How to clean up water-damaged electronics

Those of you who read our CES coverage as obsessively as we covered the show may remember a brief mention of an unfortunate incident involving a laptop and some spilled coffee (it was actually hot cocoa). Even though we got the lappy pretty clean with just a few paper towels, a more severe spill might have really blown up our spot, which is why we wish we'd seen this "how-to" a little earlier. Chris J. over at Grynx helpfully recounts the tale of his friend's water-damaged router and the steps he took to get it working again, if not perfectly. We'll leave the deets to Grynx, but basically this rescue mission involves complete disassembly of the affected device, rather counterintuitively running the circuit boards under more water, and using an alcohol-based cleaning agent (not gasoline, warn several commenters) to brush the remaining rust/calcium residue from the guts. Money quote from the article: "If the substance is already dry, as it was for me, then use your wife’s toothbrush (you don’t want to use your own, right?) to brush off as much as possible."

[Daniel Hunley @ Jan 19th 2006 5:53PM]

this would have been soooo helpful when i spilt orange juice into my computer's fan.

don't ask how it happened... long story.
-daniel

[Nick @ Jan 19th 2006 6:07PM]

Anybody have any idea if this will work with salt water residue? My ipod recently took a dunk in the ocean in jamaica... ):

[jimbob @ Jan 19th 2006 6:15PM]

i used a similar technique when my phone fell in the toilet (i was checking my messages). the phone still works, it doesn't really smell either.

[jc @ Jan 19th 2006 6:23PM]

I would suggest that you skip the "shower" part and just soak the water damaged parts with a circuit board cleaner... even rubbing alcohol works. Continue to scrub the water damaged parts that look like calcium/salt deposits have formed.

The problem is sometimes component leads or even the solder can become corroded. A soldering iron or hot air solderer may be required (with sodler and flux).

The main thing is to remove the power/batter as soon as you know it is damaged. All the washing means nothing if the power circuit has been fried.

Nick, I have brought cellphones back from the ocean 'swim', but the salt water causes it to corrode quickly. At best you have a 25% chance of success.

[Kat @ Jan 19th 2006 6:25PM]

To Nick:
If the ipod was running when it took the dive, then the salt water might have hit the circuits and fried the thing already. However, if it wasn't running at the time, or if the ipod maybe just shorted and turned off once it hit, you might be able to recover it.
You're definitely going to have to open the thing up and clean off the circuitboard really well with clean water and make sure it's completely dry again before doing anything though.

Of course if it's still under warranty or you have a receipt lying around, I'd try that first. But like the guide says, it's already broken, so what's to lose?

[Matt @ Jan 19th 2006 6:30PM]

this would have been helpful before I threw out $10,000 dollars of non-insurance-covered flooded electronics after katrina....

[Samuel McConnell @ Jan 19th 2006 6:30PM]

Is it bad that I can tell the model of that router just from that preview picture?

[DarkFader @ Jan 19th 2006 6:36PM]

My laptop keyboard didn't work anymore. I tried disassembling and cleaning, but no luck. And the backlight switch takes a few minutes to open.
After a month waiting I hope to get a replacement kb soon.

[Spec @ Jan 19th 2006 6:38PM]

I've had to do this numerous times both for my electronics, and others. His advice is spot on. It should be stressed how important it is to remove power from the device ASAP! Current running through wet electronics will disolve traces and feedthroughs in as little as a 5 minutes.

#2: Salt water is the worst. The salt compounds the electrolysis, and Apple doesn't give you an easy way to get the battery out. The best you could hope for is to rinse it with fresh water and get it apart.

WD40 is key to displacing water under larger chips, which tends stay due to surface tention.

Dry the device with paper towels and place on top of a CRT monitor and cover with a box over night, or place your oven on it's lowest setting (less than 200 deg), and place device on the rack for 1-2 hours. The oven method should only be used if there is no plastic attached to the device.

[Taylor Alexander @ Jan 19th 2006 6:42PM]

I like to use a toothbrush and toothpaste, it feel like the foaming action removes the minearls, but I don't know... :)
-Taylor

[Pandemic @ Jan 19th 2006 6:58PM]

My father used the shower to clean a remote circuitboard and then he put it in the owen on 200�C for few minutes and it WORKS like a charm.

[flamer's grill @ Jan 19th 2006 6:59PM]

TIME FOR A TOUGHBOOK

[Victor @ Jan 19th 2006 7:10PM]

I once spilled apple juice on my case, and some did get inside. I pulled the plug, and used my compressed gas duster to spray it all out. There was a residue, but I figure it cant conduct electricity anymore.

[elpunko @ Jan 19th 2006 7:24PM]

i spilled orange juice on my laptop and i was able to recover the laptop. however the screeen never worked too well again. when i turn it on the screen flickers and tries to turn on but it quikly gives up and stays really dim. the screen is on, if i look hard i can make out the stuff wthats in it but there is absolutely no backlighting. so i just hooked a monitor to the lap top. anyone can tell me how to fix my screen?

