Soaked power adapters

My flat was flooded from a leaking pipe two days ago and I've spent 2 days putting out my laptop and speaker power bricks out in the sun to dry. I'm not sure if this will bring the adapters back to life and as I type it seems my notebook power brick has been struggling to provide power to the notebook itself (the speaker power brick paradoxically enough works first time even though it was so full of water I had to shake it all out before laying it out in the sun).

Would it be necessary for me to buy a new power brick for the notebook if the power supply isn't consistent? I think my speaker power supply and modem have survived the deluge so I don't know if I should chance it with the laptop's power brick.

 

Does the notebook power brick have any holes where water could have seeped it? If so, it might be easier to get the moisture out.

I would have expected it to either work, or not work. If it is sort of working then it may be able to dry itself out.

However, a spare PSU often comes useful and, if you buy one, then I would recommend a universal PSU from a reputable manufacturer such as Belkin, iGo or Kensington. Then it will probably work with your next notebook as well as the present one.

John

 

Both the power bricks had holes (of sorts) allowing me to shake out quite a fair bit of water before sunning them. I assume then the power bricks will dry themselves out through a combination of 2 days sun and an electrical current passing through them.

 

OK. I agree it should dry out gradually. Your greatest risk was that it would go pop when you first plugged it in. My guess is that the remain moisture is causing the output voltage to be a bit low.

Is the speaker PSU a transformer (it will re relatively heavy)? If so, it will be less likely to be affected by the remaining damp than a notebook PSU, which contains a lot more electronics. Also, a transformer will create more heat to dry itself faster.

John

 

Do you have a multimeter sitting somewhere?

 

hair dryers are great you known? use it. sun is not going to make the moisture inside of the power brick disappear. you need to clean the moisture.

 

I don't think so, it's the power adapter for the Creative Gigaworks HD50 speakers and I don't think that's a transformer.

What's a multimeter? Does it help the electronics?

Don't own a hairdryer and won't buy one for a one-off need to dry electronics. It's mid-spring where I am now and if the flat had flooded in high summer I would only need one day to sun the soaked electronics compared to two now.