Autopilot head dry-off?

[ref_123]

Hi all,

my trusted Navman G-pilot probably swallowed some water/humidity over the winter. The LCD display does not show all the segments, but the pattern changes through the day, so I hope it's not a completely lost case. Any experience with drying off instrument heads?

Reps at Navico told me that I had a decent run out of the unit (is 5 years really a good run?) and proposed to sell me the refurbished head unit. Will go for it if there is no other solution...

Thanks,
Stan

 

[rwthomas1]

I have had success drying out electronics but not specifically your problem. I used to soak RC boat electronics regularly. To dry them out I would dip the component boards in alcohol, air dry, and then place in a warm oven. The trick to using the oven is to preheat the oven to 180*F, shut it OFF, and then watch it carefully until it drops below 150*F, them put the parts in. Never had a problem below 150*F. I have also air-dried after alcohol dipping and just let time do its thing. Once dried out and functional I sprayed the component boards with CorrosionX. Once treated with CorrosionX I could immerse the parts and they still worked fine. This is no joke, I used to run 10+lb gasoline powered hydro's that could top out at over 80 mph. The electronics have to work or it becomes an unguided and quite dangerous missile. Good luck.

RT

 

[ref_123]

This may be a good idea

Thanks Rob. One issue is that I cannot open the unit - the screws are really "secure", they seem to use one of those odd Philips star-shaped bits but a really small one. Unless the oven trick works with the whole unit, I will probably try my small flat bits on it. May be someone knows where I can get a really small "star" Phillips?

The rest of the instruments does not have any issues, luckily for me...

Regards,
Stan

 

[sleather]

Thanks Rob. One issue is that I cannot open the unit - the screws are really "secure", they seem to use one of those odd Philips star-shaped bits but a really small one. Unless the oven trick works with the whole unit, I will probably try my small flat bits on it. May be someone knows where I can get a really small "star" Phillips?

Been thru the oven routine "many" times and even dried out a very expensive dive watch on top of the TV(TG it was pure Florida spring water)

Most hardware stores will have a selection of those odd bits that fit into a hex shaped driver. Picked up a really cool set from Black & Decker that has square, star, hex, all the standard bits, drill bits and small sockets for less than $20