[greg @ Jan 19th 2006 7:35PM]

Yeah; it's bad if you know your router outside and in... BEFW11S4?
I've never needed to go inside... so i'm guessing

[Greg @ Jan 19th 2006 7:39PM]

dang.. wrt54g (but WHICH VERSION???) w/or w/o linux

[austinkennethlee @ Jan 19th 2006 9:09PM]

If you have a faucet-mounted filtration system, using that might help in limiting the mineral deposits.

This would eliminate the step of using a cleaning agent, and limit where the water goes (as the article states, moving parts are best left dry).

[Loudog @ Jan 19th 2006 9:34PM]

I used to be a tech at a physics lab (as in "reality go boom!"). We water cooled everything and had mice all over the place. So imagine a circuit board that's had a mouse family on it and got drenched by a leak. Alcohol won't even make a dent -- but Simple Green works great. Take the device, get it out of it's case and down to circuit boards, scrub with Simple Green and a soft brush. Rinse and repeat. Put a heat gun (or hairdrier) on it and wait 3 hours.

Looks like new and works great.

[Russell @ Jan 19th 2006 9:35PM]

I just go get a jug of distilled water and use a hair dryer or the oven...

Ditto on removing power immediately though.

[Mongo @ Jan 19th 2006 11:24PM]

Many years ago, I had a mouse take up residence in the desktop PC, accessing the motherboard via an open drive bay. When it wouldn't boot one morning, I opened the case to discover the mouse droppings and urine stains on the motherboard. I removed the mobo, and uplugged everything socketed, then placed the mobo in the dishwasher, top shelf, component side down, using a minimal amount of soap and the gentlest cycle. After drying with paper towels, I put it in the oven at 200F for 30 min., then reassembled. It worked fine for years.

[Raghu @ Jan 20th 2006 1:18AM]

A friend took his car keys for an ocean swim once - secured with a knot to his swim trunks so that he wouldn't lose it. We tried fresh water and a public bathroom hand dryer, but that didn't work. What finally worked was spray-on deodorant. The pressure and alcohol combined cleared the board and connectors out.

[Chris @ Jan 20th 2006 1:26AM]

Greg: Funny that you people see what router it is from the preview picture. This is a 4.1

[Tom Childs @ Jan 20th 2006 2:21AM]

Spilt freshly squeezed apple juice on me brand new Dell Inspiron - the whole keyboard went like glue.

I had a 5000 word essay to type on the thing next day!

Luckily, Dell sent me a new OEM keyboard - but that still took the best part of a week.

[Guy Via @ Jan 20th 2006 7:46AM]

I would just hose it down with some WD-40. The WD stands for water displacement, you know...

(And please please please let it dry before you turn it back on. WD-40 is flammable.)

[Khaytsus @ Jan 20th 2006 8:59AM]

My father used the shower to clean a remote circuitboard and then he put it in the owen on 200�C for few minutes and it WORKS like a charm.

200C huh? Impressive oven.

[Spooner @ Jan 20th 2006 9:37AM]

Acetone and a toothbrush is the way to go! Acetone can be found in nail polish remover. You can buy pure acetone, which is what I recommend, at any beauty supply store.

[Nick @ Jan 20th 2006 10:04AM]

I think most of us geeks have been here once before (at least).

Happened to a cell phone of mine once (fell into a muddy, oily, seriously nasty puddle on a construction site). Took it apart, scrubbed down the circuit board and connectors with a NEW toothbrush (seriously people, do we need to dump our plaque onto the injured device???) and rubbing alchohol. The alchohol obvioiusly dries faster than distilled water, and less chance for residue. Thankfully, I didn't need to resolder any connections to get it working again.

sigh...I miss my Nokia 6310i

[Michael C @ Jan 20th 2006 11:10AM]

I spilled a pint of india ink into the top of my stereo receiver while it was off. I let the ink dry for a couple of days and turned it on, to hear a very loud hummm. I took off the top of the receiver and with a napkin and q-tip cleaned it pretty thoroughly and let it dry. Less Humm. I took the top off again and held it under the sink faucet for about a minute, let it dry, and it worked like a champ for 4 years, after which I sold it (still working).

[Buddy @ Jan 20th 2006 11:22AM]

I always keep around a few large bottles of 91% isopropyl (no wintergreen please) around for that sort of thing. It's pure, leaves no residue, it dries fast, and it almost always works unless the device was on and something got fried when it got wet.

Use a toothbrush to scrub it down, submerge if possible, otherwise just flood the thing with alcohol (you can dunk in water, generally speaking and use isopropyl to do the final scrub down too) and stick the board in the oven on as low as it will go (keep it under 200 and you should be safe) and it will dry, or if you aren't in a huge hurry, just set it up overnight, although a bit of heat can help drive stuff out from under chips, and such.

