GPS and water do not mix...HELP! [Archive] - The Michigan Sportsman Forums

stelmon

07-02-2003, 09:06 PM

Hey,
I don't know if it's to late, but a year ago I was out salmon fishing and my waiders opened up. My parent's cell phone got ruined and my GPS was sorta ruined. It worked when it felt like it being 75% of the time. Now, it doesn't work at all. It just blows fuses in our cars. It blew out my mom brand new trailblazers fuses along with one of mine in my new truck. I would sorta like to have it available this weekend. I know there are ways to fix it but I don't know how. My dad suggested opening it up. Im afraid to go that. Any help would be appreciated?

Ruler

07-04-2003, 12:42 AM

Kinda late for this advice, but after it had gotten wet, you should have turned it off ASAP. Leave it until you get home and can disassemble it. I've noticed that 95% of the people who I see drop something electronic like a car remote, cell phone, etc in the water take it out, look at it, and try it. If there's any water in it, it'll most likely short out, most likely fatally. If you dry and/or clean it out first (no need to clean if just water, but if it was in sludge or it has any type of mineral deposits on, it should be cleaned with 99% rubbing alcohol; the 70% stuff will leave an oily residue), your chances of saving the device will be much greater. (If you're reading this Nate, this includes dumping a cup of coffee in your USB keyboard. ;) )

Now, it sounds like there's an intermittent short in it somewhere. You should disassemble it and clean it with the above-mentioned alcohol thoroughly, then reassemble it the way it came apart. (Or differently if you see something they did that doesn't make sense, but until you've done quite a few things like this, you should probably just do it like they had it. ;) )

A few tips- do NOT force things if you can help it. Also, be very careful when you open or separate anything. A lot of things have springs that fly when you open them; if you can crack it enough to see in, you can see where these are located and how they're mounted. Lastly, this is something you should not rush, especially if you're new at this kind of thing, so if you need it this weekend, wait until you have time. Speaking of time, try to get a big enough block of time where you won't have people bothering you or have to do something while you're working on it. I like music on when I'm working on stuff, but then again, I can leave a VCR completely disassembled and come back to it the next day and as long as nobody has tried to 'help' (ie- moving things), I can pick back up where I left off. It's still far easier to do it all at once though.

Best of luck to ya. Feel free to PM or EM me if you want more help.