But seriously what type of warranty could I possibly require on a tube that hold a battery..
The end of the tube has an adapter affixed at either end, one for the switch and one for the core socket which as you noted receives any "overflow". If the thin strip of cable that's adhered to the inside of the tube completes the circuit, how would it not be "ripped" or otherwise forced away from the side wall by attempting to remove the core socket? It can't just be "floating" in there? Regardless, I thought they made the warranty issues clear but they might want to revisit that or make a point to highlight it in their new instruction cards.
I don't imagine it "snaps" in and out or was ever intended to perform as such. I did have similar thoughts after examining my buddies unit, who got overzealous and flooded in a similar fashion, although not to that extent. It is hard to tell but I imagined it had an o-ring to help with this scenario, although by your description it sounds like it does not if it leaked all the way past that socket collar into the battery compartment. Much like gumming up the adapter on the T1 interface, I'm just going to assume that it's the same procedure - adjust your technique to avoid it as much as possible. Interesting to know you can soak the body but it still seems like a vector for failure to me.