After 2 years of productive use I accidentally drowned my Axim in the bath tub... Since then, I took the unit apart, cleaned it and dried. Everything works fine now, except there is a huge amount of water under the glass in the screen assembly, and it doesn't seem to be drying any time soon. Basically there is an egg-shaped (a bit bigger that the actual egg) dry spot in the middle of the screen surrounded by water on the edges.
Any suggestions, or do I have to leave with it as a grim reminder to be more careful with electronics...
Turn it off completely. Keep it in a dry environment. Put it under a 100 watt incandescent light, screen up. DO NOT let the light get too close. Test the difference with your hand. You want it comfortably and toasty warm, not blistering hot. A swinging arm type desk lamp is a good dryer. You could also put a hair dryer on low, set it on the counter, set the axim up facing it. Once again, you want it to be comfortably warm and drying slowly.
Something similar happened to me. I left it on the floor for a few days -- the floor here becomes quite warm/hot at night, so I put a book between it and the floor. After about four days, all the water was gone. I was left with two slightly noticeable 'lines' which, when most of the screen is set to one solid colour, appear slightly brighter than the rest of the display, but my X51v still works perfectly, except for these two lines.
Thanks for recommendations. One strange thing that I've been observing -- as days go by, the egg-shaped dry area in the middle of the screen is actually shrinking, i.e. it looks like water stain is taking over the whole screen. It hasn't happened yet, but it is definitely getting there. It sounds crazy, but it is true... I guess if water film takes over the entire screen, the result would be visually identical to it completely drying off.
The rice idea is a good one as well as the lamp. the cautions are great too, it has to be warm not hot and remove the battery. I think I would try both of them at the same time, rice and lamp. there is also a product that is called a desicant that you can find sometimes in home stores. They use it to dry a damp closet etc. Time will be your best friend either way though.
The rice idea is a good one as well as the lamp. the cautions are great too, it has to be warm not hot and remove the battery. I think I would try both of them at the same time, rice and lamp.
That's a very interesting combination. Forgive me if I 'borrow' that from you in future recommendations when I come across this kind of situation, perpahs in other 'circles'.
Then I put it into the oven set to a temperature of 150 degrees for 3 hrs.
If your oven does not have that low a temp set it for 200 but leave the door open.
150° sounds pretty hot ... are you talking about Fahrenheit? Quite dangerous explanation in an internationally read forum - cause 150° F is about 65°C which makes more sense ... (whereas 150°C is about 302°C ...)
I heard that people also have problems caused by the minerals in the water (causing shortcuts). So some people recommend washing the whole electronics with distilled water first. Never heard someone using that on a PDA but on Cell phones.
From frightening but successful experience. Place the PDA in a plastic bag with a dessicant container leaving very little free airspace in the bag. Leave for about 10 days - I'd leave for a day or 2 after you cannot see any water on the screen to be safe. Reasonable warmth (but not excessive heat) will help evaporate the water as other posters have mentioned. It worked for me with just the dessicant altho it was summer at the time.
Have a look in the hardware section of your supermarket. Down here in OZ we have a couple of products that are used to absorb moisture in wardrobes (Closets) and prevent mildew. One example is a brand named "Closet Camel". They are triangular about 3 or 4" on a side and a similar depth.
That's a very interesting combination. Forgive me if I 'borrow' that from you in future recommendations when I come across this kind of situation, perpahs in other 'circles'.
Honestly, I never thought about mixing the 2.
Be my guest. I used to work in a calibration/repair lab that would get equipment back from the automotive assembly factories in Detroit. They would be completely covered in grease both inside and out. We would soak them with Fantastik then hose them down with plain tap water. Then we had an oven that we built from plywood and a couple of heat lamps. It got up to about 150 degrees or so and had a tub of desicant in it. We would bake the parts for about 2 days in there and then use spray lube designed for switches and electronic boards. The parts looked and worked like new. the only thing we had to replace was any paper rolled capacitors but generally they were what was wrong with it when it came in anyway.
edit: that is 150 F lol 150C would cause a definite meltdown.
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