on 11/22/02 8:18 PM, Jeremy Derr at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > as you pointed out in your previous post, it's not the water, per se, > that does the damage. and most circuitry will not be fried if not > powered on when encountering the spill. however, if someone spills > something in their laptop, chances are fairly high they were using it > at the time.
This is why I have a hard and fast rule of no food or drink anywhere near our computers � not even in the same room. Since I don't like to eat at my desk, it's not a problem for me; others who may be offended just have to learn to live with it. It's not worth the risk. > > also, you suggested that someone might use a blow dryer to dry off a > wet circuit board. this is incorrect, and horribly bad advice. the > added heat of the blow dryer can damage chips in the same way that > lingering with a solder iron while soldering might -- and there's an > added risk, too. the air flowing out of many blow dryers may have a > slight electric charge. some chips are not tolerant of static > electricity. strike that. MOST chips are not tolerant of static > electricity. why do you think most service techs ground themselves > thoroughly before handling electronics components? Am I ever glad you brought this up. A couple of years ago I came home during a rainstorm to find a tiny, nearly infinitesimal roof leak occurring in just one corner of the house, just the slightest intermittent drip, drip, drip every so often � directly over the keyboard of my PowerBook. Panicked, I cut the power, removed the battery, opened it up and carefully soaked up the water, just barely touching the droplets to let them absorb into Q-tips and paper towels. All seemed well, but for a bit of water in an inaccessible corner or two, so I got out the hair dryer, set it on low and let it blow gentle breezes from afar, thinking to dry out what little water was left. Immediately, sizzle pop poof and an acrid smell, and my heart sank as I knew the PB was murdered dead at my own hand. I assumed I had inadvertently pushed some drops of water around to places they should not have been let to make contact. It frankly never occurred to me that the hair dryer itself could do damage. Never again! The upside was that, the cost of repair being out of proportion to what the thing was worth, I was forced to buy a new PowerBook. Though I could ill afford it at the time and had to buy on credit (ugh! I hate paying interest), immediately I fell in love with the new model and forgot my earlier affair with the damaged goods. -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
