Does Fluid Spilled into Electronic Device = Dangerous to Use?

[kyphysics]

Some every day examples of what I mean (yes, each has happened to me at some point in life):

a.) soda spilled all over laptop (and the fluid getting "into" the creases/seams/openings of the keyboard
b.) water splashed into my laptop's external speakers (getting into the tiny "holes" of the "speaker cage" - that hard, seemingly metallic-like area that "guards" those large round areas of the speaker...are they called tweeters/woofers? ....)
-------------------------
c.) rubbing alcohol spilled all over a video camera screen (and into the buttons/creases/seams of the "programming" area)

a.) & b.) occurred in my college years (over 5 years ago and I no longer own those devices). I was broke, did not want to replace my stuff (as it'd cost $$$), and just tried to paper towel dry everything. I turned the laptop and speakers upside down to let water/soda drain from them...and soaked that up with a paper towel. They were still functional for a while afterwards with the laptop seemingly having a quick death afterwards (I don't recall the time-frame - I only know it was not immediate and that I could still use it for some time w/o noticeable issues).

c.) happened last night

Question 1: Broadly speaking, are there certain dangers to having fluids spill onto and "into" cracks/seams/openings of an electronic device? Essentially, the fluid does just touch the outer frame, but instead seemingly gets into the computer chip/wiring/circuitry area.

At that point, would/should we throw the device out and just buy a new one? The amount of fluid in my examples a.) and b.) were roughly 2-4 (speakers) and 6-8 (laptop) ounces.

Question 2: For my latest clumsy accident, I got about 1-2 ounces of rubbing alcohol spilled on a baby cam video screen. The side of the screen has some programming buttons (stuff like Zoom/Volume/Options/etc.). A tiny amount - maybe a 1/4 to 1/3 of an ounce of rubbing alcohol got "into" that crevices of those buttons that presumably has some electronic circuitry behind it (although, I'm not sure how far/deep behind it you have to go to get there).

Could this pose some kind of danger? Like could the electronics inside the video screen "fry"? If so, could it emit like radiation that causes cancer if I continue to use it? Might there be other dangers?

Thoughts on this anyone? Thank you in advance for your feedback.

 

[DaveC426913]

a.) soda spilled all over laptop (and the fluid getting "into" the creases/seams/openings of the keyboard

It is possible that a short could be made with the main power, which is enough to injure you, so yes.

b.) water splashed into my laptop's external speakers (getting into the tiny "holes" of the "speaker cage"

Powered or unpowered?
If powered, same as above. If unpowered, then the wattage is generally too low to injure you.

c.) rubbing alcohol spilled all over a video camera screen (and into the buttons/creases/seams of the "programming" area)

Rubbing alcohol is not conductive so there is no risk of shock.

Question 1: Broadly speaking, are there certain dangers to having fluids spill onto and "into" cracks/seams/openings of an electronic device? Essentially, the fluid does just touch the outer frame, but instead seemingly gets into the computer chip/wiring/circuitry area.

Conceivably, as above.

At that point, would/should we throw the device out and just buy a new one?

They can be dried out. That should remove any direct shock risk, although there is no guarantee that the laptop will go back to working order, since short circuit could have fried components.

Question 2: For my latest clumsy accident, I got about 1-2 ounces of rubbing alcohol spilled on a baby cam video screen. The side of the screen has some programming buttons (stuff like Zoom/Volume/Options/etc.). A tiny amount - maybe a 1/4 to 1/3 of an ounce of rubbing alcohol got "into" that crevices of those buttons that presumably has some electronic circuitry behind it (although, I'm not sure how far/deep behind it you have to go to get there).

There should be no risk of shock, but rubbing alcohol may eat certain materials. Conceivably, that could damage components if they short. Which means, technically, there is a non-zero chance of shock.

Could this pose some kind of danger? Like could the electronics inside the video screen "fry"? If so, could it emit like radiation that causes cancer if I continue to use it? Might there be other dangers?

No radiation, no. There are conceivable concerns about damage to rubber components. One can't really rule out what that might lead to. What if some battery component has its casing dissolved and leaks its contents? (Although, they don't design batteries in easily-dissolvable casings.)

