So it got WET !!!

[AZgl1500]

Okay, it happens to the best of us, even those of us who worked with electronics all our lives.

We get distracted and forget we left our equipment outside, and then a thunderstorm came up "right now".

yep, my Digital Voltmeter ( ohms, volts, milliAmps ) etc.... it got soused....

I picked it up and it "looked okay" and turned it on to read the state of my car's battery.
just the battery read 14.3 VDC ???

huh? it should be 12.3 VDC if not on charge for a long while, and this is a brand new battery from the store, has not been charged since it left the factory.

uh oh..... I open it up, pull the battery, and water runs out.

So, since it is "working" sort of, I decide it needs to be dried out quick, it cannot be allowed to have corrosion get started.

So, here is my old timer's trick.
An oven... yes, the same one you have in your kitchen.

Open the door, set the temp down low.... I wanted 125 degrees F, but the lowest this digi oven will go is 200* F

so, that means I have to "stay on the job" and watch things closely.
Back in the old days, with dial thermostats, I set them at 125 and went off somewhere for an hour or two.

I leave it alone for 5 minutes, pick it up and the case feels warm.... okay, put it back.
another 5 minutes, pick it up again but this time it feels like it wants to stay on the grill.

"the case is wanting to melt", that is a warning.... keep it out of the oven for a minute to let it cool down,
turn it over the other way and lay it on the rack again..... now stay there, and pick it up every couple of minutes. stay on the job for a half hour at a minimum....

Look very closely at the two pictures of the "back case", it has a yellow insulating liner in it. I almost got that thing too hot, it is curling up.... as soon as I saw that start to happen, I quit. Job Done...

The DVM is now showing 12.3 volts on a motorcycle battery that has been off charge now since September. It is my spare that I carry in my trailer for "just in case" or a friend's m/c battery is dead. I loan it to him so he can go home.

.

Ah!!! all better now 12.3 Volts right on the nose again

.

 

[AZgl1500]

Okay, your Cell Phone got wet!!!!

Jerk that battery out as fast as you can.
Take everything out that will come out....

Set the battery, SD cards, SIM chip to the side, dry them off with a paper towel.

Now, take the phone and place it on the oven rack, see how I did it?
The device is "outside the oven", not on the inside. That is death for electronics...

what we want is a breath of nice desert dry air flowing over it.

My oven is a Convection oven.... ie, it has a fan in it pushing air around gently...
works a treat.

just follow instructions, be careful, and your phone most likely can be saved...

Wet Digitizers are the worst though, it will take a couple of hours of "gentle heat", preferably no warmer than about 125* F.

No oven? you own a car? you have some sunshine available?

face the car into the sun, lay the device on the dash....
same thing applies here, be careful, do not allow it to get "too hot".....
Place an oven thermometer on the dash so you can watch the temperature.

getting too hot? crack a window and let some air in.....

same thing here, pick it up every 5 or 10 minutes, turn it over, and bake the other side.

an hour of gentle hot air should drive all of the moisture out of it.

 

[AZgl1500]

Uh, your phone does not have a removable battery?

can you get the case open?
if so, follow the instructions.

if you can't, you are screwed UNLESS you can find a vacuum chamber....

26 inches of mercury in a vacuum for two hours will dry out your iPhone or other phone that does not come apart.

 

[AZgl1500]

a Follow Up on the wet Digital Voltmeter.

I am still using it almost everyday, and it has been quite a while since I dried it out in that oven.