Sekonic L-308s with Leaked AA Battery

I have here with me a Sekonic L-308s light meter that was damaged by a leaking battery. After a careful cleaning of the contacts the light meter seems to operate normally except on the wireless flash mode. It can do accurate reading on corded mode but never on wireless mode (meaning it does not register at all).

Is there something I am missing here to clean or it is really a permanent damage?

The unit is already out of warranty. So, I might as well ditch it if no repairs/solutions can be made already.

Thanks in advance!

Wow, sorry to hear of the damage.

If nothing else, it should remind your fellow forum-mates to follow the battery manufacturers recommendation and remove batteries from their devices if they go unused for more than 30 days.
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I dream of a WORLD where the CHICKEN can cross the ROAD without its motives being questioned

I guess the unit is kaputz. I will save up for a new one then. Any suggestions aside from a sekonic brand?

Have you checked with the battery manufactor to see if they will pay for the replacement or repair of the unit?

Also, have you checked with Sekonic about repair cost?

John Gettis said:

Have you checked with the battery manufactor to see if they will pay for the replacement or repair of the unit?

Click to expand...

I live in the Philippines and I emailed the supplier (official distributor of Sekonic here) about my problem and asked them where I can send the unit for repair but sadly their response was a short "buy a new one" literaly! They a have a sale now on this model for around 187.00 USD (9,000 Php) but I am having second thoughts and maybe getting a higher model.

As for the battery, I remember using an Energizer Alkaline battery, the problem is I threw it away upon discovering it had leaked heavily on the unit... and in the Philippines consumers barely have the right to complain ;-)

Thanks for your suggestions though... wish I can have this unit fixed/replaced since Im using an old cabron (ef-1) light meter now and I cannot find any manual or user guide on the internet.

We used to use Stop Bath on a Q-Tip to remove corrosion. If you do use extreme care.

http://www.sprintsystems.com/stopbath.php

B&H also has the Kodak Indicator Stop Bath for about $7.00

Stop bath is stop bath the brand does not matter. You don't need alot and it is not diluted just dip the Q-tip and roll over corrosion. 9 times out of 10 it works. Be sure the area is well vented due to the odor.

That said, my disclaimer is use at your own risk since this is a flammable liquid. The manufactures also have material safety data sheets. Yes this is not being used for developing, but to attempt to remove battery corrosion.

Last, if the corrosion is really bad it may be beyond repair.

Sherwin V Ubaldo said:

I have here with me a Sekonic L-308s light meter that was damaged by a leaking battery. After a careful cleaning of the contacts the light meter seems to operate normally except on the wireless flash mode. It can do accurate reading on corded mode but never on wireless mode (meaning it does not register at all).

Is there something I am missing here to clean or it is really a permanent damage?

The unit is already out of warranty. So, I might as well ditch it if no repairs/solutions can be made already.

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Stop bath is acetic (sp?) acid, which is vinegar. Any vinegar should work.

to: ryan2007 and Patrick Corrigan

Big thanks for the tips guys! Will report soon about the results. I will pry open this light meter tonite and see what I can do.

Yes, stop bath is very acidic. The odor is strong so be aware of that and don't smoke while you mess with any chemicals (just a disclaimer).

We used to use it on the battery compartments of manual camera's to get the internal meter working. Just a small amount is needed and again since you are dealing with a battery that blew up I would be careful and I personally would protect my hands and even wear goggles for safety. It may sound overboard, but accidents do happen.

If the battery compartment is too far gone I don't think this will work well and a replacement meter would be next.

For the future if any electronics are not getting use whether a camera, TV remote or child's toy I would take the batteries out.

be sure everything is dry before trying to power the device if you do decide to continue

Initial Report:

I changed the battery contacts using almost same contact terminals from an old TV remote control.

My cousin who fixes cellphones told me to use laquer thinner instead and household alcohol. For a small background, Im an electronics technician also.

Ok, I bathed the two circuit boards (removing the LCD of course and the rubber connection) using a laquer thinner then brushed it with toothbrush after. Dried it under the sun then bathed it again with alcohol, brushed the PCBs then dried it again. Waited overnight to completely remove residues and soldered all wires back and fitting the new battery terminals.

WALLAH! It springed back to life. All functions are now restored and taking accurate readings like it was before. Wireless flash reading is possible again. So far so good I guess. I will still need to make further observations/tests and hopefully it is fixed.

Corrosions from leaking battery is really bad!

good to hear something worked.

Hi Shervin,

I have the same problem with my meter. I am going to try the same things you did, so I'm kindly asking if you can clarify a few things.

Just to be clear, you said you remove the LCD and the "Rubber connection". What rubber connection? What about the light sensor, did you remove that as well? How long do you soak it in thinner and alcohol?

Thanks ahead for your answers.

Bogdan

Sherwin last posted in October of 2014.

Bogdan S said:

Hi Shervin,

I have the same problem with my meter. I am going to try the same things you did, so I'm kindly asking if you can clarify a few things.

Just to be clear, you said you remove the LCD and the "Rubber connection". What rubber connection? What about the light sensor, did you remove that as well? How long do you soak it in thinner and alcohol?

Thanks ahead for your answers.

Bogdan

Click to expand...

You can get aerosol cans of 'Switch Clean/Contact Cleaner', with a long thin straw-like nozzle (a bit like the straw with WD-40 cans).

My first stop would be to totally blitz the whole affected area a few times with that and see if that helps.

I find it helps in the majority of cases. If that fails then delve and clean deeper.

(Electrician by trade)