 

[.Scott]

The problem with answering this question is that if you don't know the answer based on your own engineering skills, you also won't know the exceptional cases when it is not safe. But I will say right away, that if you still have an old CRT display, don't play around with it - it has the very serious potential of waking you up in a most hazardous way. In the worst of cases, it could kill you by holding your grip, burning you internally, and arresting your breathing and/or heart beat.

Beyond that, I will say that it would take remarkable circumstances to notice any affect from any USB peripheral device such as a keyboard, mouse, or SSD drive.

If you spill soda on a keyboard, the sugar will be a big problem.

 

[DaveC426913]

But I will say right away, that if you still have an old CRT display, don't play around with it - it has the very serious potential of waking you up in a most hazardous way. In the worst of cases, it could kill you by holding your grip, burning you internally, and arresting your breathing and/or heart beat.

Yup. And the old ones don't dissipate their charge. Fiddle around with even a dead CRT TV and you could eat 30,000 volts. They taught us how to defuse these in electronics class.

 

[kyphysics]

They can be dried out. That should remove any direct shock risk, although there is no guarantee that the laptop will go back to working order, since short circuit could have fried components.

Interesting. Thanks for all the detailed/thoughtful answers.

w/r/t buying a new one - Would there be some threshold for which you WOULD buy a new one and just throw out the soaked device (even it seems to work still)?

In my case, as noted above, it was a small amount of fluid (probably 6-8 oz. - and not all of that got into the laptop openings, as some stayed on top and was easily wiped).

By contrast, a dormmate of mine of soaked his laptop HUGELY with soda too (like half the bottle fell on it) and he chose to throw it away and not even try to restart it up to see if it'd work. Funnily, he also took it into the campus soccer field area and took a literal baseball bat and bashed it to pieces. Said he was worried it'd still work and some stranger could pick it out of the trash and steal all his data stored on it (maybe blackmail him or something).

That thing was beaten apart literally.

 

[DaveE]

If you mean dangerous to your electronics, then yes.

If you mean dangerous to a user then probably not IF the device meets current product safety standards. This sort of failure mode is absolutely considered for commercial products.

However, there is an assumption that the product will only be used as intended or specified. If someone takes it apart to "fix it" then all bets are off. If someone decides to use an adapter that doesn't connect the ground to their house, for example, or they operate it in the parking lot at Furnace Creek on a hot summer day, then the manufacturer is (essentially) not responsible for the consequences.

There is also the assumption that you will not have two independent failures of safety critical systems which were otherwise properly designed, built, and evaluated for safety.

The operative phrase here is "fail safe".

 

[DaveE]

Funnily, he also took it into the campus soccer field area and took a literal baseball bat and bashed it to pieces. Said he was worried it'd still work and some stranger could pick it out of the trash and steal all his data stored on it (maybe blackmail him or something).

Funnily? That's what I do to all of my old HDDs. Hit them a couple times with an axe. It's easy and then I don't even have to consider whether I care about what might be on it. Only the FBI or NSA could get data off of those, if they're lucky, and they would really, really, have to care about it to try.

 

[hutchphd]

Two comments:
Pure water is essentially not a conductor but any salts (soda has various salts) are conducting. If I spilled soda pop on a laptop and did not wish to open it up I would remove the battery, spray it with enough clear water to displace any residual soda pop and let it dry in a suitable place for as long as I could. Be sure to watch it carefully for a few hours after subsequent powerup
I routinely use isopropanol to clean electronics.

 

[DaveC426913]

w/r/t buying a new one - Would there be some threshold for which you WOULD buy a new one and just throw out the soaked device (even it seems to work still)?

Uh. As a matter of fact, this happened to me just a few months ago. Spilled and entire can of pop* on my lappie. I went out and bought a new one** the same day. Luckily the HD was unharmed so I was back up and running. In retrospect, I may have over-reacted - I didn't even bother trying to recover the laptop before replacing it. Rinsing it with water and leaving it to dry might have saved it.

But, I would point out that I replaced it only because of damage to the laptop, I had zero concern about damage to me. For me, the low chances of a short actually happening, multiplied by the low chances of it actually injuring me is close enough to zero for me.

In fact, I am almost certain that, independent of that incident, my lappie did have a grounding problem. I kept getting a stinging feeling in my wrist where it touched the metal seam as I typed. I was barely above the threshold of feeling, so I was never too worried. I even tried grounding myself to see if it made a diff. I wish I had tested it proper-like with a multi-meter.

