Salvo Light/Battery (NIMH) Care

[caroln]

I recently got a Salvo 10W HID light--sweet light. But I have never had a can light before, and have no clue how to properly care for the light, and specifically the battery. The light didn't come with any kind of directions, so I'm a little clueless. I just found the FAQ on the Salvo site (Salvo Diving Equipment - Knowledge) , but does anyone have any real world hints on taking care of this properly. I'd like this to last a VERY long time

[Charles R]

Keep it in a climate controlled environment, extreame heat/cold will destroy your batteries. Keep them charged especially if they ar egoing to sit for a long period of time without use. NiMH batteries will discharge over time so keep them charged. Other than that Dive Charge Dive Charge ect ect ect...

[Rainer]

I wouldn't be throwing it on the charger every day just to keep the charge up. They seem to lose about 1%/day. I dive weekly, so just toss the battery on the charger the night before I dive.

As for the light itself, here are some suggestions (one of my can lights is a Salvo if that matters):

(1) Check and lube the o-ring (spit) before every dive. Once the lid is on, check that both latches are in fact locked. Look to see that the o-ring is seated and nothing is interfering with it (e.g. a hair).

(2) Protect the light head during travel and when not in use. For most of the Salvo heads, a beer cozy works very well.

(3) After dives in SW, make sure to rinse the light. Close those latches and check that o-ring just as you would for a normal dive!

(4) After you're done diving, disconnect the battery (and check for flooding). Don't wait till you get home to check. When transporting the light, keep the battery unplugged.

(5) With a 10W light, it's not the end of the world if you turn it on above water, but I'd still limit doing that. Once the light is on, leave it on for a minute or so before turning it off. Once off, wait a minute or two before turning it back on. Don't rapidly strike HIDs.

[Geoff_T]

Originally Posted by Rainer

I wouldn't be throwing it on the charger every day just to keep the charge up. They seem to lose about 1%/day. I dive weekly, so just toss the battery on the charger the night before I dive.

As for the light itself, here are some suggestions (one of my can lights is a Salvo if that matters):

(1) Check and lube the o-ring (spit) before every dive. Once the lid is on, check that both latches are in fact locked. Look to see that the o-ring is seated and nothing is interfering with it (e.g. a hair).

(2) Protect the light head during travel and when not in use. For most of the Salvo heads, a beer cozy works very well.

(3) After dives in SW, make sure to rinse the light. Close those latches and check that o-ring just as you would for a normal dive!

(4) After you're done diving, disconnect the battery (and check for flooding). Don't wait till you get home to check. When transporting the light, keep the battery unplugged.

(5) With a 10W light, it's not the end of the world if you turn it on above water, but I'd still limit doing that. Once the light is on, leave it on for a minute or so before turning it off. Once off, wait a minute or two before turning it back on. Don't rapidly strike HIDs.

actually check with the manufactures instructions on the charging situation. Some types of recharable batteries are supposed to stay on the charger when not in use. Doing otherwise shortens their life.

[Rainer]

That's just not the case for NiMH or LiIon (what Salvo uses). In any case, as a Salvo owner, I was also told just to toss it on when I planned to go diving. If I was not going to use the light for awhile (over a month), I'd do as Charles suggested and probably put a charge or so on it just to keep it from discharging too far.

[caroln]

Thank you guys. I took all these suggestions, along with Salvo's FAQ's and dumped them in a word doc to make my own instruction manual for the light.

[CompuDude]

Final hint: For the NiMH batteries, you want to connect the battery to the charger BEFORE you plug it into the wall. (disconnect order doesn't matter once you're done charging)

For the LiIon batteries, it's opposite. Plug the charger into the wall, THEN connect the battery.

Otherwise Rainer's list is pretty good.

Note re turning the light on and off ("striking", in HID parlance): If you turn it on, leave it on for a couple of minutes to fully warm up before you turn it off. Once you turn it off, allow the bulb to cool for a good five minutes before turning back on ("re-striking"). Underwater, should your light ever go out, you can shorten this a bit, since the water cools things much faster than air, but still try to avoid turning it on and of rapidly. Very bad for the bulb, and, in fact, unless the gaseous metal has a chance to cool and re-coalesce, it likely won't re-strike anyway.

Additional Sidenote: NiMH batteries prefer to be stored with somewhere between 25%-75% charge, ideally. So generally, unless I have taken my batteries to a near-fully-discharged state, if I've only done a couple shortish dives and I'm not diving the next day, I don't recharge the battery when I get home.

Always hook up and charge the night before the dive, if you can, or a day or two before at most, to ensure a nice full charge when you're using the light.

Enjoy your new light! Salvo's HIDs are definitely among the best made.

[mm_dm]

Do these have to be fully charged and discharged a few times before they'll hold up for 4 hours like the Dive Rites? That was on the DR instruction/owner care sheet. I put cold water in the bath tub and let the light discharge under water when I did that.

[CompuDude]

Originally Posted by mm_dm

Do these have to be fully charged and discharged a few times before they'll hold up for 4 hours like the Dive Rites? That was on the DR instruction/owner care sheet. I put cold water in the bath tub and let the light discharge under water when I did that.

I don't recall having that issue with my Salvo, but it shouldn't really hurt it to do so.

NiMH batteries generally don't like being run down to zero, however, it can damage them... I avoid it whenever possible and get them back on the charger asap if a dive day ends up sucking my light dry. So I would be more inclined to just start using it normally, unless you are starting off doing dive days that really need the full burn time.

In that case, the bathtub trick should do the job for you.

[caroln]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

Final hint: For the NiMH batteries, you want to connect the battery to the charger BEFORE you plug it into the wall. (disconnect order doesn't matter once you're done charging)


Additional Sidenote: NiMH batteries prefer to be stored with somewhere between 25%-75% charge, ideally. So generally, unless I have taken my batteries to a near-fully-discharged state, if I've only done a couple shortish dives and I'm not diving the next day, I don't recharge the battery when I get home.

Always hook up and charge the night before the dive, if you can, or a day or two before at most, to ensure a nice full charge when you're using the light.

Enjoy your new light! Salvo's HIDs are definitely among the best made.

I'm glad I read this before I leave on my trip--my faq's say charger to wall, then battery to charger for both NIMH and Li-Ion batteries.

I'll be charging the light overnight tonight to use tomorrow, and the same thing for the rest of the weekend. I can't wait to get this bad boy in the water!!