[PLUG] Resolved: Flash Drive went through the wash

[tomas.kuchta.lists at gmail.com]

This is interesting topic - very academical!

If the flash drives's plastic survived without any sign of damage - it was most
likely not hot enough and not chemically aggressive enough to have an impact.

In terms of moisture and corrosive environments - there is hardly any worse
environment than human's pocket in hot summer. People give out a lot of moisture
full of corrosives and also static discharge.

In terms of the actual flash chip - they are well sealed. The PCB in the drive
is probably the weakest link from the environmental point of view - good rinse
should take care of it.

Other than that - you have clean, hopefully germ free, USB flash drive.

I'd keep using it as if nothing else happened to it - never keep single copy of
anything irreplaceable on a flash drive (any storage device really) - new or
old, washed or full of germs.

-T

On Sat, 2019-07-06 at 14:33 -0700, Dick Steffens wrote:
> On 7/6/19 2:27 PM, Galen Seitz wrote:
> > On 7/6/19 2:17 PM, Dick Steffens wrote:
> > > I put a flash drive in a shirt pocket and forgot about it. The shirt 
> > > and the drive went through the washer and dryer. I just tried it and 
> > > it works. (I had already downloaded the contents, so I wasn't worried 
> > > about losing data.)
> > > 
> > > The question is, did running it through the dryer right after it ran 
> > > through the washer dry it out enough that it will be okay? Or simply 
> > > because it got wet, and corrosion began, one day it will die?
> > > 
> > > Not a big deal. It's an older, smaller flash drive that I don't use 
> > > often. Just an academic question.
> > 
> > It's certainly possible that there is still moisture inside.  If you 
> > want to try to preserve it, try burying it in some uncooked rice. 
> > Alternatively, if you have an electric oven or toaster oven, you could 
> > bake it for an hour or so at 125 degrees.  I wouldn't do this in a gas 
> > oven due to the moisture given off by combustion. OTOH, given the low 
> > cost, I would just recycle it.
> 
> Sounds like the best plan. As I said, it's old (as these things go), and 
> I wouldn't want to depend on it.
> 
> > Had you intercepted it between the washer and dryer, I might have 
> > recommended an extra rinse to attempt to get any detergent residue out 
> > of it before drying it out.
> 
> Rinse and repeat.
> 
> Thanks for your analysis.
>