from the screws from the window for the display, but they only have an aesthetic function and are replaced anyway. It fires and is working well.

Building me a setup now, kind of like a vape survival gear kit. Going to put a mech, watertight battery box, some boating bags (like the ones I used to put my burners in), a couple of cheap clones and a small rebuild kit into one of my old wading belly bags. Next time I'm out and about I will be prepared for such events.

 

[SleeZy]

Just be careful, it could take a week or 2 and the svd starts to missbehave.
Corrosion (i think thats the name?) takes awhile until it starts.
Like when i dropped my phone into the water, worked great for about 1 week. Then it started to malfunction and behave strangely until it died completley.

Atleast you saved your zenith

Sounds like E-lvt could be a mod for you. It's not water proof, but water resistant.
Yea... Cheap clones is what i would use if i was about to take em with me out on the water...

 

[Myxlpyxlx]

I used to build rc when I was a kid, liked to fly my models in the fog and low clouds to watch the swirls. Back then we used suran wrap to resist moisture but the radios and servos always got wet eventually. I soaked it in alcohol before it went into rice, used to work for micro servos and radios for longer life. The zenith was a gift from a friend less than a week old, would have sucked to tell her it was at the bottom of the Ohio river. Might build my own E-lvt style mod. For $45.00 I can get a dna 30 board and I have access to a machine shop. As a retired tool maker I could build me a decent mod, I'm just too lazy to. Can't see paying that much for a flawed design though.

 

[v1k1ng1001]

That's why it's nice to have a mech on hand. The SVD might yet survive! I used mine continuously for a year and it works like new still.

 

[Myxlpyxlx]

Yea these things are built like tanks. Everyday I appreciate it more and more.

 

[Completely Average]

Yea these things are built like tanks. Everyday I appreciate it more and more.

Not in my experience. Two died inside of 4 months. Both button failures. It's actually a common problem with the SVD.

 

[Myxlpyxlx]

As I am understanding it, it's user error causing the button failures. Mine feel solid and as mechanical as they can with an led in the middle of it. Maybe there are copies out there that use inferior parts. Can't call them clones per se, as these are so cheap to buy they aren't being cloned for profit.

 

[HughDaHand]

As I am understanding it, it's user error causing the button failures. Mine feel solid and as mechanical as they can with an led in the middle of it. Maybe there are copies out there that use inferior parts. Can't call them clones per se, as these are so cheap to buy they aren't being cloned for profit.

I just have to ask...... How can you use a button wrong?

 

[SupplyDaddy]

WD-40 on the inside and a good shake off afterwards...
It's water displacing and non-conductive. I would remove the screen though 1st (just out of the way, not detach).

 

[Myxlpyxlx]

When you are dealing with a mechanical device that has a void in the middle, you have to press near center to activate the connection else you make a partial bridge that causes arcing. When you get arcing you get a variable the board cant identify and shuts down.

 

[Myxlpyxlx]

Just drained my 3400 panny, so it doesn't appear I have any excess drain on this thing. I need to get more batteries that are meant for regulated devices.

 

[rawr]

Took my SVD to the river yesterday instead of a mech. In my defense It was an impromptu boating adventure so I wasn't geared toward it. Strange series of events knocked it into about 10 to 12 feet of water. Took me about a dozen dives to find it but I did, mainly for my new zenith v2. Battery is trashed, took me about 3 hours of cleaning to get the Zenith back up and running. The SVD spent half the day and all night in rice and it still lives!!! This thing has to be the best $40.00 regulated out there. Don't know about voltage drop yet but the ohm checker function is still working and accurate and the VW function seems to be ok. Only hint of rust is from the screws from the window for the display, but they only have an aesthetic function and are replaced anyway. It fires and is working well.

Building me a setup now, kind of like a vape survival gear kit. Going to put a mech, watertight battery box, some boating bags (like the ones I used to put my burners in), a couple of cheap clones and a small rebuild kit into one of my old wading belly bags. Next time I'm out and about I will be prepared for such events.

SVD should be cleaned in ultrasonic bath to be sure, but still the fire button will probably fail in few months of use... Its really bad. See other threads.

 

[rawr]

As I am understanding it, it's user error causing the button failures. Mine feel solid and as mechanical as they can with an led in the middle of it. Maybe there are copies out there that use inferior parts. Can't call them clones per se, as these are so cheap to buy they aren't being cloned for profit.

No copies i guess. Button is nice and clicky at the start, but the design of the button is poor and the clicky mechanism will fail and at the end button will stop working. I cant even disassemble mine, because its glued together... ffs

Body is like a tank, but thats it

 

[Myxlpyxlx]

Everything mechanical does fail over time. First rule of a builder is based on that concept.

 

[CDuvall]

That's so good to know. I have an SVD & I am very clumsy. I figure it's a matter or time before it falls in water somehow. Lol


•~Mrs. Duvall~•