You’ve just returned from a great vacation. You have your gear dialed in the way you want it, and your photos from this trip are epic. It’s time to put your gear away until the next trip. It’s already nicely packed in your luggage and fits neatly under the bed, so you slide it under and there it lives. Fast-forward several months… Your next trip is scheduled; the flight is booked; everything is arranged and the neighbor has even agreed to feed the cat. It’s time to pull out your gear and make sure it’s ready for your flight tomorrow. You roll out the bags, unzip and… OH NO! What is that green goo?! You get a sickening feeling as you dig deeper and start to smell leaking batteries around your strobes. What next? You call Backscatter in a panic and purchase 2 new strobes, new batteries, and have everything overnighted to you. Underwater photography just got a lot more expensive!
What can you do to avoid this next time? How should your gear be stored? Wet or dry? Batteries in or out? Here are a few tips that will help you extend the life of your gear, and make sure it’s ready to go when you are.
The number one mistake people make when storing their gear is to leave it packed as-is from the return flight home. This can spell disaster! In the stress of travel, we often forget steps such as removing batteries. And even perfectly packed equipment can be damaged during travel. There are few things more upsetting than opening your bags the day before your trip to see both housing handles broken. It is important to open, unpack, inspect, and properly store your gear after each trip.
Avoid the Green Goo by Removing All Batteries
We often get calls from customers whose strobes have suffered the green death. They fully charged the batteries and thought it would be safe to leave them in the strobes for a few weeks. Unfortunately, that few weeks turned into a few months and now the batteries have leaked, requiring an expensive repair. Every battery should be removed from your equipment when you store it. This includes moisture alarm batteries and TTL converter batteries.
When purchasing underwater photography equipment like the product mentioned in this article, please support Scuba Diver Life by supporting our retail partner: Backscatter.com
