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Digital ohm meter under water

5

550Doug

Member
Location
Southern Ontario
My digital ohm meter was left in a wheelbarrow and after it rained I discovered it under water. I've taken the case off and now drying it. Should I put in a low temp oven to get rid of the moisture or has the damage already been done?
Thanks
 
I wouldn't put it in an oven because you never know what temp the solder on the boards, or any of the sealers used on the boards is going to melt at. The last one I had that got wet was left out by accident on a customers machine when a thunderstorm hit and the 'bottom fell out'. In that case it got rained on for nearly a week and although 'sealed', I discovered it was not 'that sealed'. I simply opened it up and let it set it in the sun for a day or so and let it dry that way. I haven't had any problems out of it since. Good luck.
 
DO NOT HEAT IT.. Best thing you can do is take it and stick it in a bag of uncooked rice and let it sit and hope for the best. If that does not work and it will not work probably time to replace it. Digital things do not like real high heat or being wet
 
Hello 550doug,
listen to old, you put it in rice like he said.It will draw the moisture out.
Guido.
 
Doug,
My cell phone went for a swim in a canel. I removed the battery and dried it with a hair dryer. Next day, put it in a tree for the sun to dry out the screen. Worked for years.

My sister ran her phone through the washing machine. Wrapped her phone up in a few socks, put it in with a load of laundry and ran it throught the dryer. She claimed hers worked after that.

I would open up the VOM, remove battery, and wash with distilled water first. Then dry with hair dryer.

Good luck. Post back on what works for you.
George
 
I've had DVM's "go for a swim" on a couple occasions then successfully brought them back. Simply open it up, remove the battery and let it bake in the sun for a day or two.

I would NOT recommend sticking it in a warm oven - even at the lowest setting there's the risk over overheating sensitive components.

ALSO - if the water you DVM drowned in was anything less than pure rainwater, recommend rinsing the DVM internals with distilled water before setting it out to dry. Any trace of corrosive material (cement dust, fertilizers, salt, etc) that could have dissolved then washed into the DVM internals can cause troubles later on.
 
rinse with 90% rubbing alcohol after removing battery.. alloy to dry, perhaps with a dessicant helping it.. but I'd keep heat away. lcd's hate heat.

give it a good while to dry.

see what happens..

alcohol is a polar solvent.. water is polar.. that will take care of most of the free water as it forms an azeotrope.
 
You did remove the battery, right?

The first thing to do is to dry it out. Don't use anything hotter than a blow dryer. Compressed air is ok, just be careful not to break anything.

Once it's dry, you need to remove any corrosion that took place while it was drying out. I suggest using isopropyl alcohol and an acid brush to scrub every part of the printed circuit board you can get to. Switches should be flushed with alcohol and operated repeatedly. Then get it completely dry a second time. Assuming there's no sign of corrosion or other damage, install a fresh battery and cross your fingers.
 
Did that to a cell phone once. Someone told me to take off the back and cover it with uncooked white rice. Let it set three days in there and it worked with no issues.
 
I've successfully salvaged a few calculators that took a swim. Just laid them over the defrost on my truck and turned the fan and heat on high. Good luck. . .
 
At the companies I worked for. If your meter went underwater. We sent them back to Fluke. To have them cleaned and tested.No sense taking a chance with 480 and a water track.
 
Remove the battery and put it in a Zip-loc bag with uncooked rice. I have done that on two cell phones. I have also heard that putting them in the freezer will sometimes work too.
 
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