Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Soaked drive.

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
    #1

    Soaked drive.

    Hello everyone,

    My brother put his clothes in the washing machine with his 256MB USB flash drive still stuck in his pants pocket.... this was all by accident of course.
    The drive went through the wash and came out looking clean and new. Only problem that concerns me now is that will it be safe to be plugged into a PC ever again??
    The flash drive enclosure is completely sealed on the outer edges.... only where the USB connector meets plastic, there is a small gap. Is there anyway to dry it out??
    At the moment I can only think of drying it in the sun or using a hairdryer.

    Thanks.
    Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: Soaked drive.

    Find a way how to open it, wash it with clean water and dry using hair dryer.

    Comment

      #3
      Re: Soaked drive.

      ..then pray.

      Comment

        #4
        Re: Soaked drive.

        I have read an article in a magazine about this topic. They did exactly what you said, every single USB drive that they tested survived a wash cycle except for one. The one that failed still had a ton of water inside of it after a whole day or so of lying in the sun. All the other USB keys dried up completely.

        The critical thing is that there is no water left inside of it when you plug it in.

        The article also showed that all the USB keys (besides the one that died after the wash cycle) survived a run in the clothes dryer. They all survived a dunk in beer (they were left in it for several hours). Of course they gave ample time for the USB keys to dry out.

        In short, if the USB key has dried out completely, there is a very large possibility that it will survive and work as normal.

        Comment

          #5
          Re: Soaked drive.

          Maximum PC. Good magazine. I read it too
          Regards,
          db

          Comment

            #6
            Re: Soaked drive.

            Not only it must be completely dry, you also want to remove anything corrosive that might remain inside and cause failure later.

            Comment

              #7
              Re: Soaked drive.

              Originally posted by Rainbow
              Not only it must be completely dry, you also want to remove anything corrosive that might remain inside and cause failure later.

              The flash drive was washed in the washing machine with laundry detergent powder.

              Is there anything in laundry powder that is actually corrosive?? all I can think of is bits of soot from the detergent and water mix.

              The flash drive was left to dry in the hot sun 2 days ago. I can't find any way to open the drive up without damaging the plastics so all i can hope for is the sun to dry it out.


              Thanks.
              Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

              Comment

                #8
                Re: Soaked drive.

                Well, the most obvious answer is, put it through the dryer!

                Seriously, stick it in a jeans pocket and run it through a cycle. Always worked for me!!!
                Ludicrous gibs!

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: Soaked drive.

                  Well, if the data isn`t critical, i think you have not mutch to loose. If yes, i would rather destroy the case to ashure it is completely dried up.

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: Soaked drive.

                    Leaving it to dry in the sun for several days, put it in a dryer on delicate heat cycle, placed it in a conventional oven set to 120* F, should all work to remove the excess water.

                    If you have access, put the USB into a container that can sustain a vacuum. Evacuate all the air out and any water in the card will immediately be boiled off and removed.
                    “We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful.
                    We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing.”

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: Soaked drive.

                      I haven't tried the USB drive for over 2 weeks now....
                      I'm more worried about it shorting out my PC and causing mass damage. It was dried out in the sun for about 3 days, from then on, it has been sitting in a drawer.
                      If there's still water inside, will I risk damaging my PC?? There's no critical data in that flash drive, but my PC is more concerning.


                      Thanks.
                      Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Re: Soaked drive.

                        Usually the USB port is protected against shorts with polyfuses, wich are not onetime fuses.
                        If the datalines do have similar protection is probably up to the mfk choice.
                        So i think it is somhow safe to try it out, but may be it is wise to do it not on the most expensive system you have laying around

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Re: Soaked drive.

                          Originally posted by gonzo0815
                          Usually the USB port is protected against shorts with polyfuses, wich are not onetime fuses.
                          If the datalines do have similar protection is probably up to the mfk choice.
                          So i think it is somhow safe to try it out, but may be it is wise to do it not on the most expensive system you have laying around
                          and thats a big USUALLY!
                          some super cheap boards have jumper wires where the polyfuse would go.
                          a foil trace becomes the fuse.

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Re: Soaked drive.

                            Yes your aboslutely right, there is probably nothing, which is safe from the bean counters, but this is fore sure not my problem.
                            The "usually" was only added with such a POS in mind, as i think that for hot plugging devices a ocp is always mandatory.

                            As even ECS retail boards are equipped with polyfuses, i think if someone owns a board below this grade, i feel myself not guilty do have given the above advice
                            Last edited by gonzo0815; 06-01-2007, 07:29 AM.

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Re: Soaked drive.

                              My brother finally got around to testing it on a school computer.

                              The news was good and the result was that the drive still worked fine. It is amazing to see that electronics work properly after drying them out....

                              But as a caution, i'm not going to let anyone use it at home, in case it shorts out etc.


                              Thank you everyone for your advice.
                              Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                              Comment

                                #16
                                Re: Soaked drive.

                                You cannot assume a polyfuse will protect a PC. People have damaged systems before the fuse blew or even without it blowing, including burning holes in their southbridge on some intel boards.

                                Comment

                                  #17
                                  Re: Soaked drive.

                                  Originally posted by 999999999
                                  You cannot assume a polyfuse will protect a PC. People have damaged systems before the fuse blew or even without it blowing, including burning holes in their southbridge on some intel boards.
                                  I've heard of that problem before....

                                  I have seen some Intel Southbridges blown with a hole through it and also black smoke residues on the chip itself.
                                  This usually happens with Intel ICH4/ ICH5 chipsets when someone plugs in a USB device and static travels along with the plugged in device.

                                  It only happens when someone plugs the USB device in using the USB front panel because the case isn't properly grounded there????

                                  But everything is fine if the user plugs it into the onboard USB ports.

                                  I used to have a Gigabyte GA-8i945P-G board before and it would turn off everytime a USB header was installed.... maybe that was the polyfuse that took over?? The USB header worked in every other PC except that one....
                                  Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                                  Comment

                                    #18
                                    Re: Soaked drive.

                                    The polyfuse does not disconnect anything the PC needs to run, (in any implementation of one that I've seen), it just cuts power to the ports.

                                    I'm not clear on what you're calling a USB header as I usually call a header the strip of pins soldered to the board already but if you mean plugging a case USB dongle connector into that header, I would suspect it was not pin-compatible and caused a short that tripped the PSU protection circuit.

                                    Comment

                                      #19
                                      Re: Soaked drive.

                                      Originally posted by 999999999
                                      I'm not clear on what you're calling a USB header as I usually call a header the strip of pins soldered to the board already
                                      Sorry about that. The device I was referring to was called a USB bracket.

                                      Everytime I connected a USB bracket or front panel USB connection to the USB header. The PC would turn on for about a second and then shut off completely. At other times it just wouldn't even turn on. Removing the connection fixed the issue.

                                      Since then I have replaced the Gigabyte board with an Intel Classic series motherboard, good thing is that now the bracket and front panel connections work properly.
                                      Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                                      Comment

                                      Previous template Next
                                      Working...
                                      X