bobones wrote:I don't bother taking the batteries off when washing either, but I have had 2 eTap RD failures that I put down to moisture ingress, so I am not going near them with a pressure washer at all.
First failure was with 11 speed RD which, after a couple of years, started discharging batteries within a week, then after around 3.5 years it started stalling on shifts. I ended up buying an A2 RD to replace this.
Second failure was Force AXS RD which after a couple of months started discharging batteries within a day. I got this replaced under warranty. Not really sure what happened here, but it was on my winter bike and I may have used a PW on it a couple of times. The replacement has seen a lot of wet rides but it remains fine.
Most of the stories of repaired RDs on here tell of dirty/muddy interiors pointing to water ingress as the culprit, and once they're cleaned up they work again. I am now a bit more careful about drying them off after wet rides and only using hose mist spray to rinse off soap.
Water ingress:
It actually says in the service manual to remove batteries, and installed the covers when washing.
As I mentioned above, using a mist setting on a house attachment is more than enough to wash away what’s been agitated by a sponge to rinse away clean.
I for one don’t want to take the chance of damaging expensive component, that can be prevented with just a few seconds to remove the batteries.
Battery life:
Also, if your bike sits for long periods, the front and rear mech battery will also drain faster. That’s also mentioned in the manual too. I think it has to do with the components are always in communication with each other.
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