Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wacky Wednesday OR Coffee + FlashDrive - Match Made in Heaven?

I love my coffee. In particular, I almost always purchase Pierce Brother’s “FogBuster” when shopping at Greenfields Market. It’s definitely my current favorite – wakes me up in the morning and keeps me going all day. Brewed in a French Press Pot from Bodum.

But here’s what I’m wondering…. What if a flash drive falls into a cup of coffee?
I've got not one but two coffee soaked flashdrives...... What should I do? Do I trash it?

I mostly use my flash drives to swap from my laptop to my desktop and most likely I have all the files on one or the other. And then there is my “back-up hard drive" that I try to keep current. Luckily, I’m not at work on some kind of crazy project at the moment. But I am wondering about the soggy flashdrive....
Maybe someone else has had the same experience…… Should I throw the thing in the trash or plug it in??????

16 comments:

penny said...

my suggestion (which sort of relates to my day job, but i've not had to deal with this particular issue): pat dry, then let air dry for 24-48 hours. then try plugging them in. they might work, they might not.

you can clean the connector parts with rubbing alcohol. let air dry before plugging in.

i wouldn't just toss them, but *further destroy* them before toss in the trash. further destroy: run over with car/tractor/truck (put in bag first to aid in clean up)

that's my professional advice, even if it sounds "semi".

HOA Mgr Lady said...

I heard just a few days ago that you can send to a compnay who will save your flash drive. You may want to google it.

penny said...

it's my experience most "retrieval places" are really expensive, and since most of kristin's stuff seems to be duplicate info, i'm not sure it's worth the expense and didn't mention it.

LOC(c)KSS - lots of copies (can) keep stuff safe, but think about privacy/security of identifiable info before making tons of copies.

kicki said...

spot on, penny.

And how about a waterresistant, dustproof drive?

google says http://www.supermediastore.com/pqi-i815-plus-4gb-usb-flash-drive-white.html

:)

Anonymous said...

Kristin,
Maybe you should use a spoon to stir your coffee not a flash drive!
Let it air dry completely. Like a couple of days on a warm sunny windowsill. Plug it in and if it works get a new flash drive and transfer the contents.
Southie Boy

Katrina said...

I have friends that have accidentally soaked cell phones and the trick was to leave it on a warm sunny windowsill in a bag of rice. I guess the rice helps absorb the moisture. It worked! Might be worth a try with a flash drive. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Try burying it in a bowl full of uncooked rice. It is known to absort moisture from cell phones and may work for the flash drive, too. - Catherine

Anonymous said...

Like Penny said...let it dry and then try it.... my 18th month old likes to use TV remotes to stir drinks (including her grandmother's coffee). I let the remote dry out (up on a high high shelf) and I have not lost one yet!

Annie

LaurieG said...

Dry it out for a couple of days and plug it in and see what happens. I'm constantly finding flashdrives in the dryer and the guys just take them and use them again. If they can stand a trip through the washer and dryer, what's a quick dunk in a cup of coffee?

meg said...

I recently heard that if you soak electronics - cell phone, etc., - you can put them in a pan of that crystal cat litter to absorb moisture. No idea if it works or is just one of those things you hear ....

SusanR said...

I agree with all of the comments saying 'dry it out' - love the methods using rice or kitty litter.
Will use them since I'm constantly getting electronics wet. For what it's worth - my husband is an electronics engineer (in the video/media world) and we NEVER throw out wet electronics - dry them out and they should work.
SusanR

Diane H K in Greenfield said...

John says, and I quote: "I would flour them, dip them in a beaten egg, then roll them in panka crumbs. Deep fried they would make a nice crunchy appetizer."

I know, not very helpful. But a fun mental image!

Anonymous said...

Kristin,
Am pretty clueless when it comes to helpful info about flash drives, but I have a suggestion about french press coffee. I cold brew it the night before. Just put in the coffee, add cold water and put the press in the fridge. In the am, all you have to do is push the plunger, pour into a cup and heat up the coffee (I heat it up in my cup in the microwave). It tastes SO MUCH better this way!! I'm a pastry chef who also knits, and my boyfriend is a pastry chef plus chemistry freak; we've experimented with coffee alot and have found this is the best, and easiest way to brew it. We've also converted a few friends.
Cheers!
spiffypaws@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

We've dried out keyboards, ipods, and cell phones and have had good luck bringing them back to life by letting them dry thoroughly. If your coffee had sugar in it, though, you may have a little more of problem. I killed a keyboard for real a while back by knocking a vodka gimlet over into in it--the little bit of sugar really messed it up.

Anonymous said...

I have sent one through the washer and one through the dry cleaners, put them on top of the dryer for a few days and both work fine.

Nannie Salyards said...

One thing is for sure: coffee and flash drives don’t mix. Once your flash drive gets soak or wet, there is a high probability that it will be busted and will become inoperable. What’s worse is the possibility of losing all your stored files and data. So always keep your flash drive in a safe distance, away from your coffee and any other liquid.

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