lshu

I went swimming yesterday. I happily dived off the diving board into the pool and swam around for a few minutes. Then I notice a blue object at the bottom of the pool. Here are my thoughts as I swim closer to it...

hey look it's a cell phone.

hey cool it kind of looks like my cell phone.

wait, where's my cell phone?!?!

OH CRAP this IS my cell phone!!!

wait... that means... OH CRAP my wallet and keys!!!

I spent the rest of the swimming experience sitting by the side of pool spreading all the contents of my pockets to dry. After staring a while at the phone's blank screen, and at the other people who are eyeing my exposed credit cards and cash, I look at my keys. After shaking the water out, I cringe as I point the transmitter at my car as I push unlock...

the headlights flash!!

I press lock and unlock a couple more times... more flashes... PHEW. I just saved the couple hundred $$ to replace it. So, just to tell everyone the good news, our keys are waterproof :p

dazygirl415

Lol, glad to hear that worked out ok. That would have SUCKED to replace.

TownDrunk

:D
I did something similar a few weeks ago. We took the boat out and I realized in waist deep water that the key and remote to my wifes Acura were in my swimsuit pocket. Whoops.

I just let it dry without hitting any buttons, and when we getting ready to leave it worked fine. Thank God we didn't go to the ocean this time. I'm sure the salt water would have done a number on it.

Blaaz

That happened to me at a community car wash. I was the hose man and got completely soaked. Fortunately, I din't have any remotes in my pocket. Took a day or two to dry out the wallet though.

I wouldn't advertise the remotes as being water proof. Water resistant maybe. Enough water or enough time will probably wipe out any remote. Empty pocket before soaking.

Coop '04

Most electronics of that nature are fine once they dry. I wouldn't go so far as water proof either. You were lucky the battery didn't drain, that's usually what happens. The device itself usually is unharmed.

MrJynx

that is true unless you try to use it. if you push the button when it's wet it will die.. if you let it dry it should work with no issues

Vizacar

I remember one day visiting the Sperry Rand factory and seeing our complete radar getting cleaned.
They were opening the cabinets and spraying all the insides with high pressure power washers. Hundreds of sophisticated electronic cards under full hi-power water with detergent. Motherboards and all. Quite a shock to say the least. Found out it was distilled water and after a thorough rinsing and drying they worked better than new. No more ghost impedance paths caused by dust.

Edit: Most all electronic borads are washed after assembly, to get rid of the solder flux, no-clean solder being the exception.

Shanezam203

Good deal the keys still work. The cell phone must be shot right?
Anyone upgrade to the new 05 key if you have an 04? Is it as simple as reprograming the keyfab and getting the new key cut for your 04 ignition?

Aseras

When I used to work for Grumman we used to put some of the top secret stuff and keyboards, floppy drives and stuff through the dishwasher to clean it. we'd line the rack with computer boards and give em and a bath and then a hot air dry for 5 hours. nothing ever cooked out.

CRX Millennium

iTrader: (1)

Seeing this thread reminded me of my close-call with '04 key taking a swim in Atlantic Ocean =)
Had the key&remote in my other swim trunk pocket when there was a waterproof pouch nicely shielding my watch and money in the other pocket (talking about being a dumba!%). Anyway, after realizing the mistake I made, I took apart the remote and found the ICB (Integrated Circuit Board) to be mostly dry. The rubber pad sheet acts as a sealant around crevices and nooks. To make sure no salty residue is left behind, I washed the ICB/remote housing with the shower head on the beach and left them air-dry under the sun.

I'm happy to report that everything is good as new! Though I kinda wish this would have been my excuse to get '05 switchblade key/remote unit.

Blaaz

Many have upgraded to the 2005 key. After getting key cut, you need to reprogram both the keyless entry and key. Instructions in DIY section.

cleoent

cool! I've been wanting to go swimming lately, but since i didn't want to have to go through the trouble of emptying my pockets i haven't gone. Now that the remote is water proof i'm going to take a dip! YAY!

rx8wannahave

LOL...funny story but glad your stuff was OK. I could see myself doing something like that...

fullsmoke

Too bad airports won't let you carry them on a plane because they are considered a switchblade style "weapon" (C&D had a thing on this).

Watch it buddy! I will scratch you with my key!

FS

staticlag

I dunno, I work with cameras....

And when an electronic camera...

