Over the years I've received more than a few letters detailing a very unfortunate drop of the car keys followed by a resounding "plop." The drop isn't so bad, it's the plop, and where people usually are when they hear that plop, that makes the situation ugly. Each year there are countless cell phones, pens, spare change and , yes, keychain remotes that fall into the toilet -- Plop! If you're lucky, you'll be so shocked at the event and worried about your personal piece of electronics that your hand will plunge deep into the commode and retrieve the precious item before you have a chance to consider what's in there besides water. This is usually the case. The good news is there's a real chance that your remote can be saved. The first step is not to try it. There will be a temptation to go out to your car to see if it still works. Don't do it! You need to let it dry for 24 hours before you use it! I also recommend removing the battery to help it dry and to ensure that there is no chance of a short circuit due to moisture. You can put the remote someplace warm -- like near a heat register -- to help it dry, but do not put your remote in the oven or the microwave!
On a side note, this also works with cell phones. My mother's iPhone survived the plunge using this method.
also put it inside a bag of natural rice and let it set. It will help to suck the moisture out of it.
You can also try these. BHEESTIE Bags, you can buy them at REI, online at Amazon or I think they have their own website too. I used one on a TV remote my grandson dropped in the T-Bowl. It worked, I did take the back off the remote to rinse the “used” water out of it, then towel dried it and put it into one of the Bheestie bags. Left it in there for a couple of days then took it out put it back together, it worked and still works.
I second the bag of rice trick… It worked wonders on a cellphone that was found at the bottom of the tub due to a well-meaning 2 year old. It took about 2 days of non-use in the rice bag though.
For electronics that you can easily disassemble, I have used a blow dryer on warm setting with success.
My Bluetooth ear piece went through a washer cycle and. When I took out the clothes there it was at the bottom of the machine, let it dry on the counter for a week and it works just as good as before, also very clean LOL
When I was still a garage mechanic I was leaving the shop at the end of a long day and dropped the keys to my bike down the oil sump.I got to spend about 3 more hours cleaning out the sump,just so I could go home. Found the keys,as well as about a hundred bucks worth of tools that had been lost over the last few years. Fortunately,no electronics were harmed in this operation.
take the battery out…take the wet phone, facing battery compartment upwards, and the battery….place them both on the dashboard of your car, for a complete afternoon in the sun….done deal, all dried and now usable to your complete satisfaction and needs…
This works for sure just add rice after removing battery and the rce will help remove
Couple of years ago, wife’s cellphone was left in pair of jeans…went through full wash cycle, and then commercial dryer. Found it tumbling in dryer (no longer in jeans pocket). Pulled battery, and left it and the phone to dry on bathroom sink for a few days….fired up….good as new.
There are two things no home should ever be without – A magnet on a string (really good, powerful ones with a hole already in the center for the string can be salvaged from even the cheapest of speakers).
The second is to look at the contents of bags of products designed for melting icy footpaths, etc. You want one that contains Calcium Chloride. These crystals are VERY aggressive water absorbers.
Put a few in an airtight bag and a tissue on top of them. Lay your electronics on top of the tissue, try not to let it touch the crystals as it will not be good for your electronics. The battery compartment must be open to let the moisture out .
Carefully seal the bag so it is airtight and leave them undisturbed for some hours.
Something small like an electronic key fob might be useable in just 6 hours. A phone could be working again in just 12 hours, although the longer you leave it, the greater the chance of it working will be.
The little “Silica Gel” bags might be tempting, but I’ve found they rarely work for me. Not only that, but by the time you get them, they have usually absorbed all the moisture they can – You need to put them on a baking tray and “roast” them in the oven at 300ºF / 150ºC in a convection oven for approximately three hours. (http://www.tedpella.com/technote_html/desiccant.pdf).
To reactivate them.
Incidentally, if you want the most powerful workshop magnet you have probably seen, there are two wonderful ones in every microwave oven. Leave it unplugged for a couple of days to make sure all the capacitors and high voltages are gone. You will need to do a bit of metalwork to get at them, but it is certainly worth it, you can mount tools on them or hold workpieces they are that strong. When you open up an old microwave oven, look for the metal “box” with all the metal fins on it for removing the heat. They live inside the metal box.
If you are going to open up an old microwave oven, use a screwdriver by itself or a screwdriver with a small jumper wire on the end to short across the terminals of the large oil filled capacitor. This will discharge it, but be careful of the large spark and don’t be touching either side of the cap when you do.
Those caps can keep their charge for years. I worked in a repair shop for years and can attest that every couple of years we would clear out the old junk in back, and when dis-assembling the old microwaves, the caps always had a charge in them, no matter how long they had been sitting unused. Under the right circumstances, a charge that large, (a full charged one can melt the tip of a small screwdriver) can give a person a shock strong enough to affect heart rhythms.
When warm or hot water is used sparingly, it can clean most or all of the unwanted debris from the item. The use of warm or hot water helps speed drying. Turn and rotate the item over many times while drying to drain any moisture left.
As stated earlier—Turn if off, especially if it is still working, and remove the battery. These tricks should give it a good chance of working.
If it falls in the toilet—-think it over before plunging your hand in there. I was on a commuter train once where a guy was in the bathroom, using his cell phone (not a good place to use them for obvious reasons) and dropped it in the toilet. Somehow he pushed it past the flapper (the water goes into a large holding tank under the car). He stuck his hand in the toilet, past the flapper and into the holding tank, and… got it stuck. We all had to sit there in a station for more than an hour while the emergency folks came, decided how to get him out, and finally removed his hand from the toilet. Interesting show to watch, however. Moral—think it over before you do!!!