- Joined
- Jun 2, 2004
The "Help! I just got my expensive electronic device wet. What should I do?" Thread.
Accidents happen. The feeling of pulling an electronic device from a pool of water/juice/pop(any water-based liquid that would cause it not to function) is not pleasant. You probably utter some words that are not forum appropriate, and start thinking about how your going to come up with the money to replace your electronic toy.
Obviously I wouldn't recommend trying to fix an item that has "accidental damage" coverage on it.... This process is more for items that do not have any form of accidental damage coverage or have a warranty that doesnt cover any water based damage(I can't think of any that do cover water damage, to be honest), or simply are out of warranty all together.
The success rate of this particular method, for me, has been 100%. Although, I cannot guarantee it will work for you.
So far, I've successfully recovered two motorola cell phones, a wireless xbox controller, an ipod, and a few remotes. I will explain further later how long the recovery process took on each item and what to expect when you try it on a similar or the same item.
What you'll need:
I recommend using 90% or higher rubbing alcohol because it will speed up the recovery of your item... the remaining 10% is water. So the lower the alcohol content, the more water it has....and the longer it may take for your item to dry completely. Alcohol drys MUCH faster than water..
Rubbing alcohol is used in this process because it can effectively remove many sticky liquids that have dried onto your item and it is a liquid that is quick drying and doesn't harm electronic devices(to my knowledge). It is best to do this procedure shortly after the item has gotten wet, this helps with preventing any further water damage to the electronic part.
If you haven't guessed already, what you will be doing is simply placing the electronic device in the bottom of your dish/container and submerging it in the rubbing alcohol. The amount of time to leave it submerged is determined by the type of liquid that caused it not to function. If the liquid was sticky (say semi-dried juice for instance), you will want to leave the device submerged longer than if the device fell into regular water it it will take longer for the alcohol to remove the sticky semi-dried juice from the important parts of the device.
Submersion Procedure:
All items I have tried this procedure on have successfully brought the items from a 'dead' state to fully functional state.
Here is a little log of what happend to the items I've managed to soak and how long they took to recover after the procedure:
I hope this will help a few of you out there
.
-Thecheat
Accidents happen. The feeling of pulling an electronic device from a pool of water/juice/pop(any water-based liquid that would cause it not to function) is not pleasant. You probably utter some words that are not forum appropriate, and start thinking about how your going to come up with the money to replace your electronic toy.
Obviously I wouldn't recommend trying to fix an item that has "accidental damage" coverage on it.... This process is more for items that do not have any form of accidental damage coverage or have a warranty that doesnt cover any water based damage(I can't think of any that do cover water damage, to be honest), or simply are out of warranty all together.
The success rate of this particular method, for me, has been 100%. Although, I cannot guarantee it will work for you.
This is really a last resort procedure.
So far, I've successfully recovered two motorola cell phones, a wireless xbox controller, an ipod, and a few remotes. I will explain further later how long the recovery process took on each item and what to expect when you try it on a similar or the same item.
What you'll need:
- ISOPROPYL Rubbing Alcohol (preferably 90% or higher)
- A bowl or container that will allow you to fully submerge the device in the rubbing alcohol.
- A warm place to set the device after the submerging process is over. I recommend placing it in place where the sun can warm it up and keep it warm throughout the day. (You can also use a hair dryer[low heat], a warming pad, whatever is readily available to you that will be able to warm up the device after submersion)
I recommend using 90% or higher rubbing alcohol because it will speed up the recovery of your item... the remaining 10% is water. So the lower the alcohol content, the more water it has....and the longer it may take for your item to dry completely. Alcohol drys MUCH faster than water..
Rubbing alcohol is used in this process because it can effectively remove many sticky liquids that have dried onto your item and it is a liquid that is quick drying and doesn't harm electronic devices(to my knowledge). It is best to do this procedure shortly after the item has gotten wet, this helps with preventing any further water damage to the electronic part.
If you haven't guessed already, what you will be doing is simply placing the electronic device in the bottom of your dish/container and submerging it in the rubbing alcohol. The amount of time to leave it submerged is determined by the type of liquid that caused it not to function. If the liquid was sticky (say semi-dried juice for instance), you will want to leave the device submerged longer than if the device fell into regular water it it will take longer for the alcohol to remove the sticky semi-dried juice from the important parts of the device.
Submersion Procedure:
- Remove any batteries if possible. If you cannot remove the battery, just understand it will take some time for the battery to function well after this process. (My ipod took nearly 3 weeks to hold a decent charge)
- Set aside some paper towels or a rag to dry the device after the submerging it in the alcohol.
- Use a set of gloves if you have sensitive skin, alcohol will dry out your hands if you play with it enough.
- Place Item in the container.
- Pour alcohol into the container... just enough to submerge the device.
- If the item is covered in something sticky... after a few minutes, move it around (in a swirling motion) to help the alcohol break down the sticky residue.
- Remove device after 1-2 minutes if it was just dropped in water, 3-4 minutes might be needed for sticky devices.
- Wipe down item.
- Place item in a warm area and let the device dry. It will take a while, be patient. In fact, give it a few days if you value the device a lot (I gave my ipod 3 days of sitting in the sun by a window to dry before I tried using it.)
All items I have tried this procedure on have successfully brought the items from a 'dead' state to fully functional state.
Here is a little log of what happend to the items I've managed to soak and how long they took to recover after the procedure:
- iPod - I managed to dip the end of the pod into some juice.. it was more a klutz move. It actually worked initially afterwards, but completely failed a day later after the juice had some time to sit. I preformed the submersion procedure a day after I dipped it in the juice and left it to sit in the sun for 3 days. Initially the battery wouldn't hold a charge, but now it'll hold up to a 85-90% charge. I had to restore the Ipod, but it does work function like it did before the klutz move.
- Motorola Cell Phone 1 - Went through the wash. I did the procedure with 70% alcohol and it took a good month before it functioned at 100%. The phone worked fine after about a week, except that the mic didn't work. After about a month, the mic started working reliably again.
- Motorola Cell Phone 2 - Got it wet at work doing my own dishes ... took 3 days to return to 100% functionality after the procedure.
- Wireless Xbox 360 Controller - My roommate at the time spilled his beer on it. It took a week to work 100% correctly after the procedure.
- Remotes - I used this procedure a long time ago a few tv remotes that got soaked by split water. All of them returned to normal functionality after about a week.
I hope this will help a few of you out there
.-Thecheat
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