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How Silica Gel Took Over the World

(www.scopeofwork.net)
225 points Hooke | 1 comments | 01 Apr 25 19:33 UTC | HN request time: 0.199s | source
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nvader ◴[01 Apr 25 20:18 UTC] 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 ◴[02 Apr 25 00:08 UTC] 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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nyanpasu64 ◴[02 Apr 25 01:36 UTC] No.43552949[source]▶
One time I tried drying a water-soaked smartphone in alcohol, but the alcohol got under the LCD screen and made it look blotchy permanently. The phone still worked but I stopped using it.
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1. owenversteeg ◴[02 Apr 25 18:55 UTC] No.43560154[source]▶
Yeah, I've had the same issue; as far as I can tell it's not actually the LCD itself but the backlight and the diffuser that end up getting screwed up. If you're trying to save electronics, keep the isopropanol away from the screen.