[Trevor @ Jan 20th 2006 12:14PM]

If it's a sticky substance, like orange juice, then soaking it in soapy water briefly, rinsing it with clean water and then just letting it dry for a couple of days has worked for me several times. I worked as a tech at an Apple repair shop for a few years that was right near a collage campus so I've seen an almost countless number of things spilled in computers.

[Mack_Daddy @ Jan 20th 2006 5:07PM]

My Grandfather who was in the Military, told me how they use to clean the ship electronics. They would pull them out of there racks soak them in water, let them dry for certian amount of days, and then just slide them back in. Most electronics you can clean and wash with water. Just make sure there isn't any power being supplied to the unit, i.e.(backup batteries on Mother Boards). Most electronics die from water because there was power on at that moment of contact. It most cases the device just shorts out temporary, and if you can turn it off/remove power in time. You can usally clean it and dry it. And your good to go.

[Jared Harley @ Jan 20th 2006 9:39PM]

> 24. I would just hose it down with some WD-40. The
> WD stands for water displacement, you know...
>(And please please please let it dry before you turn > it back on. WD-40 is flammable.)

I use WD-40 to clean my car brakes ;)

[Vince Cuares @ Jan 21st 2006 12:27AM]

I agree with JC here. I work for an electronics company and have been exposed to manufacturing pcba�s, IC packaging and wafer foundries for quite a bit.

The very first step you have to consider is if to know if you have waterproof components. In electronics assembly, some PCBAs are washed some are not. This process is to primarily remove flux residues. Those unwashed ones usually have components that are not waterproof. You can check by looking for FLUX, a clear viscous-to-hard fluid like coating on the solder areas. Sometimes it yellows with age. Washed PCBs doesn�t have this residue.

Even if you have washed PCBs, you also have to look out for NON-waterproof components attached after the wash process. Some are manually soldered and most are attachments that aren�t soldered like buttons.

Immediately turn off the device. Otherwise the liquid might short and kill the components.

We use de-ionized and some chemicals like Pine-Alpha and bake to dry. For our practical purposes clean to pure water will do, but the important part is to dry it properly. I dont recommend rubbing it dry since it might cause ESD (static). Maybe pat drying can be done, but I prefer air drying it (or as suggested maybe a radiator. If you have an antistatic-compressed air then much better.

[Fanusao @ Jan 21st 2006 11:33AM]

Hello guys, i'm from france and i have my office in the last floor under the roof. It was smelling really bad because of my cigars and so i opend the roof window... And off course my ibook G4 12" was under... It was a beautiful day when i left... When i got back, the rain was there and my computer was totally wet.
This happened yesterday.
It was closed and so i got a towel to dry it up and i pushed the start button. It started for 2 seconds and then he was dead or maybe just in coma... I don't know... It stills doesnt work. Do you think something got electrocuted (i don't know how to say this in english)? Do you think it could work again? I'm really f... up because i called my Anual 150 bucks insurance company and they said no Oxydation will be covered!!!! I would kill those bastards!!
Help me please

Regards, St?ane.

[Zach @ Jan 27th 2006 4:30PM]

I have a 4th generation iPod Photo. My brother dropped it in a full bathtub while it was running. I let it lay on a heater vent for a week or so, and when it didnt work, I took it apart , disconnected the battery, reconnected it, and now it semi-works. It starts up then shuts down. Also, the lcd is not working correctly yet. I guess its better than it was, but what else can I do to get it to work fully? Thank you

[Harry @ Feb 4th 2006 8:20AM]

Hello there.

I recently spilt a glass of tap water over my lovely new wacom graphics tablet. Its wasnt turned on at the time (so no risk of short circuiting). I am going to leave it to dry in my airing cuboard for a week or two... is there any chance that it wont work after that period? I heard someone mention something about oxidated connections on the wacom website.... I really hope i havent screwed it up...

Please reply... im very worried!

[Lindhy @ Feb 8th 2006 10:41AM]

I had a new (about a week) old Samsung E315 cell phone that took a trip through the washing machine in my pants pocket. It was on at the time of the washing, so when I found it it must have been ~2 hours later. I immediately removed the battery and placed the phone on the heat register (make sure it doesn't get TOO hot) for 4-5 days, then when I put the battery back in it worked perfectly! surprising that is worked so well, I didnt even need to take it apart, just let it dry out completely.

[Callie @ Feb 18th 2006 7:36PM]

When the pipes burst in the upstairs apartment in November '05, about 700 gallons of water came through my living room ceiling, sopped through my Sony Vaio lapper, living room sofa, etc. I came home to find hundreds of pounds of soaking wet plaster everywhere and the LCD screen an eerie purple and green plaid.

