It's time to put this myth to rest. Using silica gel to help dry a device that got wet barely helps at all compared to leaving the device in open air. In fact, it interferes with the evaporation of any water that is inside.
Rice doesn't work either. Here are the results of my tests using rice:
I set up a test using a paper towel sheet with enough water added to bring its weight to 18 gms. I then put the wet folded paper towel in a slightly ventilated small plastic box into one pound of newly-opened silica gel in a container and closed the container. The box was positioned halfway up the gel. I put another wet paper towel in an identically ventilated plastic box in front of a gently blowing fan.
After 24 hours I weighed the paper towels. Two and a half times more water evaporated from the box that was in front of the fan. It's clear that burying anything in silica gel just slows down the evaporation of any water that's present. This makes sense though. Silica gel (or any other material) can't vacuum up water. It can only absorb any water that evaporates and touches the surface of the gel. If the water has already evaporated and left the inside of device, why try to absorb it with anything? It's already out. Just blow it away so it's easier for more evaporation to occur.
Since the device that is wet is buried in silica gel, with no air movement, the humidity level quickly rises up to 100% next to any water that is present inside the device. This significantly slows down any evaporation that could take place. Adding air movement with a fan blows away the layer of very humid air above any water, allowing the water to evaporate much faster.
Silica gel is only effective when used for its intended purpose...bringing down the humidity level inside a container that has small air leaks to about 40%-50%. Once the gel has saturated, absorbing about 18%-21% of its weight in water over a long period of time, it is no longer effective.
Bottom Line: If you have a mod that got wet, do not turn it on. Remove the batteries (if possible), very thoroughly shake out any water you can, and then place it in front of a fan. Rotate it every couple of hours to try to get any blowing air into any seams or ventilation holes. It should be pretty dry internally in 24 hours.
Please don't bury it in silica gel, rice, kitty litter, or anything else!
Pictures of the setup:
Rice doesn't work either. Here are the results of my tests using rice:
I set up a test using a paper towel sheet with enough water added to bring its weight to 18 gms. I then put the wet folded paper towel in a slightly ventilated small plastic box into one pound of newly-opened silica gel in a container and closed the container. The box was positioned halfway up the gel. I put another wet paper towel in an identically ventilated plastic box in front of a gently blowing fan.
After 24 hours I weighed the paper towels. Two and a half times more water evaporated from the box that was in front of the fan. It's clear that burying anything in silica gel just slows down the evaporation of any water that's present. This makes sense though. Silica gel (or any other material) can't vacuum up water. It can only absorb any water that evaporates and touches the surface of the gel. If the water has already evaporated and left the inside of device, why try to absorb it with anything? It's already out. Just blow it away so it's easier for more evaporation to occur.
Since the device that is wet is buried in silica gel, with no air movement, the humidity level quickly rises up to 100% next to any water that is present inside the device. This significantly slows down any evaporation that could take place. Adding air movement with a fan blows away the layer of very humid air above any water, allowing the water to evaporate much faster.
Silica gel is only effective when used for its intended purpose...bringing down the humidity level inside a container that has small air leaks to about 40%-50%. Once the gel has saturated, absorbing about 18%-21% of its weight in water over a long period of time, it is no longer effective.
Bottom Line: If you have a mod that got wet, do not turn it on. Remove the batteries (if possible), very thoroughly shake out any water you can, and then place it in front of a fan. Rotate it every couple of hours to try to get any blowing air into any seams or ventilation holes. It should be pretty dry internally in 24 hours.
Please don't bury it in silica gel, rice, kitty litter, or anything else!
Pictures of the setup:
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