External HD - NOT Waterproof!

[rjbinney]

A bottle of Diet Coke exploded in my briefcase this morning. Although I "caught it" within a minute, about 10 ounces had filled my briefcase - damaging but not destroying most paper documents.

My laptop seems to be unscathed; the pocket where I keep my external HD seemed dry, but...

When I plug my iOmega "eGo" hard drive in, it spins up and shows up in Explorer - for about 15 seconds. Then it shuts down. The activity/power light goes dark, and it disappears from Explorer. If I immediately unplug and plug back in, nothing. If I wait a few minutes, and try again, the 15-ish second cycle repeats.

It does not appear to make a difference if I reseat the plug at the computer vs. at the HD unit.

USB flash drives work in all ports.

The combo power/data cable I used for the HD powers my cellphone, so I presume that's OK.

MOST of what's on the HD is backed up at home, but I've been on the road for two weeks and have those documents (particularly tax docs!) without backup.

I don't know what I'm looking for here - either optimism (hey, it's only been 2.5 hours; give it time to "dry" and it will be fine), or maybe suggestions on how to force recovery (maybe it's just the connection, and I can crack it open and "fix" it somehow?).

But, any advice, other than "You're screwed" would be awesome.

(btw, Don't know if it matters, it's an iOmega eGo 500GB portable HD, plugged into a Dell Latitude running XP SP3).

[Quantos]

The contacts are covered in sugar water now.  Take the enclosure apart, rinse off the parts, let it air dry and hope to god it works when it's dry.

If it doesn't, then your screwed.   

[BC_Programmer]

The contacts are covered in sugar water now. 

How is that possible?

A bottle of Diet Coke

Diet Coke uses artificial sweeteners. Also, as he stated:

the pocket where I keep my external HD seemed dry

It didn't even get any on it.

I think the real question is wether this is a coincidence or not.

What about the power supply for the external drive, and it's USB cord? if they were in a separate area it could be that they got wet from it.

[Geek-9pm]

DO NOT open up the HD.Take it out of the external enclosure, but do not open the cover over the platter. Put some tape of the air hole
Make a mix of very hot water and some soap. Submerge the HD in the water for about 30 seconds and move it around. The idea here is to wash off any residue on the electronics and the contacts. But we don't what water inside the the planter area. Take off the tape now.
After that, put it in a warm, not hot over. About 1140 F . after the oven gets to that temperature, leave the drive in there for 24 hours. We hope this will cause any liquid inside the platter area to evaporate. allow another hour to bring the drive back to room temperature.
It was unfortunate that you tried to run the HD before it was all dried out. Any moister  will do  damage.

This is not the first time this has happened.
Google 'waterproof hard drive'
waterproof hard drive

[BC_Programmer]

DO NOT open up the HD.Take it out of the external enclosure, but do not open the cover over the platter. Put some tape of the air hole
Make a mix of very hot water and some soap. Submerge the HD in the water for about 30 seconds and move it around. The idea here is to wash off any residue on the electronics and the contacts. But we don't what water inside the the planter area. Take off the tape now.
After that, put it in a warm, not hot over. About 1140 F . after the oven gets to that temperature, leave the drive in there for 24 hours. We hope this will cause any liquid inside the platter area to evaporate. allow another hour to bring the drive back to room temperature.
It was unfortunate that you tried to run the HD before it was all dried out. Any moister  will do  damage.

This is not the first time this has happened.
Google 'waterproof hard drive'
waterproof hard drive

WHAT?

Do NOT do this. Under any circumstances. Soap and water? a freaking OVEN?

[rthompson80819]

After that, put it in a warm, not hot over. About 1140 F

I think Geek means 140 F.  1140 F is kind of toasty.

Even so, I've never done anything like this, and would be very hesitant to put a HD in soap and water.

[BC_Programmer]

I've never seen an oven that has temperature settings below boiling point.

[Geek-9pm]

Typo. I did mean a very warm oven, but below biking.
One hundred forty degrees Fahrenheit.