(the high end type, with a camera less than $1000 I wouldnt bother, just buy a new one)

...takes a plunge its usually a death sentence. Your supposed to pull it out of the water as soon as possible, pull the battery, run to a grocery store, buy a few gallons of distilled water, rinse the camera with a few gallons of water, then ship the camera submersed in a container of distilled water to your camera's manufacturer to have it disassembled and dried.

I heard that the slightest bit of water left sitting in the electronic will cause corrosion that will shorten the life expectancy of the device, because one spot of corrosion will spread.

At least thats the story in the camera industry.

If you get any water in anything with small electronics that you cannot fully disassable, then I suggest you rinse it with methanol to displace the water. The methanol has a lower vapor point than water and will dry quickly without residue.

staticlag

Of course, methanol is caustic to some organic molecules so that means it dissolves some silicones(greases), some rubbers, and some plastics. Pick your battles wisely.

dsmdriver

iTrader: (3)

Most PC boards are washed in distilled water and then just air dryed at the factory. Unless the water creates a circuit path that damages something, 99% of electronics are "waterproof" and will generally even operate correctly underwater. I'd think the issue with cameras has more to do with the mechanical bits than the electrical bits.

Saltwater is bad, bad bad though. Freshwater- no biggie.

staticlag

Yeah, but a lot of PC boards are printed and then have synthetic coatings on them to reduce oxidation and other things that might stick to them(dust, fingerprints, etc). The only thing that is usually "open" to the external environment are the spots of silver solder. And silver doesn't really fall to SH*T when oxygen hits it, it just tarnishes a bit.

99% of electronic devices are NOT waterproof. The only reason they are "waterproof" to distilled water is because distilled water doesn't have any ions in it to cause misconnections.

99% of electronics might have been waterproof back in 1981, but now that everything is so small and close together, a short will not just blow a fuse, but will take a good chunk out of the printed board as well.

Actually Mechanical Cameras have no problems with water. The famous Leica series (virtually all mechanical) have been able to withstand many a dunking and be back in action for years with only air drying. (Still the camera of choice for the greatest of people and journalism photographers)

I'm really talking about film SLRs, because if you drop a Digital SLR into water, or any other digital camera. Its done, period. The best anyone has been able to recover a digital camera after a full submersion involves: Screwed up colour palatte, and tons of ghost artifacts. Quite artistic, but essentially the device was toast.

Don't believe me? drop your PC into the bathtub sometime, or your tv, or your radio, or let your car survive a flood. The tap water running across any open board will cause a short if electricity is present. Just let that delicious water hit the electronic's capacitator and we shall see how waterproof it really is

Technology has changed much in the past 20 years.

Morgan

i poured coke on my keyboard once and it stopped working...i don't recomend doing that..

as for our keys...i wonder if the 04 key would do the same lol

MadRonin

I jumped in the pool last summer with my brand new cellphone in my pocket. It died a horrible death. Since then, I've destroyed two other cell phones. :o

scarroll

I learned a trick about ten years ago for drinks vs. keyboards. Whenever, someone in the office does it, I have them immediately unplug the keyboard.
I take it home and put it keys down in the top of my dishwasher.

Run it on regular cycle with NO heat dry (made that mistake once..)
Wife was pissed...

Also DO NOT use detergent.
Let air dry for a day.
9 out of 10 keyboards are saved using this method.

Works very well with PS2 keyboards and 70% on USB mac keyboards.

Morgan

wow, awesome info...i'll def. have to rememeber that one!!!!!!!!

Labop

Glad to hear that worked out. Did the cell phone ever dry out and start working?

I killed my wife's keys to her old VW bug that way. Well, not exactly that way. My method involved throwing her into the water at the beach. After she surfaced she cussed me out and pulled the key out of her pocket. Yup, the salt water killed it..., DOH!

It's a moot point now as that car was the one that got crunched. Her new remote/car works just fine, unless I do something stupid again.

On the switch blade key and airport issue..., couldn't you just go through the screening with the key in the out position? Then it'd just look like a bulky key..., Has anyone tried this?

The keyboard in dishwasher thing works, also works in the shower.

scarroll

I pretty sure my co-workers would not want to use a keyboard with which I had showered. :D

them- "Hey great job fixing the keyboard! Works like new! How did you get all of the coke out?"

me - "We took a hot shower together this morning."

them - "Uh, ok..., Can I put in a request for a new keyboard?"

me - "Can I borrow it again tonight, we are going in on a swedish massage..."

them - "please leave"

You get the idea

Labop

it's not like I was one handed typing in the shower with it LOL