dry monitor w/ hair dryer

[Mr. Rogers]

i just dug an old macintosh computer out of the church dumpster the computer works fine, but the monitor got wet 'cause it was raining earlier. it hasn't been in there for a long time, they only threw it out earlier today. does anyone know if drying out the inside with a hair dryer and then just letting it sit for a bit would be alright?

[LorentzForce]

unless it got rusted on the way, it should be alright. since afterall, it's only electronic circuits. shouldn't worry much, but make sure it is 100% dry. every little crack of space where rain could be (or even impossible spaces where rain could be) must be cleansed of moisture.

[Mr. Rogers]

i blow dried it for like 15-20 mins before. but i was letting it sit for a while, cause since it was all hot from the hair dryer, when it cools some water should evaporate with the heat, right? ill do more again in a little bit. yea, dont wanna have it wet when i turn that thing on, i think the capasaters (cs?) get to like 30,000 volts. i've been shocked enough times this year.

[Mr. Rogers]

dried it off now, and it all works fine. now i just gotta get a mouse for it.

[Mithrandir]

Yikes. Too bad you aren't around here. I've got literally dozens of old mac mice I could give you. Seriously, though, don't buy a new mouse, if you can avoid it. You'll want ADB, not USB. I'd recommend a used computer store, if there's one around where you live. If not, try e-bay!

[Orange Kitten]

So the question is:
What were you doing inside a dumpster?

[Mr. Rogers]

yeah, i was lookin around ebay and they are only like $5. the restore cds seem to be about the same. wouldnt buy a new mouse, their like $30. not worth it for just some old thing. they left all their files on there before they threw it away, so if i restore it, i'll have a look around in there first, muwahahaha...

[Mithrandir]

In that case, it's a good thing you are in Il. In CA, that's illegal!

Good luck!

OOC: What type of mac? Sounds like pre-g3 to me. Classic? Quadra? Performa?

[Mr. Rogers]

an old performa 6116CD

[Mithrandir]

Whoa. I think I still have my performa 6115CD around here somewhere.

[shooraijin]

> What were you doing inside a dumpster?

Dumpster diving is an old and cherished sport in classic computing. A good friend of mine found some very valuable old Apple equipment this way (not like, say, an Apple IIe but things like a Corvus hard disk, and another one wound up with an Apple Network Server SMP multi-CPU card).

> Performa 6116CD

Not a bad little system. It's a 60MHz PowerPC 601, enough to do many basic tasks.

[Tycho]

I would like to add a warning. What ever you do, do not open up the monitor. We had a saying at the computer shop I worked at. "It takes two people to fix a monitor. One to fix it and the other to knock him away with a broom." Monitors can hold a big charge for a long time and you can get zapped if you're not carefull. Let it dry out and hope for the best.

[shooraijin]

And, whenever working with high-voltage electrical equipment, even if it's not plugged in capacitors can hold a significant charge long after you expected them to be completely drained. When I have to work on power supplies, I always keep one hand in my pocket so that there is no direct course through my trunk (and heart). Still, I prefer to avoid it.

[Mr. Rogers]

"It takes two people to fix a monitor. One to fix it and the other to knock him away with a broom."

yeah, i think they hold in the 10's of thousands of volts. i didn't mess with the inside or nuthin, think you gotta have special stuff for that, to take out the charge and all. they got that little label "no user servicable parts" for a reason. would hate to get shocked by that.