Got wet, reset, frozen

There was a thunderstorm in my area so I had my mp3 hooked up outside on the porch recording the rain and thunder. I’ve been doing this for a while, and this time the spot I had it hooked onto was wet. 47 minutes later I went out to get it, and saw that it was wet. It was laying horizontally (if I remember correctly) with the buttons and screen facing up.

I saved the recording and turned it off. Then seconds later gave it to someone who tried to turn it on. It froze at the starting up screen. I took it after 30 seconds and it felt slightly cold. After a few minutes I looked up how to reset it or force it to shut down. As it isn’t run by batteries (rather, it charges via USB) I couldn’t remove anything, nor would it shut down by me dropping it. So I found how to force it to reset/shut down by preessing the power button for 20 seconds. Then i immedeitely turned it back on but it wouldn’t do so.

I tried to connect it via USB and the computer recognized it, however it was still frozen at the startup screen. Soon, it displayed the message “not enough space for music db please free 90 mb” and so I disconnected it so I could try to remove some stuff. However, it froze after turning off and will not turn on no matter what now.

You probably shorted it out by trying to turn it on while it was still wet, The moisture would naturally seep in around the buttons, etc. and play havoc with the micro-ciruit board underneath.

The only thing you can do now is seal the unit up in a plastic bag with some dry white rice (or other desiccant) and leave it alone in a warm place for a week or two (maybe changing out the rice after a few days) and hope for the best.

Oh great, not what I wanted to hear.

I have done so. A week or two? I was going to use it this weekend. Well, I hope it works out.

Rule #1:  Electronics and water don’t mix!

You might be able to speed up the drying process by taking it apart. However, unless you’ve done this before, or know exactly how it’s done, I wouldn’t advise it.

You could also put it in your kitchen’s oven (electric preferred) with only the light on, no heat. The small light bulb in the well-insulated compartment is just enough to keep it warm & toasty, but not too hot (around 95 - 110 degrees F). Sometimes I’ll proof my bread dough or bring cold butter or eggs up to room temperatiure like this.

JUST DON’T FORGET IT IF YOU"RE GOING TO BAKE A PIE! :smileyvery-happy:

I know the rule. However, in the past I’ve yet to get it wet. If I had known it would be soaked…

I’d rather not take it apart.

I’d also rather not risk melting my device in my oven, even if it does speed it up.

A week or 2 might be more than is needed–3 or 4 days may be all that is needed.  Key is, a nice, warm place, like a laundry room, and making sure the player is totally dry inside before turning it on again.  (Try shaking any excess water out first.)

I can do 3 days. I have it wrapped in a blanket up in my closet.

If there is indeed water in the device, where would it come out? the cracks that are in the middle of the device? Around the buttons? What if the device is more damp than wet?

Actually, I might take it out of the blanket, so that there is airflow and a place for the humidity from the player to freely go to.  Just a nice, warm location.

Presumably, the moisure will come out the various cracks and openings–around the buttons, as you said, as well as the headphone port and USB cable opening.  And if the player is just damp as opposed to wet, even better and faster for it to dry out completely --what you want before applying power, as power plus water = disaster.

Really? Well I took it out and none of the rice seemed to be even slightly ‘puffy’.

After about 24-ish hours of not using the device, I tried to turn it on. It froze at the start up screen but then loaded up. Seems there was NO power left in it. I used a usb to hook it to my laptop and it connected and regonzied it. Now it’s charging. I can even access the fiiles now,

Great to hear!  Hopefully, the 24 hours was just what was needed to eliminate the mositure in the player.  And it should be fine for you for the holiday weekend.

Yes, thank you.

I do notice a slight one second increase between the start up screen and when the menu shows up. However, I’d rather an extra second of waiting for it to load, than to not have it work at all.

Hopefully your impatience will not come back to bite you you-know-where. There may still be some residual moisture inside somewhere; 24 hours is typically not long enough for it to evaporate. But every situation is different.

The 1 second delay is not normal; I hope it doesn’t display any other ‘weirdness’ for you in the future. If it does, then you’ll know you should’ve dried it out longer. :wink:

I suppose. It’s been a full week since the incident, and I’ve used it many, many times and it’s been functioning fine. I suppose I took every little extra second of waiting and exaggerated it in my mind.

However, it’s been a week. Long enough for it to have dried, right?

Almost certainly, unless it’s been in a colder, damper location.  If it’s working, that’s the best sign.   :slight_smile:

It does not work even after the process of keeping inside the rice

Sorry to hear that–if it’s only been  few hours or even a day, you might give it 3-4 days, depending on the conditions.

any other ways can i know pls

Or, put the player in a warm room where it may dry out completely–such as, in a toasty laundry room. 

if someone tried to turn it on while it was still wet, it may just be fried. Period. Defunct. Kaput.

The best thing you can do is be patient and make sure it is really, really dry. Put it in with the rice and just forget it is there for the next few days. It’s not an instant process.

Then–days later, not hours–leave it charging overnight and try to turn it on. If it doesn’t go on, give it a fond farewell–and maybe look for one of the $20 refurbs on Amazon or Dealfisher.