Kobo Arc HD Bath Incident

[Hamishali]

Dear All. I require some technical help after I was quite frankly, an idiot.

Got a Kobo Arc HD for Christmas to replace my Touch, but unfortunately I had it on the edge of the bath, moved the shower screen and splat....Arc was sunk. I fished it out as soon as I could but it was on standby so the power was on, and within minutes the top section of the reader started to heat up. I dried it hastily, powered off and put it on top of the boiler (tea towel below so as not to get it too hot) and left it to dry for 2 days. Unfortunately even after me rescuing it rapidly it will now not turn on, so I believe it has blown whatever circuitry is inside.

Obviously this cost quite a lot of money so I would like to know if there is anything I can do to get this repaired, or is it just a case of throwing it in the bin and saving for another one? Entirely my own fault, but I would like to rescue it if I can, and if it is cost effective to do so. I bought this from WH Smiths and there was no mention of warranties etc when I bought it, the box was just handed over the counter and I paid for it.

Any help or recommendations would be gratefully received.

Thanks

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by Hamishali

Dear All. I require some technical help after I was quite frankly, an idiot.

Got a Kobo Arc HD for Christmas to replace my Touch, but unfortunately I had it on the edge of the bath, moved the shower screen and splat....Arc was sunk. I fished it out as soon as I could but it was on standby so the power was on, and within minutes the top section of the reader started to heat up. I dried it hastily, powered off and put it on top of the boiler (tea towel below so as not to get it too hot) and left it to dry for 2 days. Unfortunately even after me rescuing it rapidly it will now not turn on, so I believe it has blown whatever circuitry is inside.

Obviously this cost quite a lot of money so I would like to know if there is anything I can do to get this repaired, or is it just a case of throwing it in the bin and saving for another one? Entirely my own fault, but I would like to rescue it if I can, and if it is cost effective to do so. I bought this from WH Smiths and there was no mention of warranties etc when I bought it, the box was just handed over the counter and I paid for it.

Any help or recommendations would be gratefully received.

Thanks

you need a large tub of some kind that can hold the arc, and a large box of instant rice. Place a layer of rice in the bottom of the tub, place the arc on the top of this rice flat, Cover the arc with the remainder of the rice and fill the tub to the top with rice. Put lid on the top of the tub and set aside for 30 days, you could go less but since its larger then a cell phone longer would be better. Resist the urge to peak at your device and play with it during the drying out period and let the rice do its thing, if you don't want to use rice u can use a silica drying beads, they use this for drying flowers and such does the same thing a whole lot more exspensive though! Rice is Cheaper. (oh one thing don't cook the rice, I know what your thinking my stepmother tried to dry something out and she cooked the rice first and defeated its purpose) The dry uncooked rice will suck the moisture out of the device and dry it out.

With a little luck you will have a working device again.

regards

Jack


Ps.

sorry to hear of your unfortunate accident, I now use a clear bag for my aura when reading in the tub, just because of the potential, you can get such a bag for your device at any outdoor store that sells hiking/camping supplies. its also good at the beach as it keeps the sand out too.

regards again

Jack

[Glorfindel]

salt works too

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by Glorfindel

salt works too

Salt is a corrosive and will ultimately destroy the electronics. A perfect example is the cancer that grows on cars during the winter season and cars that are located near the ocean.

regards

Jack

[filmo]

Yesterday I was reading about successful drying out mobile phone. First and most important requirement was to turn off by removing battery to reduce damage. Can't do this with easily with kobo readers.

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by filmo

Yesterday I was reading about successful drying out mobile phone. First and most important requirement was to turn off by removing battery to reduce damage. Can't do this with easily with kobo readers.

