Steve Kroop at Flytec <<info>>
writes:

Besides user-inflicted damage, the most common cause of instrument
problems that I see is from leaky single-use batteries. The fluid that leaks
from these batteries is highly corrosive and if allowed to remain on circuit
board, will cause irreparable damage. Generally speaking if the instrument (or
similar electronic device) is face up (battery compartment down) when the
batteries leak, the damage is limited to the battery terminals and battery
leads. However, if the instrument is face down (battery compartment up) then the
battery fluid can get on and damage the circuit board, LCD and keypad, etc. If
you are lucky enough to discover a leak before significant corrosion begins you
can follow the steps in last week's Tip of the Week for contact with salt water
to prevent or minimize damage to the instrument.

In the winter, as the flying season winds down for much of the northern
hemisphere, pilots tend to forget about their gear for several months only to
discover in the Spring that the batteries in their instrument, GPS or radio have
leaked during the winter hiatus. For this reason, I recommend that pilots remove
the batteries in these devices for the winter hibernation and thereby eliminate
the chance of a battery leak damaging their electronics. All of our instruments
use static memory so flights, waypoints and user-settings will not be lost when
the batteries are removed, even for an extended period.

I have also observed when pilots are flying regularly they tend to live with
minor instrument problems and defects such as broken housings, blemished LCDs,
intermittent keypad, etc. However, when winter sets in they forget about these
issues, then, when they get horny to get back in the air in the Spring, they say
"oh shit I meant to get that fixed over the winter." For this reason, before you
ignore your gear for the winter, send your defective stuff to its repair center
and get any issues resolved now rather then in the Spring when you are itching
to fly. In the case of Flytec instruments, here in the Americas, that would be
us (pleases see our support page:
http://flytec.com/support.html), outside the Americas you can contact the
factory: http://www.flytec.ch/de/contact/e-mail.html and for other manufacturer's
products, visit their website for service instructions.