What happens if you drop a Kindle e-book into a swimming pool or bathtub? Is it ruined?

Question

What happens if you drop a Kindle e-book into a swimming pool or bathtub? Is it ruined?

Answer 1

Not necessarily.

The first thing you should always do when an electronic device gets wet is to shut it off and remove the battery or batteries.    

The next step depends on if the device can be opened up by the user, or if you have the skills and tools to open the device up via removing fasteners, etc.    Generally, the more you can disassemble the device, the more likely you'll be able to get any standing water out of it, and expose it to a flow of warm, dry air.  

If you cannot open the device, then lay a towel or a newspaper down on a table and gently bump the device down against the towel on all sides of the device, in an attempt to knock any standing water out of the case.    The more water you can get out of the device, the better the chances are that a repair person will be successful if they open it up a day or two later.    

Depending on the device and how much you can expose of it, it may take anywhere from a couple of hours to several days for it to dry out thoroughly.      

Most electronics can be heated up to about 120 degrees F without suffering damage, so a heat lamp and a fan may work well as long as you check on your drying setup periodically until you know it's not going to get so hot as to melt the case or do permanent damage.

Answer 2

I am not familiar with that particular piece of equipment, but hopefully, the device was not powered up when it took the bath.   I agree with removing the batteries, but not opening it up to apply an airflow, especially if you were thinking of a blow dryer.  It only takes a static charge of 20 volts to burn a hole in an IC chip, which will lead to its eventual failure.  And opening it up also voids any possible warrantee, if the water didn't.

Bumping it on the towel can cause damage to an internal hard drive.

Just give it two or three days to dry, then, with a prayer to the electronics gods, put power to it again.

Good Luck