Lights fell in the tank

[Mark3]

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!

 

[Hydrored]

While I've never had this exact issue, my Ipad was in the bottom of the pool for who knows how long. Buried it in rice in a large open pan for a couple of days and still works to this day. I also did not try to turn it on.....

 

[Pavelka1]

They are not water proof, just water resistant. Meaning they should not be effected by moisture and occasional splashing. However it would not hurt to try leaving it in rice for 24 hours or a couple days. Probably should NOT dump in ro water.

 

[PeterC99]

Can you take outside cover off and make sure everything inside is completely dry? Then put components in rice.

Next - go get acrylic & mesh top for your aquarium. This way your lights will never fall into aquarium again!

 

[Rogued_Reefer]

I had something like this happen with a hydra 26… they’re likely toast. You made the same mistake I made. I dried it as much as possible and turned it on. It worked but something fried.

 

[windemerejack]

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.

 

[Mark3]

I think they are trash too. Kicking myself over and over.

 

[Wiskey]

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

 

[Mark3]

Fried in fish oil

 

[windemerejack]

I think they are trash too. Kicking myself over and over.

You wont know until they are dried, no point beating yourself up until you know one way or the other

 

[PeterC99]

I think they are trash too. Kicking myself over and over.

We all have these mishaps! Don’t let it bother you!

seeing a number of great suggestions on this thread that may just help you out!!!

And get the acrylic & mesh top - prevents things from accidentally dropping into tank.

 

[Mark3]

anybody have a number handy that I can call them to see if repair is reasonable?

 

[tehmadreefer]

Easy test, plug them into a gfci outlet once they are completely dry, it is trips they are trash.
Regardless saltwater and electronics don’t mix and mostly likely they will never work, just the corrosive nature of salt will destroy the insides in a few weeks.

 

[windemerejack]

anybody have a number handy that I can call them to see if repair is reasonable?

why do you not just wait, try out what every body has told you and then if they dont work ring for a repair.

 

[Tamberav]

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!

If they were waterproof, how would we keep the led's cool? I don't believe this is even feasible on a small light with powerful LED's. They have fan's and such because it is needed to pass air over and out or the led's would burn up.

Your warranty is ruined so I would probably open them up because it is the salt creep that will absolutely ruin them and not the water. It is a lot worse to dunk something in salt water then fresh water. They need all the salt cleaned out with distilled water and q-tips or such and dried. Likely though because you weren't there when they fell in... they likely already fried/short circuited and with this type of damage, it probably isn't even worth the repair cost.

How did they fall in?

 

[attiland]

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!

stop testing it. It is flickering because it is wet.
Sea water is very corrosive even after it has dried.

Take it apart and take all the electronics out of casing and since it has been in water it is better if you rinse the electronics with fresh water. It won’t be more wet than it is now but will get rid of the salt.
dry it with a hair dryer. You can warm it quite a bit but make sure you don’t melt anything.
keep it open for a while (you can keep it silica too) after a while than you can try to put it together and test it again. You likely will be fine after.

 

[rlman41299]

Although it is not a light, one of my apex modules got soaked in salt water when y skimmer overflowed and lost power to that module. Opened it up and dried it with paper towel making sure not to rub on any of the solders but just a dab to dry it. When most of the water was absorbed I sprayed it with alcohol and dried it with paper towels again. Lastly I sprayed with alcohol again and let it dry open. Next day I just tried to plug it and see if it worked and viola, module is working again.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

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.

 

[Mark3]

That was my thought also, about the salt water, that is why I was thinking the RO rinse.
I haven't tried to turn them back on yet, ... they were flashing in the tank, under water, I unplugged them and took them out of the tank. I didn't get electrocuted, and neither did the fish.

 

[Mark3]

Although it is not a light, one of my apex modules got soaked in salt water when y skimmer overflowed and lost power to that module. Opened it up and dried it with paper towel making sure not to rub on any of the solders but just a dab to dry it. When most of the water was absorbed I sprayed it with alcohol and dried it with paper towels again. Lastly I sprayed with alcohol again and let it dry open. Next day I just tried to plug it and see if it worked and viola, module is working again.

Maybe there is hope.