That is true, but most likely it wont matter so much as some cell phones such as Iphones you can not take the battery out any way and the rice method was used to dry an iphone out that was lost in one of the great lakes months before it was found by a 13 year old boy who successfully booted the phone up and returned it to its owner, who was both shocked(by the working phone and method to dry it out) and thankful for the call to return it.

regards

Jack

[Glorfindel]

Yeah thats true

[TechniSol]

The silica dessicant packs will suck a lot more moisture out than the rice if you can lay your hands on some fresh ones. The rice is a crap shoot depending on how well it's been dried out and the humidity under which it was packaged I expect. Avoid the temptation of turning the unit on for at least a week or so, and don't be surprised if it does work, but then gets wonky months down the road.

There are a lot of trace elements, metals, salts, etc present in most water. Take away the moisture and you're still left with possible shorts across traces on very tiny centers, or shorts or resistances that manifest based on humidity. Long story short, unless you're very lucky the upswing is that you will very likely be upgrading the device sooner rather than later.

Let us know how you eventually make out.

There is one other thing you might try to improve your chances of success. Back when I was designing, selling, maintaining electronic control systems we designed and built our own boards, back in the through hole days. After populating the boards and soldering we used Fantastick cleaner to scrub them with a toothbrush to deflux them, rinsed them, and then did a final scrubbing with lacquer thinner(acetone) on a toothbrush to remove and dissolve anything left behind. I'm not sure how well that might work for you, but it tended to remove any contaminants on the finished boards and we never had problems with any residues left on the boards. You might try it as a last resort. Bear in mind, the damage may already have been done when the device got hot.

If you do try the lacquer thinner be very careful not to get it on any plastics as it may dissolve them, especially the flexible printed kapton film ribbon cables used these days. This is risky stuff, you've been warned.

[filmo]

I had a cell phone survive laundry washer and drier. I used it for another year. Good design or just lucky?

[volpo]

Here's a shot in the dark from another angle.

Did you use a credit card to pay for the item? Most offer an extension to the manufacturers warranty. This may include 'all hazards' if so you should be covered. This would hopefully buy you a new Arc HD.

Good luck!

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by TechniSol

The silica dessicant packs will suck a lot more moisture out than the rice if you can lay your hands on some fresh ones. The rice is a crap shoot depending on how well it's been dried out and the humidity under which it was packaged I expect. Avoid the temptation of turning the unit on for at least a week or so, and don't be surprised if it does work, but then gets wonky months down the road.

There are a lot of trace elements, metals, salts, etc present in most water. Take away the moisture and you're still left with possible shorts across traces on very tiny centers, or shorts or resistances that manifest based on humidity. Long story short, unless you're very lucky the upswing is that you will very likely be upgrading the device sooner rather than later.

Let us know how you eventually make out.

There is one other thing you might try to improve your chances of success. Back when I was designing, selling, maintaining electronic control systems we designed and built our own boards, back in the through hole days. After populating the boards and soldering we used Fantastick cleaner to scrub them with a toothbrush to deflux them, rinsed them, and then did a final scrubbing with lacquer thinner(acetone) on a toothbrush to remove and dissolve anything left behind. I'm not sure how well that might work for you, but it tended to remove any contaminants on the finished boards and we never had problems with any residues left on the boards. You might try it as a last resort. Bear in mind, the damage may already have been done when the device got hot.

If you do try the lacquer thinner be very careful not to get it on any plastics as it may dissolve them, especially the flexible printed kapton film ribbon cables used these days. This is risky stuff, you've been warned.

Actually that's s a point about the packs, you can dry them out by placing them in the oven as well if they are over used, you would have to remove the pkging from them though depending on the temperature .

On a side note, what about a dehydrator would that work? Not sure if there would be too much heat generated from the unit though, as I have never used one.

regards

Jack

[Hamishali]

Thanks for all the advice, really appreciated. The device has been sitting for 2 weeks since I dried it out. It didn't come on so I just assumed it was fried and had to go to London for work, so left it at home. This was really just to see whether it could be repaired, but I'm guessing that if I have fried the circuits inside then the whole 'Drying Out' thing is irrelevant? When I put the power lead in the red light does come on, but it doesn't start.

[Glorfindel]

is the bat. even strong enough to fry it?

[jackastor]

2 weeks in the air is not enough to draw moisture out internally. Put it in the rice or silica and wait a month.