Spilt Coffee on My Kobo

[maddoggy]

I spilt coffee on my Kobo. I've dried it out but it is now"frozen". I have tried turning off an on but the blue light comes on and nothing else. Tried the reset but doesn't work.

Any suggestions?

[The Terminator]

You aren't really supposed to try to turn it on right after you get it wet.


Try drying it out completely and then charging.

[danskmacabre]

I dropped a mobile phone in a cup of coffee once and and it was completely submerged.
I immediately pulled it apart and dried it out and ran a hair dryer over it and then left the parts in an airing cupboard (where it's very warm and dry) for a few days.
Worked perfectly when I put it back together.

I wouldn't recommend pulling apart a KT, but you could dry it out as much as you can with a kitchen towel and run a hair dryer over it, drying it out as much as you can and leave it somewhere very warm and dry (not HOT!), leave it there for a few days and it might work.

You might have to do a hard reset to get it going (use a paperclip to press in the small hole in the back).

I don't work for Kobo so this is NOT professional advice, but it might be worth a try (at your own risk)

[tecweston]

I've heard that putting wet electronics in a cup of uncooked rice works well; the rice soaks up the water inside.

[imsoawesome]

Rice!! I washed my ipod touch through a full cycle and the rice totally saved it!! Put it in a bag and fully cover with uncooked riced and leave it for a few days before trying to start it up again!

[maddoggy]

Thanks for your suggestions. My kobo was on when if spilt the coffee and couldn't turn it off. Have tried putting it in rice and charging but to no avaible. I am afraid it may be toast.

[Shack70]

Yeah you may have fried it. The rice trick works if you do not turn on your electronics

[frostschutz]

Rice is fine for water, but coffee, milk, coca-cola, etc. requires more intensive cleaning. Adding more water (distilled) might actually help at this point, although I prefer isopropyl alcohol for cleaning electronics and the like.

Built in battery is a huge problem in this case; with a mobile phone you can at least take it out immediately whereas the ereader you need tools to open it up first. You shouldn't power it back on before it's not absolutely clean & dry. A single short circuit in the wrong place will kill your device forever.

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by maddoggy

I spilt coffee on my Kobo. I've dried it out but it is now"frozen". I have tried turning off an on but the blue light comes on and nothing else. Tried the reset but doesn't work.

Any suggestions?

Well best suggestion would be to buy some minute rice. And place your touch in a pail like a used coffee container. Pour the rice around the unit and make sure its completely coverd place the cover on the coffee can. Let it sit for 2 weeks. The rice will draw all the moisture out of the unit and with a little luck your device will be functional.

Good luck

Jack

[Orn8one]

I'm sorry for you but in your shoes I'd take the chance of trying a Kindle! The customer services can't be any worse surely?

[FJames]

Water generally doesn't harm electronics, even hot water with coffee in it. The problem is that there are enough dissolved mineral salts in water for it to act as a weak conductor, which is sufficient to disrupt low-power CMOS electronics as long as they are wet. Usually the electronics will work again when you dry them out completely, but you have to open everything up to get all the moisture out. Putting it in a sealed container with dry rice or silica gel works, but very slowly. I prefer a hair dryer on low heat.

You also might encounter the problem that the electronics work again briefly after they dry out, but soon stop working again. The reason is that the mineral salts deposit out as a white or brown crust as the water dries. When very dry these salts don't conduct, but even a little moisture absorbed from the air is enough to start them conducting again. The only way to remove them once they have deposited is physical scrubbing with something like a toothbrush. Pure distilled water doesn't conduct, so it helps to wash away the non-pure water right away with distilled water if you can. It doesn't help after things have already dried and the salts are deposited. Sometimes it has taken me two or three cycles of washing with distilled water and scrubbing to get things working reliably again.

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by FJames

Water generally doesn't harm electronics, even hot water with coffee in it. The problem is that there are enough dissolved mineral salts in water for it to act as a weak conductor, which is sufficient to disrupt low-power CMOS electronics as long as they are wet. Usually the electronics will work again when you dry them out completely, but you have to open everything up to get all the moisture out. Putting it in a sealed container with dry rice or silica gel works, but very slowly. I prefer a hair dryer on low heat.

My understanding too, FJames. And the sugars in the ... well, sugar ... and milk can eat the conductor pathways off the circuitboards, so it's not just a matter of their having gotten wet.

Good luck, maddoggy!