Computer Thrown in Pool - Any Chance of Survival? 1

[GeekBros]

Greetings Gurus,

Yesterday, a customer brought in her desktop which she had just retrieved from the bottom of her swimming pool. (Fight between her and her husband, yada, yada.......) I made no promises and told her to expect the worst, but that I'd do everything I could to try and salvage it. I immediately disassembled every component with the exception of the hard drive. I literally took everything else apart and blew out every drop of water and laid it all out to dry. The hard drive is full of water and really don't know how to get the water out other than removing the top which will assuredly render it destroyed (I think?) On the other hand, even if I could get the water out, I assume it's already destroyed at this point.... am I right? Today, I gathered all the components together and reassembled the system and so far so good. Everything works! I tested everything separately on a different system to verify its condition. Using a drone hard drive I've got for the purpose of component testing, I booted up and everything is accounted for and reading properly - except the hard drive of course, which I haven't touched. My question is this......... Am I at the end of my restoration on this machine, or is there something that can be done to possibly salvage the hard drive? Has snyone dealt with this type of situation before? Thanks for your time and any advice you might have.

Steve

Steve McLean
Co-owner &
Director of Tech. Svcs.
Geek Bros. Computers
Chandler & Yuma, AZ USA

 

[Sleepsalot]

That is a hard one. Even if you could get all the water out I would venture to say that the chemicals in the pool water when dried out will have killed it. If she has valuable data maybe a data recovery company could help but the cost will be high as I'm sure you know.

Wayne

Life is a big Roleplaying adventure.

 

[cdogg]

And even if you somehow do get all the components working (including the hard drive), it's reliability in the long term is next to none.

You've done what you could, but at the risk of being sued, I wouldn't let her try to run any of the components you salvaged without a signed disclaimer.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[G0AOZ]

Good advice from Sleepsalot and cdogg.

You need to ascertain from her the importance level of the data. Specialist data recovery is going to be very expensive. If she's not prepared to pay that price, then maybe for a lesser sum it is worth her giving you the go ahead to try your luck with disassembling that hard drive.

I think I'd try opening it up as soon as possible and washing it in clean water, preferably sterile or distilled water. Leave it to dry out thoroughly, having covered it to exclude as much dust as possible, then give it a whirl...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[kmcferrin]

At this point, I think that you've done as much as you're likely to be able to do (successfully). That being the case, the hard disk is toast anyway then there's no harm in trying to open it anyway. I'd just make sure that you know how to dis-assemble it without damaging it.

Realistically, as cdogg has pointed out, I wouldn't rely on this computer for much of anything. Drying everything out is one thing, but unless you've rinsed it first with a lot of sterile/distilled water, you're still going to have a lot of chemicals and minerals that have now dried onto components. It might work OK for now, but but they will most likely fail due to corrosion or electrical shorts down the line. Keep mind that part of swimming pool maintenance is the addition of harsh substances like chlorine and acids (hypochlorous, muriatic and cyanuric acid are common). And if those won't eat through your circuit traces over time, then you've still got to worry about whether there were shorts from the capacitors when it hit the water.

To be truthful, the only part that really would be worth the effort would be the hard disk. If you can somehow get it dried out, you might be able to use it in a system (I recommend using hers since it is trashed anyway) to recover some or all of her data.

 

[edfair]

I probably would not open it up. Water gets in via a filter opening to the outside air and can probably drain the same way. Then would try soaking in alcohol for its ability to absorb water and let it drain out. Once drained well and under heat for a couple of days to dry it then might try a spin.
But it is going to be history in a very short time, if not already.

 

[ArizonaGeek]

I wouldn't worry about pool chemicals, really. I have a pool and your tap water has more chemicals in it than most pools if they are properly maintained. It would more or less depend on where you live.

If you can get as much water out as you can and get it to some place with some dry heat for a few days you have a 50/50 chance of salvaging anything. Of course like what others are saying, I'd determine how much of the data is really necessary. I mean if you got everything else working and just need to buy a new hard drive call yourself lucky and move on.

Stick the hard drive in an oven at like 150 to 200 degrees with the oven door slightly open for a few hours and see if that gets the water out, or you can make beef jerky.

