Water at battery conector on excaliber

[Kevin in IN]

Was hunting a local beach yesterday and the excaliber started making a loud false signal like it gives when the battery goes low. I expected something wrong since it only had about 5hr on a full charge. When I took the connector off I could see water had gotten in the connector. I have always kept silicone grease on the rubber seal and threads. So my questions are does the connecter with the pins go bad and have to be replaced , and if it does can the connector from an extra charger be used to replace it. I looked it over good and could not see any cracks or damage. I recharged the battery , cleaned the connector and battery. Thought I should try it again before I send it off for repair. I do have another as a backup. Also could anyone tell me what the average life is on the rechargable battery pak. Mine is 4 years old , still the factory original. I ordered a new one today. This is not the time of year to have battery issues. Thanks for any input on this. Kevin

 

[Sandman]

Since you are using Silicone Grease on the threads and connector, make sure you have some on the flat gasket. I try to not get any on the prongs. You might have a tiny crack in the connector or the housing. It could also be a second problem with the charger being bad so you don't get a full charge, but this has nothing to do with water in the connector. Water could be getting in the connector where the cable joins the plug. Check this out before you send it in for service.

Good Luck,
Sandman

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Since you are using Silicone Grease on the threads and connector, make sure you have some on the flat gasket. I try to not get any on the prongs. You might have a tiny crack in the connector or the housing. It could also be a second problem with the charger being bad so you don't get a full charge, but this has nothing to do with water in the connector. Water could be getting in the connector where the cable joins the plug. Check this out before you send it in for service.

Good Luck,
Sandman

Are you sure you had the connector screwed on hand tight? Do you have a spare battery? if so try it and see if it still leaks, if you have no leak then the cable to the controls are good....

How much water did you see in the connector, if it was only a few drops the problem may have had nothing to do with the water you saw, but rather the battery is going bad and not holding a full charge any longer. After a full charge of 12-16 hours check the battery with a volt meter and see what the charge is... New stock batteries fully charges are 800 Ma.

I bought the 12v NiMH 1600ma battery from onlybatterypacks.com to use in my primary excal which greatly increases the hunt time available. It fits in both the Excalibur and Excalibur II pods as well as in the AA akaline battery pod.

Battery
http://www.onlybatterypacks.com/showitem.asp?ItemID=12027.48



Battery and chargers..............
http://www.onlybatterypacks.com/items.asp?db=48

 

[Kevin in IN]

Sandman,Treasure-Hunter; Thank you for your responses. My new rechargeable pod just arrived today. I'll get it charged and give it a try later this week. One thing I noticed on the pod that had the water issue, was that black cover that goes over the set screws is loose,falling off loose.Maybe I had it caught under the connector when I tightened it down.I'm not going to rule out human error. I am over 50. Thanks also for the battery links. I will be ordering that charger. I've grown tired guessing if I have a fully charged battery. I've never seen replacement covers for these pods. Can a person just use electrical tape to cover those set screws? Thanks again guys. Kevin