Drying out your Wet/Washed Devices

[KD8JBF]

So....got a text from the wife today...says, "Bad News...." I reply.....Uh Oh....What happened? She sends me a picture of my Netgear Zing and says, I just pulled this out of the washer.   Who all has ideas or methods of drying out your accidents? ie. Water logged devices? 

 

Appreciate any input...

[eljayyy91]

Leave it in rice for a couple days it will draw out all the moisture. Well that's what I've always done and it works pretty well.

[thewezgrays]

Put it in a bag of rice (dry and uncooked of course) and let it sit a few days... hope for the best.. if it was off at the time it might safely dry out...

[koiulpoi]

Depends, was it on at the time? Was the battery in? If so, it may never come back again... it's not just "drying out"; if any joints or connectors have been corroded away, it may never work again.

[S4GRU]

So....got a text from the wife today...says, "Bad News...." I reply.....Uh Oh....What happened? She sends me a picture of my Netgear Zing and says, I just pulled this out of the washer.   Who all has ideas or methods of drying out your accidents? ie. Water logged devices? 

 

Appreciate any input...

 

I'm surprised I haven't done this yet, as I frequently put my hotspots in my pockets.

 

I haven't done this with a machine washed item.  Hopefully it was off when it went into water.  However, with items Ive dropped in water, I remove the battery (if possible) and place in a bin of dry rice for several days.  The rice helps wick away moisture and keep the humidity really low.  I then mix up the rice every few hours.  Typically, after three days I try it again.  

 

Has worked for me every time so far.  Seems like one device of ours gets dropped in water every year.  It worked recently on my wife's LG Optimus G, and it even had a sealed battery.  I wasn't hopeful.

 

Robert

[KD8JBF]

Thanks for all the quick responses!! I have it in rice at the moment...It was off, but the battery was in it....My lovely wife tried turning it on, and said, "It won't come on" so i'm afraid that it's toast because she attempted to power it up...but i'll give it a few days and hope for the best....:-/

[WiWavelength]

However, with items Ive dropped in water, I remove the battery (if possible) and place in a bin of dry rice for several days.  The rice helps wick away moisture and keep the humidity really low.  I then mix up the rice every few hours.  Typically, after three days I try it again.

 

And then the next day you have rice and beans?

 

AJ

[The Dave]

Just make sure that it isn't Spanish rice. It would be difficult picking out all of those bacon and stewed tomato bits.

[KD8JBF]

And then the next day you have rice and beans?

 

AJ

 

Rice and beans, and it gives it a bit of ZING! HA

[CAREND]

Guess someone was never told to check the pockets before doing laundry as a youngin'.

[WiWavelength]

Kris, just in case drying your Zing does not work out, I went ahead and got you the new model, the Zing Z.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving.  Just let me know where to ship it...

 

AJ

[thewezgrays]

Ha! the xxxxxxxx "Z" is totally normal for a follow-up model.... 

 

I am holding off until next year when they release the Zing Z2

 

Kris, just in case drying your Zing does not work out, I went ahead and got you the new model, the Zing Z.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving.  Just let me know where to ship it...

 

AJ

[The Dave]

That looks so good. I want a box. I wonder if it's regional.

[WiWavelength]

That looks so good. I want a box. I wonder if it's regional.

Your market must be second or third round.

 

AJ

[ddimit]

Rice is an Iffy thing. Gone that route and just for grins pulled the phone apart and it was still damp in areas. it might work for a awhile but corrosion will set in. 

 

Only way to  be 100% is to pull it apart and use a hair dryer/qtips, not for the faint of heart.

 

 You can also try immersion in rubbing alcohol. That will displace the  water. 

 

At this point any warranty is voided as you have triggered the internal water exposure dot.

 

if you battery was in dispose of it properly! if it was exposed to water its is compromised and could self combust

[KD8JBF]

Kris, just in case drying your Zing does not work out, I went ahead and got you the new model, the Zing Z.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving.  Just let me know where to ship it...

 

AJ

 

You'll be happy to know that my impatience got the best of me and after sitting in rice for about 8 hours, I decided to power it up, figuring it was already fried because my wife tried to power it on earlier. And to my surprise, it powered up communicated with both LTE/3g and was broadcasting WiFi. The only noticeable issue was a wet spot in the LCD Screen. Touch still worked too...So I guess all will be OK. Still leaving it in the rice for a day or two to see if i can get ALL the moisture out of it...

 

With that said AJ. I appreciate your offer of the new Zing "Z" model, however i think we'll be OK with the first model. 

 

Cheers to all and Have a SAFE and Happy Thanksgiving....I know that I have another thing to be thankful for now! That My Zing still works! 

 

 

Kris

[KD8JBF]

Rice is an Iffy thing. Gone that route and just for grins pulled the phone apart and it was still damp in areas. it might work for a awhile but corrosion will set in. 

 

Only way to  be 100% is to pull it apart and use a hair dryer/qtips, not for the faint of heart.

 

 You can also try immersion in rubbing alcohol. That will displace the  water. 

 

At this point any warranty is voided as you have triggered the internal water exposure dot.

 

if you battery was in dispose of it properly! if it was exposed to water its is compromised and could self combust

 

I will probably still pull it apart to ensure it is totally dried out....I didn't see a water sticker inside the case. But it is voided now because of the immersion...We shall see  :fro:

[richy]

Glad to hear it worked out! One other thing I use (sparingly and because I know my oven) is leaving it in the oven with just the light on. We have a rather bright light in the oven that kicks out a fair bit of heat, I use it for proving bread and drying silica packets, but it isn't hot enough to damage anything. Just to idiot proof this, I DO NOT turn on the actual oven just the interior light. Worked quite a few times on laptops when clients killed them leaving them in the rain, on the lawn when the sprinklers were on or when they went to humid countries and didn't use an IBM or a Tosh (which slightly dates my advice lol).