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225 points Hooke | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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nvader ◴[] No.43550901[source]
I didn't find this in the article, so:

You can "recharge" silical gel by baking in the oven at 120 C for a couple of hours. If you do, be careful to remove the casing before you do, unless it is heat safe.

I have a small collection of oven safe dessicant packs that I keep on hand for emergency drying electronics.

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Workaccount2 ◴[] No.43552545[source]
You are better off soaking the wet electronics in isopropyl alcohol then trying to dry them in a bag full of desiccant.

One of the things that kills wet electronics is the dried residue that is left behind, creating shorts. Alcohol will wash away the water and leave no residue after it dries.

If the device has ink or glue you'd like to try to preserve, deionized water will mostly work too.

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hilbert42 ◴[] No.43554940[source]
"You are better off soaking the wet electronics in isopropyl alcohol."

Where I am ethanol (EtOH-95%, H2O-5%) is much cheaper and much more readily available and works almost as well. If silica gel is not available, then a fan works well followed by a warm (not hot) oven baking. Make sure the alcohol has essentially all evaporated first.

Keep in mind that some components can be affected by both EtOH and propan-2-ol — component markings, coil doping resins can dissolve, etc. Both alcohols are also good at removing solder flux resins/residues. (Oh for the days when freon and freon mixtures were available, component damage never happened.)

Devices with power transformers pose special problems, best to dry with alcohol first (hoping enamel coatings on wire aren't softened), then bake in oven on warm heat for a long while, sometimes 24 hours or more is necessary. With transformers it's important that this is done as soon as possible after wetting.

Edit: as I'm reminded by nyanpasu64 keep both alcohols away from LCD screens (likely all screens). I had a netbook PC and put it in a carry bag with a bottle of EtOH and it leaked. The PC still worked but the screen suffered the same outcome.

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SirHumphrey ◴[] No.43555022[source]
That may be country specific, but at least where I live, ethanol is much more expensive than isopropyl alcohol (30€/l vs 10€/l) - mostly because of dues on ethanol.
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1. gpderetta ◴[] No.43555398[source]
Isn't the ethanol denatured? There's a duty on that as well?
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2. hilbert42 ◴[] No.43555468[source]
It is, with denatonium hence no excise tax.