unbelievable

[jennywren]

I have just put my usb flash drive in the washing machine for 29 min wash and hearty spin. my heart sank as it had all my new work which I had not back up as I was finishing it off this after now at work. I pop in my lap to and it still work, I quickly made a copy and saved it to my hard drive, was I a lucky lady.

[Paul]

:biggrin: what make is this USB??? I got to buy one myself!!! I would contact the company and tell them how extreme test it when thru

[jennywren]

flash voyager corsair memory. That a good idea I've just emailed them

[Matt Quinn]

I have just put my usb flash drive in the washing machine for 29 min wash and hearty spin.

Presumably in the pocket of something?

You were lucky it was dry enough - BUT - If anyone else does this the trick is to make sure it's dry and doesn't short out when plugged in. -assuming it's not got smashed to bits of course!

There's nothing really to break in a USB stick - The danger is it has water in it and gives a 'dead short' across the USB port - in which case it could damage your computer.

DON'T try to dry them out with extreme heat - but a week or so somewhere warm like the airing cuboard. The 'rubber' kind are least vulnerable ; dry out the 'plug' end with a compressed air line or can and leave it to dry. Ones with a shell that spilts are best CAREFULLy taken out of their shell for drying - don't touch the circuit board as this can be static sensitive - Just get it out its shell, dry it out, place it back in it shell and...

You WERE lucky Jenny - not just in the fact that your stick worked; but you could have damaged your computer.

[jennywren]

No not in a pocket, It was around my neck and when I pulled of my top I didn't notice it. I t was in one piece. I put in straight in the pc and when it open I copied and saved, Still drying it out in the usb post. must be dry as my washing machine has a very fast spin. I'm just going to leave in the port and let the pc natural heat finish it of. Sometimes to much knowledge is dangerous for me, I general jump with two feet forward and hope for the best and that generally works for me. Funny enough that's how I got into business. I got pregnant at the age of 42 (NOT PLANNED) I use to t cut and waxed the outside of aircraft worked right up to a week before I gave birth, stayed home for 6 months and was soooooo bored I decided to become self employed, which gave a chance to work the hours I could, didn't have a clue about anything, lost money time and effort but finally found my way. 17 years later here I still working and life is party of being lucky, right time and place and hard work and family support. Yes I am LUCKY

[mgibbs]

The Corsair Voyagers are pretty robust.

I've had one run over by a car which survived and another bent while in the USB socket.

Mark

[JSR]

I used to use a metal pico USB key on my belt for crucial stuff I didn't want to lose. It was said to be waterproof, but I don't recall trying it out!

These days, I'm more inclined to use something like DropBox in addition to an SD card for my files - so that everything is backed-up and accessible, even in the event I lose the files on the card.

[jennywren]

I used to use a metal pico USB key on my belt for crucial stuff I didn't want to lose. It was said to be waterproof, but I don't recall trying it out!

That's witty

[JSR]

I used to use a metal pico USB key on my belt for crucial stuff I didn't want to lose. It was said to be waterproof, but I don't recall trying it out!

That's witty

It survived rain drops, I know that...

Some USB keys were tested through water (and everything else) on "The Gadget Show". They just wiped them off and plugged them into their laptops and they worked fine. I guess there isn't too much that can go wrong with them.

[Matt Quinn]

I guess there isn't too much that can go wrong with them.

There are certainly no moving parts - And as they have no batteries and nothing is 'powered up' inside them; if they get wet even at circuit board level there isn't much that can happen. The biggest risk to the bare board would be static from somone drying it with a synthetic cloth!

Most USB sticks seem to be 'potted' in plastic and this effectively seals the board anyway - The only real 'danger' I can see is that you have water droplets in the conector that then 'short out' the 5v line of the computer it's plugged into - That or the stick is in a more 'open' enclosure that traps water inside it and does the same thing.

But generally there's nothing to break - personally I wouldn't plug one that had been wet STRAIGHT into a computer but...