Hi All,

Finally some wind here in Ireland and was on the water yesterday. When i came back into the beach one of my mates noticed my aquapack which has my GPS's in had water in it so i quickly took out my 2 GT-31's and saw that there was water inside one which you could see in by the screen of the GPS. Looks like my aquapack is now leaking

I opened up the door where the SD card goes and stuck it on one of the heater vents of my van until i got home. I had switched it off before i started my journey home but by itself it switched back on while is was driving and i couldn't switch it off as the power button wasn't working and the constant beeping was a bit annoying so i turned up the stereo. I now have a peak speed of 55 knots on my GPS now though

When i got home i noticed that the GPS was now powered off and also would not switch on so i put it by the hot water tank in the airing cupboard with the sd card slot door open and am going to leave it there for a few days.

Can anyone let me know if the GPS's is knackered or will it work again after it's dried out. Can't really afford another one so i'm hoping that it will be alright.

Cheers

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but salt water is a killer unless treated immediately. You need to pull the unit apart and either immerse in fresh water or use an electronics cleaning spray (not lubricant type) straight away to flush all the salt and water. If you see any greenish crystaline/crusty bits forming on board then its too late. With multilayer boards that have thru hole plating, corrosion is a death sentance.
At work if we see any electronics that has had a spillage or corosion of any sort, we will not repair it unless we can replace the entire board as the repair can not be guarenteed otherwise. I hav removed corrosin from boards before until it looks like new only to have it reappear several months later.

I took it apart and there was corrosion forming around where the power button presses down onto it and some green stuff just around it but the inside was all dry with no moisture or water left but i cleaned with some fresh water and dried with a hair dryer so it was all fully dry inside.

I put it back together and went to recharge it as the battery might have been discharged but nothings happening except some intermitent beeps every couple of seconds for a couple of minutes and then nothing. The recharging bar didn't come up on the screen either so reckon it's ****ed

Thanks for the advice though Oceanblue64 but the water must have shorted something out when it switched itself back on when i was driving home. Time to buy a new one i think but now i know they are not fully waterproof

Clean it,dry it and put it away for parts.You never know when you or your pals have battery failure or other damage and you can use it for parts.
Paqua seem a better cover to me but you cant fault Aquapacks warranties.
For water to get inside I reckon you haven't closed the door properly allowing a smidge of water in. They will close but not be shut properly.Listen 4 the click!

Here in WA I think we are at more risk of steam/moist air getting in from the water trapped in the Aquapack and heated up in the sun. GT31's are water resistant not air resistant.

I have sent a GT11 to Tiawan for "out of warranty work" with good results.The postage each way cost more than the repairs.

I think the fact that it switched itself on was the killer. If you had been able to dry it before it powered up you may have got away with it.
I steamed a gps leaving it in an moist aquapac in the car . Foolishly I turned it on to see if it still worked. It did. Then it died permently a few seconds later. If I let it dry out first it may have been ok.

Was reading in another forum about drowning iphones, apparently the recommended way to dry them out is to leave them in a ziplock bag of rice for a couple of days.

Might try it next time anyway.

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nebbian said...

Was reading in another forum about drowning iphones, apparently the recommended way to dry them out is to leave them in a ziplock bag of rice for a couple of days.

Might try it next time anyway.

That will only work for fresh water. I remember when I was servicing marine radios for GME that I was told by another tech that if a radio got a dunking in salt water, the trick was to throw it into a bucket of fresh water first before drying it out. That way the salt cant do too much damage.

I've got 2 pieces of sponge foam in my aqua pac one in the bottom of the pack and the other in between both of the gps(approx 3cm thick), in the past i have not closed the pac properly and small amount of water entered but the sponges soaked it up before it could do any damage to the gps's.

Door was shut fully on the GT-31, noticed some slight corrosion round the socket you plug the usb lead into so water has got into it there

Checked my aqua pack by filling it up with water and sure enough forund a tin little pin prick sized hole so that ts how the water got into the aquapack

Was thinking of posting it off to get repaired but reckon with the cost of postage from Ireland and the repair work i might as well be better off buying a new one

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fullmoon said...

Clean it,dry it and put it away for parts.You never know when you or your pals have battery failure or other damage and you can use it for parts.
Paqua seem a better cover to me but you cant fault Aquapacks warranties.
For water to get inside I reckon you haven't closed the door properly allowing a smidge of water in. They will close but not be shut properly.Listen 4 the click!

Here in WA I think we are at more risk of steam/moist air getting in from the water trapped in the Aquapack and heated up in the sun. GT31's are water resistant not air resistant.

I have sent a GT11 to Tiawan for "out of warranty work" with good results.The postage each way cost more than the repairs.

Yeah reckon so myself, must have shorted something out

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yoyo said...

I think the fact that it switched itself on was the killer. If you had been able to dry it before it powered up you may have got away with it.
I steamed a gps leaving it in an moist aquapac in the car . Foolishly I turned it on to see if it still worked. It did. Then it died permently a few seconds later. If I let it dry out first it may have been ok.

Select to expand quote

nebbian said...

Was reading in another forum about drowning iphones, apparently the recommended way to dry them out is to leave them in a ziplock bag of rice for a couple of days.

Might try it next time anyway.

Didn't know that, thanks for the advice. I have been told the best way of keeping them dry though is to stick them in a zip lock bag inside the aquapack and if the aquapack leaks the zip lock bag will protect the GPS's. Wish i'd know that before as i'll definitely being doing that from now

Good idea, i'll do that aswell as sticking the GPS's in a zip lock bag. Will definitely not get them wet if my aquapack leaks. Really wish they did not say in the instruction manual that they are water resistant to 1 meter. Didn't have that much water inside the aquapack so they are far from water resistant.

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choco said...

I've got 2 pieces of sponge foam in my aqua pac one in the bottom of the pack and the other in between both of the gps(approx 3cm thick), in the past i have not closed the pac properly and small amount of water entered but the sponges soaked it up before it could do any damage to the gps's.

I always put my GT11 in a ziplock bag, more than once I have ended up with water in the aquapack and the GT11 stayed dry.

What rotten luck I accidentally left mine in my shorts pocket a while back and ended up in the front loader washing machine for 45 min and not one drop got in.

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T 11 said...

What rotten luck I accidentally left mine in my shorts pocket a while back and ended up in the front loader washing machine for 45 min and not one drop got in.

What speed did you get on the spin cycle?

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sausage said...

T 11 said...

What rotten luck I accidentally left mine in my shorts pocket a while back and ended up in the front loader washing machine for 45 min and not one drop got in.

What speed did you get on the spin cycle?

1200 rpm I think