I immediately unplugged it, took out the battery, and poured about a half pint of H20 out of the keyboard. I turned it on its side and set a no-heat hairdryer on it to circulate air. I let it dry for 24 hours -- it was completely dry before I put the battery back in and let it charge for a couple of hours. THEN I turned it on.

Since I'm making this post from the selfsame lapper, the technique was a success. You'd never know the keyboard was once brimming with water or that the screen had shorted out.

Other electronics were also damaged, including remote controls, tuner, cd player, etc. (Batteries STINK if you get them wet -- always always always take the batts out) Everything by Sony was hit hardest, but all Sony stuff survived. RCA also made it but the channel and volume are both switched and reversed (down volume makes channel go up, etc.) JVC not so lucky. Polk audio speakers bit the dust.

The key thing is, if it's "just" water, try to have the discipline to really let it dry out before you succumb to the urge to start fiddling with it. I also wouldn't recommend heat, just circulating dry air.

[Justin @ Feb 19th 2006 9:07PM]

I recently let my Zen Micro go through the washing machine and was wondering if it can be saved or not?

[J05H @ Jul 25th 2006 10:55AM]

Back in college, my roommate got wasted during a certain final 4 basketball game. He came home to pass out sometime in the late night, but decided he better drain the pipes first. Being disoriented from the drunkeness, he mistook his closed laptop for a toilet lid, lifting it up and draining 4 or 5 beers worth directly onto the keypad, and off onto his desk. Of course he did not remember this, but a forensic analysis after the hangover wore off revealed the tell tale splash marks of urination dried onto the screen. The laptop would not turn on, but after using a similar process of full disassembly, followed with distilled water, 99% rubbing alchohol, a toothbrush and a couple hundred cotton swabs, the laptop was nearly fully functional, minus a floppy drive and ethernet port. It still works 3 years later.

[Morgan @ Jan 27th 2007 2:14AM]

Dropped my friend's IPOD in the toilet (oops)...I used a blow dryer, didn't really work, not I am leaving upright to air dry for the next couple days, if that doesn't work, any other suggestions? Also, how does one "open" an IPOD to get to the circut board? I thought those things were impossible to open.
I'd appreciate any help, Thanks!

[Sean @ Mar 19th 2007 7:17PM]

Does this also apply to when red wine is spilled on the tower and gets inside? Like the Orange Juice situation...don't ask how this happened.

[tom @ Oct 7th 2007 6:15AM]

i dropped my psp in a salt water pool....(not the best idea guys)
but after i took the battery out rinsed it with tapwater and put it near the cooler fan on a computer it was working fine. but some of the circuts were a bit corroded with just 1 minute of salt water.

just use the cooler fan to drie out your gadget and it should work fine(no gaurntee)

[eipina15 @ Nov 27th 2007 5:53PM]

I live in an apartment and we had a small fire and the sprinkles camed on for about 1hr and wet my 52in HDTV. Now it's not working does anyone know if it can be fixed at a retail store or somewhere else? Please I need help! I don't want to lose my only 2mo old TV!

[Dispatch88 @ Dec 9th 2007 2:15PM]

Hi, I am an art student in Florida, and one of my projects was to build a boat and race in it. I figured this would be a great photo-op with my friends. I took lots of great pictures with my digital camera, an Casio Exilim 7.2 mega pixel. Unfortunately I was stupid and didnt remember to take the camera, along with my cell phone, out of my pocket during the race. My boat sadly cap-sized and i was forced to swim back to shore. So my phone and my camera were exposed to salt water for no more than five minutes with the battery in. I took apart the camera, exposed the circuits to air, but before i go through the effort of cleaning I am curious about the capacitor for the flash.

Is it possible that even after removing the battery, the charge in the capacitor continued to fry the circuits? Is it worth a try to clean them or am I SOL?

[sam @ Feb 5th 2008 12:42AM]

hi, my phone went for a swim in the surf you could say (salt water), my phones prety crap so not tooo worried about it being fixed, but i really want to get my contacts etc off the phone before i pull it apart and risk losing the memory. It would be great if i could get it working but i would sacrafice the phone to get the memory off it. Any thoughts guys?
cheers

[Akil @ Apr 18th 2008 8:55PM]

hey everyone,one night i was cleaning my PSP with glass cleaner and i think some of the fluid got inside of it because while i was listening to my music on my PSP the music would pause/play automatically without me even touching it. That problem stopped and then when i pressed the "Home button","Start", "Select", and the up and down volume buttons they wouldnt work. Can somebody PLEASE help me and tell me what to do.

[Kanwal @ Jun 16th 2008 2:40AM]

hey i drop my camera in white water park.Unfortunatlly when i drop my camera it is ON and now its does not work.I think there is problem in lens.Wht i do plzz help me