Complete idiot - Memory stick in washing machine

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I'm probably not the first to do it, but my clothing from last night went into the washing machine (40 degree cyele with spin) including trousers with a HP 8GB memory stick, with some 4GB of important data onboard.

Apart from the full drying out of it - it'll spend at least a day in the last of the summer sun, I'll report if the data has survived the 30 minutes or so in washing powder and water.

What an idiot !
 
I have a 32 gig memory stick that has been in the wash at least twice, possibly more and it is fine.
 
Fully dried out it should be fine ..to read.
However ..if there is any important data on it ..
back it up as soon asap ...
corrosion can progress due to residues on the pcb ..even after drying.
rgds
VS
 
Yes I am sure others have, fortunately I, so far, have not however I have read that even once you think it is dry, by whatever method you use, it is worthwhile putting it in a jam jar of dried rice for 24 hours or a dessicator if you have access to one
 
Hope you gave the stick a few rinses in plain cold water first to remove any traces of washing chemicals before drying out.
 
Should be fine. It's being switched on, causing shorts, and subsequent corrosion that causes issues.
 
PaulR said:
Hope you gave the stick a few rinses in plain cold water first to remove any traces of washing chemicals before drying out.
Click to expand...

Not manually, though it did go through a thorough rinse cycle (twice) last night.
 
One of our staff did that a while back - it survived the first wash. It didnt survive the second a week later :D
 
I've done that before today, I clipped off the plastics and gave it a clean with a bit of methylated spirits on an old tooth brush, when all of the methylated spirits residue had evaporated I plugged it in and backed it up

The usb stick in question was an el'cheapo Tesco jobbie and it still works now
 
I'll give it one more evening to dry out fully before plugging in.
 
The experts use propan-2-ol (iso propyl alcohol or IPA) to mop up water traces on circuit boards. Meths is an acceptable substitute.
 
I bet you remember Carbon Tetrachloride, Paul. Nasty stuff. Smelled of Cabbages.
 
Didn't smell of cabbages to me. Smelled grea-eaaaaat!

And then there's trike, which used to be used in dry cleaning.
 
Hmm, plugged in, everything is there, and it all loads up a lot faster :eek:
 
Tivù said:
I bet you remember Carbon Tetrachloride
Click to expand...

I remember that, it was the base for a switch cleaner we bought in from RS.....seem to remember it smelled more like very strong pear drops....before I passed out.....
 
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