CF Card & the washing machine

[Archie]

It so happened, that I recently returned from a abroad-trip and throwed all my laundry straight into the washing machine. Unfortunately, one of the pockets contained a 128 MB compact flash card.

It did not contain anything really important (some mp3s), but I still hate to lose it. Fortunately, my main stuff (e-books, interviews etc) is on another 512 MB CF card and that is the one i'd really hate to lose.

It was in the plastic case when washed (and in a pocket of my jacket) so it does not have any apparent mechanical damage. The washing machine used water 30 degrees centigrade (so it's not cooked). But I'm a bit afraid to try it out in my iPaq 2210. The label on the card says: Avoid heat, moisture etc.

What would you do? Throw the card away and forget it or try it out? Can it damage the iPaq if I try?

[Jacob]

Hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I don't think trying to access the CF card with your iPAQ will hurt the iPAQ.

Try accessing it and if the card is damaged you'll probably get errors reading/writing from/to it.

[Stephen Beesley]

I certainly would not throw it away. I had a very similar experience with my CF Wifi card - washed in the pocket of a pair of combats at 40 degrees C. After my initial panic/annoyance wore off I decicded to let it dry out (being impatient I helped this process with a hair dryer!) for a good 24 hours and then gingerly tried it in my Jornada.

And what do you know - it was and is still working!

Your milage may vary of course, but I think it is definatley worth letting it dry out and giving it a go.

[Kati Compton]

I'd make sure it's REALLY DRY before you plug it into anything.

Don't use a hairdryer, microwave, etc, though - don't want to melt it.

I'd just set it somewhere dry for a few days... maybe a week even.

You could TRY using the oven on LOW LOW LOW, but I personally haven't tried it, and would be hesitant to do so. Again - the melting problem.

[Robb Bates]

Here's what I would do:

Go get yourself a bottle of distilled water (not spring or drinking water)

Since you've already washed the card, it can't get any worse, but there may be some soap residue or something else stuck in the card. Or there may be some corrosion.

Dunk the card and agitate vigorously. Hopefully this will clean out any corrosion. Use an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner if you have one.

Take it out and then use a blowdryer to dry it out. Maybe force the air into some cracks or into the holes in the connector. This should dry it out quickly.

If you have a card reader (much cheaper than your ipaq if you fry it) try to read the card with it. If it work in the card reader, then it should work in your ipaq.

I think the worst case scenario is there is corrosion inside the card and it's causing shorts. That's really what causes electronics to fail when they get wet. If you plug it into your ipaq, and shorts exist, there is a possibility of frying your ipaq, but most card interfaces are robust enough to handle a short. I'd try the card reader thing first.

Robb

[Kati Compton]

Take it out and then use a blowdryer to dry it out. Maybe force the air into some cracks or into the holes in the connector. This should dry it out quickly.
Yeah - the rinsing is a good point. I'd personally use the hairdryer on "cool" if it has that setting. Or, from a distance. But they it's hard to force the air into the small cracks.

[Robb Bates]

hairdryer, microwave, etc, though - don't want to melt it.

I don't think a hairdryer would melt it. Keep in mind these cards get passed through a solderwave machine which is MUCH hotter than any haird dryer can get.

But the microwave would really fry it. It would be neat to watch though! :lol:

Robb

[Archie]

Thanks, everyone. I'll probably go the distilled-water-cleaning way, then set it to dry to few days and then try it. I do not have a card reader (although it may be a good idea to purchase one). I'll let you know, what happened :wink:

[Robb Bates]

Thanks, everyone. I'll probably go the distilled-water-cleaning way, then set it to dry to few days and then try it. I do not have a card reader (although it may be a good idea to purchase one). I'll let you know, what happened :wink:

You should dry it quickly. If you let it dry over a long period, more corrosion will occur. The point in drying it quickly is to prevent it from corroding again.

Robb

[Deltrevan]

I also think helping it to dry quickly is a god idea, but as Kati said before... I would DEFINITELY make sure it is COMPLETELY dry before inserting it into your ppc. In my opinion, the biggest danger you face here is getting any moisture inside your device. If anything was going to fry your circuit board, the moisture would be it.

[KenClunk]

I guess those guys who made that water proof SD card were on to something. That sucks hope everything works out though.

[Ryan Joseph]

I've actually run a memory card through the wash before. I just let it air dry for a few hours and it worked fine. I'm still using it, in fact. In my experience, most tech devices will survive getting wet. I told this story in another thread, but I once left an inkjet printer out in the rain (very long story, don't ask). I let it dry overnight in a heated garage and it was fine the next morning...worked perfectly. :mrgreen:

[Archie]

Ok people, here are the results:

:D Everything is OK and even the mp3s are rescued :D :D

I cleaned the card in distilled water yesterday, dried it until this morning and tried it :wink:

It seems to work perfectly in my iPaq, no problems at all. So I'm happy for now. Thanks you again everyone for your advice. You are great!
:way to go:

[Stephen Beesley]

Ok people, here are the results:

:D Everything is OK and even the mp3s are rescued :D :D

I cleaned the card in distilled water yesterday, dried it until this morning and tried it :wink:

It seems to work perfectly in my iPaq, no problems at all. So I'm happy for now. Thanks you again everyone for your advice. You are great!
:way to go:

Glad to hear everything worked out. I was actually thinking of this situation this morning when I was using my (previously washed) Wifi card at a local McCafe. When I removed it from my Jornada I almost dropped it in my Hot Chocolate! The washing machine is one thing but a hot chocolate......

[Archie]

I'll try to keep this in mind when I'm consuming Hot Chocolate :) (not so often but sometimes)

[Robb Bates]

If you do drop it in hot chocolate, or some other nasty goop, rinse it under regular water right away and then do the distilled water trick as soon as possible.

I learned this trick when dealing with underwater video cameras. When ever we'd go scuba diving with our video cameras, we'd always bring a bucket and a couple of gallons of distilled water. If a leak developed in the housing and flooded the camera, we'd come up to the surface and dunk the camera.

The neat thing about water is it's not conductive by itself. Water that is completely free of impurities will not conduct electricity. It's all the junk in the water that does it. As a matter of fact, that's how they measure the purity of water. They try to pass electricity through it. The more electricity that flows, the more junk is in the water.

Water will corrode stuff, however. That's why you need to dry things quickly. If you let it sit to dry overnight, the chances of corrosion occuring increase. But dry it quickly with a hair dryer and you should be OK. Also, just like water spots that show up in your dish washer, any impurities left in the water will get deposited when the water does evaporate, which is why you should use pure water.

Robb

[jake080]

an added note: dont expect a camera to fully survive comeplete submersion in water :P i have *barely* living proof of that!
~Jake

[Candygogo]

Glad the problem is solved! :)

As I was reading the story, I was thinking about a card reader. Heaven forbid your card falls into whatever you are drinking, is swished around the washing machine, left out in the rain, etc...after drying, a card reader could come in handy. It would definatly take the fear of using your PPC as a testing ground.

[Wiggster]

And from personal experience: it seems the batteries for the iPAQ 1900 series can make it through the washer and dryer no worse for the wear. It seems I forgot to take one out of my pocket after I was carrying it around, and I found it resting neatly in my lint trap a few days later. It was slightly amusing to see the battery half-buried in lint (sweatpants and fluffy shirts make for a heck of a lot of lint). I plugged the battery into my cradle's charging slot, and it was a red light. 40 minutes later, green light: all charged. The battery seems to work as normal.

They should make washing machines have metal detectors, so if it detects anything more than a button or clasp, it sets off an alarm. Way too many of us are washing our PDA accessories.