Below boiling is the safe temperature for devices NOT with power on.m In the specs it is called 'safe max storage temperature.
Hot water and a small amount of soap does not harm the electronics it you dry it out immediately. In a very warm place.

Or use Alcohol, if you are over 21. But be very careful.

[Salmon Trout]

I've never seen an oven that has temperature settings below boiling point.

You should come to my house and see my Baumatic oven. As I am a Euro-Weenie I measure temperatures in Celsius.

[BC_Programmer]

I don't even really understand temps in fahrenheit... all I know is that 222 is 100(c) and 32 is 0(c) and kind of try to convert mentally. Basically, I know how, say, 30(c) would feel- a hot day. but if somebody said "it's 60 degrees outside" for fahrenheit, it would take me a few seconds to mentally decide wether that is hot or cold.

[Salmon Trout]

I don't even really understand temps in fahrenheit... all I know is that 222 is 100(c) and 32 is 0(c) and kind of try to convert mentally. Basically, I know how, say, 30(c) would feel- a hot day. but if somebody said "it's 60 degrees outside" for fahrenheit, it would take me a few seconds to mentally decide wether that is hot or cold.

er, 212 F is 100 C. And 32 F is 0 C. So you therefore know that between freezing and boiling there are 180 Fahrenheit degrees or 100 Celsius ones. Maybe it's because I grew up with F degrees until I was about 20 and then got used to the C ones in adulthood, but I am OK with both, and if necessary I can add/subtract 32 and multiply by 9/5 or 5/9. 60 degrees F would feel not exactly cold, but not really warm I think - let's check... 28 Fahrenheit degrees above freezing point, five ninths of that is 15 and a bit...

[patio]

What about Kelvin ? ?

[Salmon Trout]

What about Kelvin ? ?

They are the same size as Celsius degrees, and to convert you add/subtract 273.15. They are not used either in weather forecasts or cooking, as far as I know. 

[Geek-9pm]

What about Kelvin ? ?

Kelvin left the forum.    

[rthompson80819]

They are the same size as Celsius degrees, and to convert you add/subtract 273.15. They are not used either in weather forecasts or cooking, as far as I know.

If someone feels the need to do weather forecasts in Kelvin , we may be in trouble.

[rjbinney]

Back on topic...

I let it sit in a very warm room for the weekend. It seems to be - MOSTLY - OK. At one point, it recognized the subdirectory structure, but no files in any of the folders. But that seems to have passed.

So I was able to back up the backups.

The next question is... Should I trust it to continue to be OK? Or should I just go out and buy a new one right now?

Thanks.

[Geek-9pm]

Back on topic...

I let it sit in a very warm room for the weekend. It seems to be - MOSTLY - OK. At one point, it recognized the subdirectory structure, but no files in any of the folders. But that seems to have passed.
So I was able to back up the backups.
The next question is... Should I trust it to continue to be OK? Or should I just go out and buy a new one right now?
Thanks.

OH! I just recovered BRAIN malfunction
Maybe THIS link  is almost relevant to you question.
Can anyone think of some words that mean to humanize an inanimate object?

[patio]

Not sure what that meant....

I'd let it dry a few more days...format it and continue to use it.
However this is an excellent opportunity to create a regular backup regimen...and stick to it.

For disk imaging my app of choice is Acronis True Image.

For Free apps my choice would be Macrium Reflect.

That drive may take a dump inside a month or it may last you another 5 years...what i'm suggesting is there's no scientific way of knowing...

Best of Luck !

[rjbinney]

Some people need more help than others...

[Quantos]

The contacts are covered in sugar water now.  Take the enclosure apart, rinse off the parts, let it air dry and hope to god it works when it's dry.

If it doesn't, then your screwed.   

I was under no means talking about taking the HDD apart.  Wow you guys jumped the gun on that one

On a side note there have been people here who would assume that I meant that and try it.  Then wonder why they can't get the HDD to work.

'Well, it should work, I scrubbed the platters with a Brillo pad, then I straightened the bend in the armatures...'