Submitted by Zev t3_zudq1a in MechanicalKeyboards
QWERKey-UK t1_j1is5zy wrote
None of them were powered up, so there's a very good chance they will be OK. I would strip them down, and let them air dry in a warm dry place. Once dry you can give the PCBs a gently wipe with isopropyl alcohol, but if it's just clean water, they may not be necessary.... but I would anyway. If you live in a very hard water area though, I definitely would clean with alcohol.
Switches however, that may be a different matter. They should be OK once dried out, but if they were lubed, I would want to relube them once all the water is out. The Preonics hot swap? If not, that may not be an option you wish to take, obviously.
The fact that they were not powered means the chances are good. I would leave at least two or three days AFTER they appear to be all dried out... so just strip them down, put them somewhere warm and dry, wipe off the PCBs with IPA after 24 hours, then put them back in the warm dry place until new year before you power them up again. In fact, if you have a large seal-able container that fits everything, and lots of silica gel, that may be a good idea.... but only with silica gel... if you don't have any, don't seal them inside anything. Without the silica gel, any moisture will just be trapped inside the container.... with it, the silica gel, being a desiccant, will absorb and trap the moisture.
Zev OP t1_j1j46lb wrote
Thank you for the advice! I have stripped them down and it seems like all the switches made it super dry, I would not have guessed they are as water-sealed as they seem to be!
I have them stripped and heading out to get IPA and looking at silica gel, have not heard of that before!
QWERKey-UK t1_j1kw1o2 wrote
It's those little packets with bead like things inside that is often part of electronics packaging. It's not make or break, but if you can store the boards with some of that it may be helpful. Otherwise, just a warm dry place for a few days.
Merry Christmas, and I hope everything is OK.
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