[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Save a Wet Gadget, Salvage a Laptop Hard Disk here

[puterdood]

I have used the dry rice trick many times and it does a great job. I would save the $20 and just use rice.

I have also used the desiccant bags that are included in a lot of packaging, but it seems they just don't work as fast as the dry rice, although they are very convenient and easy to use for long-term storage of anything that needs help with moisture eradication.

[brocksamson]

@ "I haven't tried a Bheestie Bag myself"

(IDC what any other company/review site says)

Is this how pcworld makes its money - does the mfg pay you to write a review of their product? In exchange for them getting free or cheap advertising - Look it may be an excellent product (that is not the argument here) but if that means you or pcworld has to take an old device and drop it in the toilet then so be it. If you or the mfg of said product isn't willing to provide a working device to test a new product then you shouldnt review it!

Or how about this...

I just invented a matter/energy molecular transportation device... It is for sale, will you write a review for me?

[pshane45]

In a sudden emergency, one could also drop the device into a section of panty hose that's been cut off (the foot), tie a knot in it, then drop it into a bowl or jar of plain salt for overnight. - Salt will suck the moisture out pronto!!
On the other hand, if the device is dropped into Salt Water, there is a whole other set of problems. - It would have to be thoroughly rinsed in FRESH Water, (Remove Battery first!) - and then proceed. - (Good Luck with that!)
And to "Brocksamson", I say if you're THAT bitter about PCW's articles, Don't Bother Reading thier articles! - How ELSE are they going to get news to readers without writing about them?

[mjd420nova]

Over the years, I've tried every cure known and even a few that seemed stupid but worked. Drive orientation has been the quickest route to getting data off an otherwise dead drive. I use an external drive cabinet to mount faulty drives in to recover anything I can. Heat can sometimes expand things beyond retrieval ability and overheated drives can be revived with a freezer soak so the dry ice might help instead of total immersion. A can of freeze spray also helps to identify any borderline components on a controller card.Moisture has not been much of a problem for the drive itself as they are sealed but can affect controller components. Natural drying versus forced(oven) drying is my only route as heating the entire unit is not recommended and should only be used as a last resort.

This post has been edited by mjd420nova: 12 April 2012 - 08:22 AM

[beaker46]

I don't know about the other suggestion, but I have been 99% successful putting the device, generally a cell phone, in the oven at 120-130 degrees for several hours and voila, out comes a working device. It's even faster if you have a convection oven at same temps. My son uses 140 degrees with equal success, it just seems that the lowest that works is the way to go.