USB flash drives and water.

[David Fletcher]

On Sat, 2022-12-31 at 10:48 -0500, Little Girl wrote:
> Hey there,
> 
> Ian Bruntlett wrote:
> 
> > I have a couple of USB flash drives that *might* have gone in the
> > washing machine a few days ago.
> 
> Oh, my.
> 
> > They seem to be bone dry.
> 
> How long has it been drying and how have you been drying it? There
> seem to be a variety of opinions on how the drying process should go
> and whether it will be fine after that or not:
> 
> https://www.quora.com/My-USB-flash-drive-went-through-a-wash-What-should-I-do
> 
> I would probably go with drying it off with a towel, setting it
> somewhere out of the sun

Hah hah! You should see the weather in Swindon! It's been pouring down
most of the day.


> to dry for a few hours while flipping it
> over every few minutes.

I had a couple of SD cards that got wet (see below) some months or a
year or so ago and wouldn't work. I got them dried again, maybe it was
on a radiator or in the cupboard with the hot water tank. They worked
fine again, and I wrote to and read from one an 8GB backup archive
earlier today.

So, they can survive getting wet but mine were not dunked in clothes
washing solution. Incentive to check all pockets before washing
clothes.


> > I am wondering - can I risk connecting them up to a computer to see
> > if they are still working?
> 
> When you're convinced it's completely dry, I'd do what Colin
> suggested and use your cheapest device with it first.

They worked fine in my old desktop PC but plugged into one of those
3.5" front panel expander things via a PCI USB3 card.


> Once this is sorted, you might want to look for waterproof pill
> containers. They come in a variety of sizes and you could find one
> that's just the right size to hold your USB stick from now on.

No need to spend money - I used to use a plastic 35mm film container
but it cracked and allowed the wet inside. I now use one of those
Colman's mustard jars, glass with a plastic screw down cap which is
keeping them nicely dry.

That's my off site backup - greenhouse at the bottom of the garden -
for my photos and work directory. The cards don't seem to mind whatever
cold we get here which isn't extreme, just keep then dry.

Dave


> 
> -- 
> Little Girl
> 
> There is no spoon.
>