Scientific American presents Tech Talker by Quick & Dirty Tips. Scientific American and Quick & Dirty Tips are both Macmillan companies.

I’m sure just about everyone knows that you can’t drop electronics in water. But not many people know why, or what to do when this inevitably happens.

What’s an Ion?
Actually, it isn’t the water that breaks electronics; it’s the small particles that are dissolved in water called ions. These particles cause electricity to go places it’s not supposed to go – this is called a “short” and it’s what ultimately causes your device to break.

Are All Liquids Bad for Gadgets?
Not all liquids are the same, ion-wise. Some have more ions than others. For instance, distilled water you buy from the store will have next to no ions, whereas sea water has a ton of them.

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2 Comments

1. 1. oldvic 10:34 AM 7/25/12

   I know a guy (what do you mean, "It's you!"? Of course it's not me!) who machine washed several USB keys in the pockets of his pants.
   He wipes them, shakes and blows gently any loose water and them places them on a source of gentle heat for several days: a window sill in the sun, a radiator at low temperature setting and such.
   Both USB keys have survived and are still working. Maybe he's just lucky...

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2. 2. sparcboy 12:22 PM 7/25/12

   If it's not turned on or plugged in to make it live, water usually will not hurt electronics.
   
   I ran IT for small company. We had a leak in the floor above us over our spare equipment room. PCs, monitors, routers, switches, printers, laptops, docking stations, etc. were all drenched. Of course none were plugged in. I opened them up and let them dry thoroughly. Never had a problem with any of them.

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