Washed my smart key

Then you don't understand my point.

The salt water was just an example of where the the electronic item is immersed in anything other than clean fresh water (say for example if you went swimming in the ocean and accidentally left the fob in your pocket.)

I know that the OP's case was not salt water, but I'm making the point that IF the water is contaminated with anything that can leave a residue then you ARE better off washing it again (in clean fresh water) before drying it. I don't know if this is applicable to the OP or not. It may be if the water was very soapy or dirty.

 

I'm assuming a washing machine....or even a hand washing. And I would NOT recommend dunking the whole thing in water again.

The OP said nothing about a residue...other than moisture...

It appears simply letting it dry out thoroughly worked.

I got your point...but your assumption that there was a residue and your advice to "wash it again" I think unsound.

 

- At the time I gave the advice it wasn't working

- I did not assume that there was a residue, I merely gave the advice so that if the drying didn't work then the OP would have another plan of attack. I felt the OP would know something of the state of the water in which it was immersed. I simply gave advice of what to do in the case of immersion in contaminated water. The OP could have decided for himself if there was the possibility of contamination.

-Electronics components are well sealed and seldom damaged by clean water. The main damage from washing is the not just the water but the combination of water heat and agitation. If it survived that then simply rinsing in clean lukewarm fresh water is unlikely to damage it further.

- Electronics items immersed in fresh water usually do work after enough time drying, but when they don't it is usually caused by a the presence of some contamination or residue which can hold moisture and cause a conductive film. Low impedance circuits are least effected but sensitive high impedance circuits can have sometimes problems with only small amount of contamination residue.

- I've been an electronics technician for over 30 years and I've had to deal with many cases like this. I know what I'm talking about and it was sound advice which I still stand by. If you accidentally immerse your fob in dirty or soapy or scummy water. If you accidentally go swimming in salt or chlorinated water with the FOB in you pocket. Then immediately rinse the circuit board thoroughly in lukewarm fresh water and then begin the long slow drying process. You can also buy electronic contact cleaner sprays that can help clean and dry the circuit board and especially help restore any contact switches like the buttons on the FOB.

 

I too would advise against putting it in water, but uart is on the right track. It may seem counter-intuitive but it is the correct way of doing things. The washing machine's water is not H2O, but H2O and a bunch of other chemicals and minerals that make up your local tap water and all the detergents in the machine. When the water evaporates, you are left with a chemical/mineral residue that may or may not be conductive. Now, this doesn't matter much as long as there is a soldermask, but everywhere there is no soldermask like pins of an IC or a via or that sort of thing, this could cause a short once dried.

So if you wash it in distilled water there are no (or very very few) ions to transfer electrons meaning it is not conductive and it will not short. It will get all the residue off. The correct way to do it however is to wash it in a sonic chemical bath.

 

When I got splashed by ocean water one of my hearing aids stopped working. Rinsed it well in 91% alcohol and its ok a year later. Lucky or is alcohol a suitable solvent?

 

Go in peace...

You have explained yourself thoroughly...

If I ever should take my Key Fob with me while filming Sharks and/or it should become contaminated with any residue, I shall harken back to your words of obvious wisdom.

 

I will now admit to washing both my Toyota smart key as well as my VW smart key. The washed Toyota smart key is still 100% functional. The washed VW smart key works "sort-of 75%" but not totally back to normal. So I do not use that VW key.

Therefore, I would like to thank the hard-working people in Toyota's Smary Key Torture Test Department for being so thorough at making the smart keys so fool-proof.

 

Thanks for all the tips from everyone. I washed the key to my brother's prius in my pants pocket, forgot about the keys for probably 3 or more days then found them in the washer. They still worked in the car, I got the little red light when I pushed the buttons, but the SKS nor the unlocking/locking features worked. I opened the key up, stuck it in a bag of rice for literally no more than 10 minutes, then used a blow drier for 5-10 minutes to try and dry it out, replaced the battery, said a heartfelt prayer that it'd work and lo and behold...SUCCESS! Thanks guys. Good luck to everyone else who may have the key get washed.

 

I've lost track of all the FOB washing threads on PC.

I've washed several FOB's - getting lucky each time, w/out even having to dry 'em. All of 'em came thru w/out a hitch. and (although your luck may vary) . . . they all got nice and clean!

 

I just washed my smart key today for the first time. Had it in my bathrobe pocket.

I dunked it in distilled water which has no trace which can cause conductivity and stuck it back in my pocket. Still working fine. Need to install a fresh battery tonight.

 

i dont wash em, i just dunk em. i was loading up "bedroom clothes... pj's robes, etc. and had my Leaf keys in sweatshirt i lounge around in house with toss them into wash. i heard the keys fall out and hit bottom of tub and knew right away what it was, so dug out keys "quickly".... took less than a minute or so. probably should have thrown in keys BEFORE all the clothes. would have been much easier to dig out that way

 

Many Electronic devices will survive washing, toilet dunking etc. If no buttons are pressed and the battery is removed immeadiately. The hard part is to wait a sufficient time to allow it to dry out completely. Blowing out with compressed air and placing in a warm dry place can help.

Once you press the button or try to see if it's working---bye,bye.

 

at least it's clean.