Getting rid of water damage

[mattyasaurus]

You can do it pretty much indefinitely. Desiccants are widely used in industry, for example to keep the air in pneumatic systems dry. A pretty typical device is an air drier that contains two canisters of desiccant. Periodically the system switches the air flow from one to the other, and heats the one not being used to recharge the desiccant.

I also used to bake desiccant bags in the oven for packing into missile storage containers when I was in uniform, we had an oven just for that job. Strictly speaking you weren't supposed to use it for keeping pies warm, but you know...

I've never seen or heard of using a microwave to dry desiccant. I'm not saying it's impossible, just that I couldn't be sure there wouldn't be unintended effects. I'd be concerned about uneven heating and damage to the desiccant or packaging.

Thanks for that. I did do an internet search to see if it was possible to use a microwave and apparently it can be done that way. But there was way more information regarding the use of an oven. The fact a oven can be used was valuable information as I don't have a microwave you see .
I never would have thought they would have used it for packing into missile storage container though ...

[Paqman]

I never would have thought they would have used it for packing into missile storage container though ...

Anything that needs to be kept dry in storage really. It's used in food storage a lot, which is why it tends to have "Do not eat!" written on the outside of the sachet.

[mattyasaurus]

Anything that needs to be kept dry in storage really. It's used in food storage a lot, which is why it tends to have "Do not eat!" written on the outside of the sachet.

Yeah I knew it was used for food storage. Just came as a surprise that it is used for missile storage..

[Jakin]

Sorry to hear evaporation didn't work, cbennett926. Hope the new screen works out

[Double.J]

I know this is basically solved now, but I just thought I'd add my tuppence as it was my old job lol!

Working in technical support for an OEM, I've seen a lot of liquid damage over the duration. As for the LCD, this is fairly standard, the liquid can often dissolve some of the backing dye, allowing more light through from the back light and causing "tide marks on the panel" the tide marks can of course be caused by contaminants in he liquid, but it is very common with alcohol accidents.

There is advice out there that alcohol gel can fix buttons and keys that stop working. This is true; more often than not it is foreign material that brings down the key rather than the key failing. Alcohol gel often breaks this up and returns function. It is also rumoured that the alcohol gels are safe to use as they are less conductive and corrosive than water. However if they ever touch an LCD panel, it's curtains unfortunately; they always react.

The general advice I'd give anyone else who finds themselves in this situation is turn it off, get the battery out right away; even if it seems to kind of work, or you got away with it; liquid = instant power off. Next disassemble and air dry; do not touch internal components, remember ESD safety with exposed boards. You can speed up the drying with rice/silica/dehumidifiers but you want to get it as dry as possible. You can use a fan to circulate air, but do not blow dry it; you risk spreading water further.

Remember water kills in two moves; shorting out the components, and corroding them. It all comes down to luck I'm afraid, but you just have to get the power disconnected and components dry as fast as possible. And I'll be honest; there's little hope when it comes to sea water, it's just too corrosive.

Sorry to hear this has happened, hope everything is okay now!

[mamamia88]

Ok,


So my tv stand happened to fall over, I had a cup of soda and my laptop on it. The soda surprisingly (and luckily) didn't get into my computer. However, when trying to clean it some water (2-4 drops) got under the screen and there is now a 3in x 4in water quarter-circle in the bottom right of the screen. I am open to (almost) any suggestions. I have tried the fridge for 20 minutes and haven't seen anything spectacular, I put it under a heated towel and it seemed to help, although not sure if it was just the time. I have sat it in a warm room for about an hour and it also seemed to help, although I think this was once again time.


Does anyone know the best way to have the laptop sit for best evaporation?

just curious how it managed to get under the screen? that seems like the hardest part to get into on a laptop.