Laundry won. "My bad" as they said in the 90s. Not sure if it was me or my 6 yr old that left the light in a pocket of pants that went through the wash. Only found it in the drum of the dryer. I tried the trick of sealing it up with rice to dry it out, but no luck, the light just makes a buzzing noise rather than light up when you put a battery in. The light is not marketed as waterproof, so it's certainly not a design flaw or anything. I have already ordered another, I really miss having such a small, bright light always at hand.
Mine was washed with better luck. I agree on letting it dry I've seen things on here or other boards about leaving them in a bag of rice for days or out in the sun?
When the house boiler's running frequently, I leave wet items on the top of the baseboard heater panels for a day or so. Usually works.
That's unusual. I've seen tests of them in dishwashers, laundry, fishtanks and they have all come out on top. Maybe your top was unscrewed too far to give it a good seal, or the oring was bad or something.
if these lights were fully potted it wouldn't have mattered and it would not have needed to be dried out. That was one of the touches that many lights had in the past and is going away as a cost cutting measure. In my opinion with a properly designed light it would not matter if the tube was not tight. See this thread I have brought this up various places. Take a look at this exposed batteries and all. It is not the tube that is the problem but the head. Another thread to look at. Link
I don't mean to get off topic here by talking about another light, but I thought it was kind of funny when after Christmas my wife proceeded to wash her Fenix EO1 that I bought her, about once a week (for about the first 3 weeks). To my surprise, each time as soon as she pulled it out of the washer or dryer it worked just fine. The finish was a little worse for the wear, but the light worked. I was pleasantly surprised.
If the head and tube were screwed down properly and the o-ring in good condition I would expect it to do fine in the washer. I don't know if an E01 is potted or or sealed from the back. If you look at the head from the back you should be able to tell. If it is you should be able to change batteries underwater with it.
Sorry to hear that you Maratac didn't make it. I've accidentally run mine through the clothes washer on several occasions and then recently on purpose during the making of my video. Either I've been really lucky or you just ran out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwfAKmlbv7w
You do have to leave things to dry for a long time, I have saved many phones with dissasembly and a week in a warm place and non of them were waterproof. Only things I can think of are that the water in the washing machine will have detergent in it so will be more of an electrolyte and that some how during the course of the was there was water ingress then it got turned on causing a short. Give it a few days then try it again if not sorry about the loss.
My E01 has been washed and dried twice and still works fine. Glad I'm not the only one thats done that!!!
