Bring Your Water-Soaked Gadget Back from the Dead

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  togoeast@...06/21/07 Report as spam
  1

  Always Remove the Batteries When Possible

  To avoid shorts, etc. in equipment that has taken an unplanned bath, always remove the batteries ASAP if possible. This will prevent accidentally turning the device on and sending power where it shouldn't go, possibly causing short circuits and further damage. Of course, some products have sealed batteries, so be careful not to hit the power button while the unit is still damp inside.

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  grumpy bug06/21/07 Report as spam
  2

  wrong!!

  Sorry but any device once exposed to moisture is doomed. You might be able to revive it temporarily but ultimately the circuit board will die. This is because the solder joints are very fine, even the smallest amount of moisture will cause corrosion and it doesn't take much to corrode through a circuit.
  
  Also when we are talking alcohol here we are not talking about a nice 12 year single malt scotch, which don't get me wrong is very nice but it won't do the job. You'll need something like 100% Isopropyl alcohol
  
  Sorry for being so harsh but I just don't believe in giving people false hope

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  BizHacksRick06/21/07 Report as spam
  3

  Or maybe right?

  I dunno... there's a ton of anecdotal evidence out there to support the theory. I agree that moisture is an electronics-killer, but perhaps the rice sucks it out before it does permanent damage. In any case, even a temporary revival can be worthwhile, as it allows you retrieve contacts, photos, and other data that might otherwise be irreplaceable.

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  dtynes06/21/07 Report as spam
  4

  What about wine

  Dear Grumpy Bug,
  
  I dropped my in a glass of red wine. any hope there?

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  grumpy bug06/24/07 Report as spam
  5

  same fate sorry

  Alas while wine maybe fine the device will ultimately suffer the same fate. The solution described in the original article may help you revive it temporarily to retrieve your important data but don't count on it. This is where good back ups are worth their weight in gold (hmmm a solid gold SD card, that's not worth much and that's how I back up my PDA, but I digress). It is also important to note that this should be done immediately after the accident, if you leave it 24 - 48 hours the damage will already be done.
  
  The problem is the chemical composition of solder means that it will inherently rust very quickly when exposed to moisture. The solder joints in todays devices are really small so it goes without saying that even the smallest amount of moisture will break the connection. As an example of this I used to carry my mobile phone while having my morning run. After about 9 months the phone failed, when phone was inspected by the repairer they found the device had corrosion in it. While the phone never got wet directly just being exposed to a moist environment (ie my sweaty leg) was enough to kill the phone.

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  lglarue06/21/07 Report as spam
  6

  Water Anecdotes

  My son (13 years old) actually washed (full cycle, with detergent, fabric softener & spin cycles) and dried (on high heat) a 1G flash drive. He found it on the lint trap when emptying the dryer. We set it aside for several months and on a whim I tried it...it works like a champ! Granted, it is not a complex device, and the cap was on it through all of this, I still thought that the heat would do it in if the water & soap did not.
  
  Other than that, in the past 4 months, our family has ruined 2 cell phones (1 dropped into a clean toilet by a teenager, the other when my husband fell in a creek on a hike) and part of a camera (just the flash is ruined, which I can live with) which happened during the same hiking incident. For all, we removed battery immediately and let dry out for about a week (we live in Colorado, so very low humidity.) So, mixed results there.

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  grumpy bug06/24/07 Report as spam
  7

  the other BIG factor

  This post also touches on the other BIG factor.
  
  Does the device carry an active charge?
  
  If not such as your flash drives and SD cards they are quite likely to survive the initial dunking. However corrosion is still likely to be a problem in the long term so don't trust the device with PHD thesis.
  
  If the device has an active charge (such as your phones,PDAs and cameras) when it cops a dunking it is quite likely that there will be a electrical short in the device in which case no amount of water removing rice is going to fix it.