# my Sumpter Valley got wet



## smlyons (May 17, 2008)

We were gone and a sudden rain storm got the unit wet. I took it into the train house. Bench testing revealed no movement, no smoke and no sound. Low pressure from my air gun removed a lot of the water and overnight drying did the trick, after oiling, it now runs as well as it did when i took it out of the box. The next day i got the smoke working also back to factory condition. Today I tried to get the sound working. Not wanting to open up the unit (as the LGB Uintah can be frighting as to the number of small parts and screws) I manage to get very loud noises (mosly squeals and bangs) comming from it, to include several chugs as power is applied to the unit. at one running i got bells. Whats my options wait let mother nature dry it out?, open it up and see if there is a lot of water inside or send it off to LGB.................your thoughts and suggestions please


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Anecdote first: I used to help a TV repairman many, many years ago. The first thing he would do to a TV when it was in for repair was to remove the electronics chassis from the wood or plastic housing and put it in the back of his pickup truck. Then he would drive to the car wash and use a wand to spray out the entire unit. Then, back at the shop he would blow the water out as best as possible and then let the unit sit for at least 24 hours to dry. THEN and only then would he apply power to see what the problem was. Many times the unit would work perfectly and he would button it all back up and return it to the customer (after charging an arm and a leg for his "work"). There were a couple of types of components (paper capacitors and such) that he had to remove (or cover carefully) because the soapy water could damage them. Other than that, the "wash" often fixed the problem! 

I dropped my Pedometer into the toilet not too long ago... the water was "fresh" so I didn't mind putting a plastic garbage bag over my hand and retrieving the thing. First thing I did was to remove the batteries. Then I opened it up and poured copious amounts of alcohol all over it. (The alcohol will first absorb the water and then wash it away as it runs off. If any water does not get washed off then it will remain after the alcohol evaporates.) I used a hair-dryer (on low/no heat) to blow over it to help the alcohol to evaporate quicker. 

Then I put the batteries back in and it works just fine. 

Of course, there is the chance that alcohol will damage some part and that was a chance I was willing to take, seeing as that it was only a pedometer. If the alcohol is not left in contact with the components for very long it should be a minimal risk. 

The same can be done with cell phones that are dropped in water. 

With modern electronics one must be careful to not apply power while the unit is wet. The water can conduct power to areas of the circuitry that cannot handle the voltage and could burn something out. That is why I took the batteries out right away. 


In your case, I think the sound board is still wet and it may come back to working order in a few days when the water has totally evaporated, assumming something didn't burn out due to voltages being conducted to the wrong places by the water. Blowing dry air over and through it will help, but be careful to keep the heat content low so you don't overheat something.


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## sheepdog (Jan 2, 2008)

What Charles said..... Never apply power until you are sure it has dried out.


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