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[Nelviticus]

Regarding data recovery, I think the cost depends on the state of the drive. If it's not physically damaged, i.e. the platters aren't bent, burned, smashed or scratched it might be cheaper than you think. Certainly worth investigating anyway.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[GeekBros]

Thanks to everyone for their input and suggestions. After deciding I really had nothing to lose, I pulled the top off the drive to reveal what you see in the picture below. The white spots are deposits left behind after the water eveporated. Since I can't touch tthe platter to "scrub" them clean, what could I use to dissolve the mineral deposits? vinegar? I have to assume the reverse of the platter is identical to the front and also needs to be cleaned. The owner of this computer is a close personal friend of mine and therefore I'd really like to give it the best I've got in an effort to get thing working again. If it doesn't, then at least I'll know I've tried everything in my power. Any suggestions for removing the deposits without touching the platters?

Steve McLean
Co-owner &
Director of Tech. Svcs.
Geek Bros. Computers
Chandler & Yuma, AZ USA

 

[kmcferrin]

They were once absorbed in water, so one would assume that you could absorb them in water again. Just make sure to rinse with sterile water when you're done.

 

[orypecos]

When working on photographic cameras, I have always read that the mechanism should never be allowed to have contact with air as rust and other reactions start and usually can't be fixed. Course it it too late for your hard drive, but something to be remembered in the future. If dropped in water, keep the object in the water but replace that water with deionized distilled water and after repeated rinsing finish rinsing with 100% alcohol to absorb all of the water. Then use a electronic cleaner such as LDS to finish with. I used this on a rained on multimeter and it has worked fine for over a year.

As far as a "swimming pool having less chemicals in it then tap water" sounds a little crazy to me. Aren't most swimming pools filled from tape water? Unless the swimming pool has some kind of filtration system that REMOVES chemicals????

As far as materials that were once dissolved by water should be able to be dissolved by water again..... I got chemicals from a hot springs on my glasses and nothing would take those deposits off.

And remember that prevention is best method to avoid troubles. Have that husband incarcerated and/or divorced before he drowns something other than a inanimate object.

 

[ArizonaGeek]

My pool runs thru a sand filtration system and the only chemicals I add are chlorine which is filtered out along with everything else. Which is why we have to add certain chemicals at different times of the year. Normally I just have to add chlorine once a week and then every other week during the winter since we don't swim in it. Again it really depends on where you live on how much and what type of chemicals to use. Since it rarely rains here and is very dry and warm almost year round.

You may want to take the part to a pool place and see what they'd use to get that off. You could try some filtered water, at this point no harm no foul. Just make sure it is good and dry before you try plugging it in.

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[Nelviticus]

If you really want that data recovered, touch nothing and get a quote from a data recovery company straight away. You will only make things worse by trying to clean it and if the quote turns out to be too expensive, you've lost nothing more than the time it took to make the inquiry.

Hard drives are assembled in clean rooms, 100% dust-free environments, because getting anything on the platters can stop the whole thing from working. It's already beyond recovery by normal means.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[ATLMatt]

It's toast. Unless they have data that is worth $1000+, they need to call their homeowners insurance to give them a good laugh, and then go buy a new PC. They also need relationship help. Seriously, violence to physical objects is a sign of some very serious issues.

 

[CiscoRC]

I used to use "Recover My Files" that program works great for recovery files from a drive that happens to think it's bad....worked for me in the past.

If you have important files and you can't do anything with it, just destroy the platters on the drives that way it's not recoverable. I also normally take the platter and put it in the microwave, 3 seconds on high. Gone....

***************
R. Corrigan Jr.
Network+, (working on CCENT+CCNA)

 

[monksnake]

See the texture differences, there's no way you can salvage that hard drive.

<.

 

[CiscoRC]

Right, that's what I believe so, but don't be surprises if some geek out there does salvage any files from that drive. I've seen amazing kids do stuff beyond my comprehensions.

Anyway, in my eyes, I doubt it's recoverable...

***************
R. Corrigan Jr.
Network+, (working on CCENT+CCNA)

 

[GeekBros]

Well, after rinsing the platters thoroughly with distilled water then allowing to dry for a couple of days, the drive appears to be toast. On some boot attempts, it's seen in the BIOS, but on most it's not. And although BIOS sees something attached to that channel, it has no idea what it is. Either way, the drive reacts wildly from the time it's powered up until I shut it down. Soooooooooo, I'll let her know that she's only going to have to replace the drive and I'll be driving a self-threading 3" screw through the old one and disposing of it. Thanks to everyone for their replies and suggestions on this one.

Regards,

Steve McLean
Co-owner &
Director of Tech. Svcs.
Geek Bros. Computers
Chandler & Yuma, AZ USA

 

[Sleepsalot]

Just cover it with a rag and smack it a couple times with a hammer. The platters wil be trashed.

Wayne

Life is a big Roleplaying adventure.