I left my Prizm4 out in the rain :(

[Cranman]

Didn't realize it until the morning, but I left the MD out leaning on the car, and of course it POURED rain last night, and then was below freezing in the morning!

The MD would not turn on I opened the housing and it was dry as a bone..no evidence of water anywhere inside. I let it air out for a day, tried new batteries, no luck.

It was only 2 weeks old, I have only been out like 5 times

Any suggestions?

 

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[Sandman]

Since no one responded I'll give my two cents. Use a hair drier to throughly dry the detector inside. Recheck the batteries to make sure you didn't put one in backwards. Check the speaker and head phone jack. If all fails maybe you need a different hobby.

 

[a4wdguy]

The electronics on the Prizm is really easy to expose. I suggest you remove the batteries, open the back side of the pod to access the circuit board, then thoroughly dry with a hair dryer. There is no need to get the drier right up on the board, just let it blow across the board for 15 to 20 minutes or so. Reassemble, insert new batteries, paying close attention to polarity, then test the machine.
If it still doesn't work, you'll want to either send it back to the factory for repair, or sell it for parts.

 

[Cranman]

Thanks for the replies...I already tried the bow dryer, I think it's going to have to go to the shop for repairs! Still can't understand what could have happened. I have some experiece with electronics and the inside of the housing was very dry inside, I can't see even a little moisture so I'm not sure what could have been damaged.

Sandman: Don't need another hobby, already have too many, just need a better memory I guess!

 

[Keppy]

I have dropped my land detector in the water before and they got really wet inside........... I did not use a hair dryer on them........ To much heat at the wrong spot will damage it.............. All i ever did was open it up and let it air dry for 2 or 3 days and put it back together and it worked........ I did that to my Sovereign and my cell phone............ And they worked fine after i let them air dry............

 

[ivan salis]

lcd - liqiud crystal display can crack if it gets too cold / too much heat can warp the boards & screw up the curcuits - water and electronics have never play well together - you gotta take care of your toys

 

[Keppy]

Well what is going on with your prizm Is it working now or still not working ??

 

[Cranman]

It's still not working....I really don't understand why. First of all the freezing temps outside that night should not have been an issue, surely if you left your MD even in youir trunk in freezing weather it does not damage it. It might have gotten to 28-30 that night.

Secondly there was *zero* water, not even any moisture that I could see inside the housing. I think I will take it apart one more time and look closely at it, maybe verify with my meter that voltage is getting from the battery contatcs to wherever they go first on the circuit board, etc.

It's just weird to me, I would think any water that could get anywhere to damage it would be seen inside the housing.

 

[Keppy]

Well it looks like you might have to send it to Whites for service...... with being so new it should be covered by warranty......

 

[Keppy]

If you do send it in send it to whites service center at.. 1011 Pleasant Valley road Sweet home ,OR 97386...... I found out it might cost a little more for postage.... But to me they do a lot better work there than at there Midwest service center or there east service center..

 

[digging wv]

Some computer chips are VERY sensitive to moisture. A little goes a long way. Even the act of touching one without you, it, and the equipment being grounded together will zap it into oblivion. Some boards have a coating on them to protect them, some don't. Maybe just a bit of frost in the right spot did you in?

 

[digging wv]

Some computer chips are VERY sensitive to moisture. A little goes a long way. Even the act of touching one without you, it, and the equipment being grounded together can zap some into oblivion. Some boards have a coating to protect them, some don't. Maybe just a bit of frost in the right spot did you in?

 

[ivan salis]

be warned freezing temps can indeed damage metal detectors -- esp those with LCD displays ( liquid crystal display) --note the term "liquid" in freezing type temps the liquid can "freeze" as liquid freezes it expands ( think of ice) crack -busted display * -- detectors are delicate electronoc equiptment and should not be left in cars in either freezing cold or fairly hot temps -- while the temp out side might be say oh 90 degrees in a locked car with the sun shining on it --its way way hotter -- thats what often kills kids and animals left alone in cars --it bakes enm to death with extreme heat -- the same goes for your detector --the extreme heat can warp your mother board or fry the chips in it -- rapid temp changes can also cause "sweat" to build up inside of the detectors case -- much like the way water forms on the outside of a glass with ice in it in a warm room

 

[Keppy]

One thing i do not under stand .. I leave my radar detector in my truck year round..... 90+ tempts in the summer at times .......So un the truck it would be over a 100 ...........And below 0 at times in the winter......... And it does not hurt my radar detector..... So why should it hurt a metal detector ? And i leave what ever detector i am useing summer or winter in the truck also and never had any prob;ems with any detector i left in the truck

 

[ivan salis]

radar detectors are expected to be left in a car thus they are "designed" to be left in cars * because they are designed to be used in cars --metal detectors are not "designed" to be used in cars only to be transported in them to go to and from a detecting area ( thus they are not designed to be stored in a car "long term")-- thus they simply are "designed differantly" .

you might have not had issues but you might have been one of the "lucky" ones --

 

[Ltr113]

I had a similar episode a few years back with my P-IV. I did some early spring hunting in the rain. The best I could figure out was that it got wet.
When I turned it on, the indicator would scroll through all of the icons (in a scanning left to right sort of motion) hitting each one as it scrolled through.

In a situation like this one, I've heard that turning a wet unit on can do some real damage. I've heard that you should just towel it off, DO NOT turn it on, remove the battery(ies) and administer rice therapy. (YES, rice)- No, don't eat it.....use it as a desiccant. Uncooked, it will absorb the moisture. You'll just have to figure out the best way to get the detector near the rice or the rice near the detector to do it's thing.

Ever since though, I won't take the Prizm out in the rain without a baggie secured over the controls. Rainy days are much better for tumbling clad.

 

[ivan salis]

not turning it on -removing the battery and gently using a blow dry on a low setting (kept a short distance away so as to not "overheat" things but rather just to to dry out things I've heard helps.)

 

[Keppy]

Now when my detector was dunked in the water.............. And all i did was turn it off and when i got home took out the batterys............... Opened it up and let it dry out by it's self for about 3 days.......... Then it worked fine.......... I don't like to put a hair dryer on it..... if not done with caution it could damage it......... I never used the rice either i just let it dry by it's self...

 

[mgtmadness]

I run RC Cars and my electric ones if they get wet and stop working I use Denatured alcohol or Isopropyl Alcohol(first choice)(the 90+% stuff, get the highest % you can find) and douse it with the Iso. alcohol really well, then I let air dry or hair dryer on warm temp. Just a few hours or less and it is working fine. With a MD I would wait more than a few hours as there is much more of a larger Circuit Board.
The thing that you do not want to do which I made a mistake of is use the alcohol then use WD-40 and power it up, I did to an electronic speed controller and it started smoking and ruined it.

 

[corey237]

Put it in a bowl of rice.