One non-functioning button after water damage; can I fix it myself?

So I stupidly dropped my Clip+ in, yes, a toilet.  :angry:

Pulled it out right away, dried externally and kind of shook it off, but didn’t put it with rice (for internal drying) until next day.  It actually works completely fine except for the ‘left’ button, which does not work at all.  So my question is, if I managed to crack the player open, might I be able to fix that button with some relatively simple procedure?  Like cleaning the contacts with q-tip and alcohol (assuming it is a contact-based button), or something like that??  Thanks for any tips, if anyone has knowledge or experience of this.

How long did you leave it in the rice to try and draw out any residual moisture? Usually several days to a week is recommended.

Opening up the case without causing damage is daunting, but it can be done with patience and proper tools. There are instructions and pictures of the disassembly procedure over on the ABI forums.

Wow, what crappy luck! :stuck_out_tongue:

How long did you leave it in the rice to try and draw out any residual moisture? Usually several days to a week is recommended.

Opening up the case without causing damage is daunting, but it can be done with patience and proper tools. There are instructions and pictures of the disassembly procedure over on the ABI forums.

I did not leave it the rice that long…maybe just an overnight and half of a day.  I can try leaving it longer, but it’s been a while now since the drop.  I saw what seemed to be a 14 year old boy with a disassembly video on YouTube, which gave me confidence that *maybe* I could get it open – but even if so, not sure about whether I could somehow fix that button.  The player is quite useable without that button working, but I can’t boot Rockbox on it now, and that’s what I miss the most.

Rockbox should boot up fine without pressing the left or REW button. You only press that if you want to boot into the OF.

Here’s the direct link to the disassembly instructions on ABI, so you can decide whether or not you want to tackle it:

http://anythingbutipod.com/2009/08/sandisk-sansa-clip-plus-disassembly/

What some users have done is, re-rinsed the player (without opening the player up; and with the player off, of course) with distilled water, to (hopefully) flush out any mineral contaminants.  The, let the player dry out completely (DAYS), and see if that helps.  Just a thought . . . .