* soda to you 'Muricans
** laptop, not pop - I had plenty of other pop

 

[DaveC426913]

Funnily? That's what I do to all of my old HDDs. Hit them a couple times with an axe. It's easy and then I don't even have to consider whether I care about what might be on it. Only the FBI or NSA could get data off of those, if they're lucky, and they would really, really, have to care about it to try.

I once put one of these through my hard drive before disposing of it.

It sends a message that says 'don't even bother'.

 

[berkeman]

It is possible that a short could be made with the main power, which is enough to injure you, so yes.

The OP is asking about low-voltage (SELV) devices, not AC Mains Powered devices. The laptop is powered by a low-voltage power brick, which is sealed against the elements.

With SELV devices, there is very little risk of shock.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Water is not very conductive. The stuff that is in the water can make it very conductive.
Alcohol is not very conductive. The stuff that is in the alcohol can make it very conductive. Usually to a lesser degree than water.

I have seen equipment cleaned with alcohol develop a short, and was turned on before the alcohol had completely gone. Can you say "pillar of fire"? I would not recommend amateurs solve (no pun intended) the problem by squirting alcohol hither and yon.

 

[jedishrfu]

Soda can give you sticky keys on a keyboard. One time at work, I answered the phone, an old corded version. The springy phone cord snapped, hitting my soda can and knocking the contents into my brand-new keyboard.

Hastening to clean up the mess and prevent an electronics disaster, I flipped the keyboard upside down to shake out the soda. What I hadn't considered was the umbrella effect of the key caps capturing the soda as it sprinkled out. When I flipped the keyboard back down on the desk, the soda flowed down the key strut lubricating it with sticky soda, and the ants rejoiced.

Fortunately, I was able to swap out the keyboard for another new one, and all was well with the world.

 

[DaveC426913]

The OP is asking about low-voltage (SELV) devices, not AC Mains Powered devices. The laptop is powered by a low-voltage power brick, which is sealed against the elements.

With SELV devices, there is very little risk of shock.

Yeah. There was a story a while back where a kid electrocuted himself because he wearing his headphones whole recharging them. I guess a short must have let the voltage jump the transformer.

Doubt that can happen in a power brick, even by pouring a can of sodapop on it.

 

[berkeman]

Yeah. There was a story a while back where a kid electrocuted himself because he wearing his headphones whole recharging them. I guess a short must have let the voltage jump the transformer.

Link?

 

[DaveC426913]

Link?

https://www.health.com/home/cell-phone-electrocution

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/electrocuted-by-earphones/

"... the true causes of these deaths remain unclear ... we haven't yet seen clear evidence that his earphones caused the youngster's tragic passing."I confess I am guilty of inadvertent scare-mongering - using an unproven, spectacular story as a cautionary tale for a barely-related scenario. I just felt I couldn't give the OP an unqualified "no".

 

[hutchphd]

A wet cell phone can be as slippery as a banana!! Not to make light of concerns here but the major danger with any battery powered device has devolved to the nonzero catastrophic failure rate of Lithium cells.
Of ccourse one still should not toast bagels while standing in the Bath.
If your appliance gets slimed: all power, clean it and rinse with water (maybe isopropanol), dry it for as long as possible. Then put on eye protection and gloves and power it up.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Then put on eye protection and gloves and power it up.

...or get your assistant Beaker to power it up.

At work, I would not be allowed to do this, as I an not a QEW - qualified electrical worker. The limit is 10 J, or about 0.1% the capacity of the battery.

 

[Nik_2213]

If you include bird-shat from a young blackbird that one of our cats brought into kitchen, yes.

I'm not sure how, but bird escaped from cat, whizzed around like ruddy 'foo-fighter', managed to poop onto grille on back of my favourite microwave. Dripped through onto the windings etc of shaded-pole cooling fan.

'Magic Smoke' issued...

I switched off, un-plugged, left to cool / discharge for ~5 hours. Managed to find matching 'Secure-Torx' driver for case's pair of tamper-resistant screws. The rest were 'cross=heads'.

Gently cleaned motor windings with water-damp cloth and small brush, re-assembled, left to air-dry for ~5 hours.

Ran okay...

 

[hutchphd]

You need a better-trained retriever cat.....