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And.... My wife washed the key fob

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by MrMischief, May 22, 2016.

  1. MrMischief

    MrMischief Active Member

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    Well that didn't take long. Less than 24 hours into ownership and my wife being a diligent helpmate found a pair of my jeans on the floor (where they shouldn't have been, I'm sure) and threw them in with the load of laundry she was doing. Found the key fob in the pocket before it made it to the dryer.

    So I go to the 2016 Prius and shaking it, water is coming out the little hole. I grab the driver's door handle, it unlocks! so maybe there's hope. I get back inside and she's pouring a bowl of rice (pretty sure that has been debunked). Instead of jabbing it into rice I crack it open and looks like the thin little silcon/rubber whatever water seal around the electronics saved us. Plenty of water around the outside edge of the fob, but the actual electronic bits show no sign of water. Dried it with a towl and it's sitting next to me now. My only thoughts now are, did I do more damage handling the electronics than the water did (I tend to accidentally break a lot of stuff) and is the humidity from the swamp cooler causing more of a moisture issue to the exposed electronics than the wash did?

    I think a big help came from it being a front load washer and my impatient wife runs the least amount of time per load as possible. Back to the "only wash stuff that's in the hamper / don't leave stuff in pockets" argument.
     
    #1 MrMischief, May 22, 2016
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  2. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Ah the first Gen4 Fob wash!
    Gen2 Fob seemed to handle it.
    Think I'd be inclined to take the battery out and sit to dry, but we'd have to check past threads for recommendations.
     
    #2 wjtracy, May 22, 2016
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  3. MrMischief

    MrMischief Active Member

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    Yep that's where I'm at with it, just letting it sit overnight, maybe through tomorrow see how I feel in the morning. My wife and I work a few blocks away from each other so I'll probably take the washed one and throw the not washed one in her purse. If it won't start for me at the end of the day she can easily walk down with the good one and we'll stop by the dealer on our way home. I'll have to eat a bit of crow after arguing over every last dime on the deal for 8 hours on Saturday to walk in and drop... what? $400? $500? In parts due not being able to adult good.
     
    #3 MrMischief, May 22, 2016
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  4. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    ...the lithium button batteries kind of easy to drain the juice out if shorted or handled so if it does not work that's one thing to check
     
    #4 wjtracy, May 22, 2016
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  5. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Buy her flowers, and thank her for cleaning up after you.
    No.
    Like marriages, keyfobs are fairly robust.
    You would have caused more damage by mashing the button before you were sure that there was no water inside the fob than opening it up to look for moisture.
    You have to open it up to replace the battery, right?

    Normal Ops.
    The internal electronics are probably coated with a very thin layer of conformal coating to minimize corrosion and ESD risk.
    Conformal coating - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Don't sweat it.
    That's why people who design consumer electronics make the big bucks.....
    uh......
    That's probably a problem for a different forum, but you may want to source a third fob and get it paired with your car.

    Good Luck!!!
     
    #5 ETC(SS), May 22, 2016
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  6. Munpot42

    Munpot42 Senior Member

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    Did the same thing to my 13 Avalon Hybrid fob, worked fine after, no problems
     
    #6 Munpot42, May 22, 2016
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  7. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    I've had 3 cell-phones drowned, all worked afterwards after I'd dried all the components thoroughly (the screen was a bit cloudy on 2 for a while, but eventually dried out perfectly).

    The only thing I'd worry about if there is still detergent in the works. When my wife's cellphone fell in the washing machine, I pulled it apart and rinsed it all in very hot water to remove the soap bubbles which were evident. Maybe the rinse cycle of the washing machine did that adequately. If it's working, I probably wouldn't bother.
     
    #7 alanclarkeau, May 23, 2016
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  8. ETP

    ETP 2021 Prime(Limit),24 Venza Limit,B52-D,G,F,H

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    Immediately open the FOB up and take the battery out and let it dry for several days.
    Besides 42 the number of the day is CR 1632.
     
    #8 ETP, May 23, 2016
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  9. GT4Prius

    GT4Prius Active Member

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    #9 GT4Prius, Oct 3, 2017
  10. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    Note that all electronic PCBs are washed with a water solution after soldering.
    Further, several members have put their FOBs through the laundry (some were also "dried" in the drier), with no damage, so the 3V battery can't drive enough current through the electronics to fry it I guess.

    No harm, no foul, nobody left on base. ;)
     
    #10 David Beale, Oct 3, 2017
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  11. pilotgrrl

    pilotgrrl Senior Member

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    I have had success drying out others' dampened devices by putting them in an old school gas oven that had a pilot light. No heat, door open.

    There seems to be some apocryphal truth to putting the device in rice, although I've not tried it myself.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #11 pilotgrrl, Oct 3, 2017
  12. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Just accidentally washed and dried my Gen2 fob for the second time. Much cleaner now , working fine. But I took out the battery and let it dry a couple days
     
    #12 wjtracy, Oct 3, 2017
  13. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    Beware drying electronics in a gas oven. Even the pilot light produce water vapor as the gas is burned in air.
     
    #13 RCO, Oct 4, 2017
  14. CLUBGUY

    CLUBGUY Member

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    Open fob....
    Remove battery
    Use ordinary hair dryer on low setting; keep moving across fob for a few minutes
     
    #14 CLUBGUY, Oct 4, 2017
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  15. Ailis O'Riagain

    Ailis O'Riagain Junior Member

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    Well it could have been a lot worse...

    With my previous car, my fob was washed once (I let it dry out in a bag of rice for a couple of days and used the secondary fob) and then.... as I was finishing using the bathroom and pulling my pants back up, my fob fell out of my pocket right into the toilet as the toilet was flushing. Yeah, that was a really sh***y situation that I wasn't able to recover my fob from.
     
    #15 Ailis O'Riagain, Dec 24, 2017
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  16. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    That's Murphy's Law for ya! :ROFLMAO:
     
    #16 RCO, Dec 24, 2017
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  17. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    Just FYI with the Prius if that happens get another fob programmed for your car soon afterward. Getting another fob programmed is not too involved if there is a working fob available.
    If there is no fob the dealer needs to reseed the car before programming fobs. That can get quite expensive.
     
    #17 Prodigyplace, Dec 24, 2017
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