Water in machine--need advice please

[Born Tired]

We were trying to lift our mattress when it slipped and bumped into my Remstar Auto which landed upside down on the floor. It is not far off the floor so I don't think the landing was very hard (we have carpet), but the resevoir had water in it, and some went into the air outlet.

I immediately unplugged it and turned it so the water would drain out. Not sure how much got in--my guess is about a tablespoon or so--most went onto the floor. Has this happened to anyone? Did it survive? I need to know what to do now--use a blow dryer, let it dry on its own, wait a certain amount of time before plugging it in, etc.? I know somebody out there will know what to do.

Thanks,
Esther
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[Snoredog]

was it a Classic or a M series? got a shopvac in the garage?

If not check with a neighbor to borrow theirs, connect the vacuum hose up to the Remstar air outlet and suck the water out of it, I'd angle the port downward and let it run for 2-3 minutes, remove the filter and check for presence of water, if none is seen turn it on.

Hopefully it didn't get water inside the case, if it did you can remove the 3 phillips screws and lift the lid off it to check, the main PCB is right under the lid.

[Born Tired]

Thanks Snoredog. We do have a shopvac so I'll go try that. Ummm...what is a PCB?
I'll let you know how it goes.
Esther
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[Goofproof]

PCB= Printed Circuit Board, It's got the small electric parts mounted on it. Jim

[birdshell]

Here is another incident similar to yours and the advice is probably equally useful:

Click here for Humidifier Spilled in CPAP: Water in Machine


Best wishes!

Karen

[Wulfman...]

Actually, in all the "shop" manuals, it's called the (Main) PCA....which stands for Printed Circuit Assembly.

In computer-eze it's the "motherboard".


Den

[Born Tired]

Thanks everybody for the info. I must admit I'm a bit computer illiterate. Right now I'm making my way through Karen's link.
Thanks again.
Esther
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[Born Tired]

OK this is what I did. After draining all the drops of water out, I used a vacuum to pull air through it for a bit. Then I plugged it in and turned it on. At first it would worked, but the auto start didn't seem to work. After leaving it on for a while even the auto start was working. It seems to be good to go.

Should I leave it at that or take it apart to see if any water is trapped in an area where the air won't dry it. (I read in the other link that some people had trouble with corrosion.)

Thanks again for the help!!
Esther
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[Wulfman...]

Hi Esther,

Sounds to me like it may be "good to go".
If you now have it plugged in after testing it, I would think that the voltage converter inside the machine should generate enough heat to evaporate any remnants of moisture IF any still existed.

Sleep well.

Den

[Another Guest]

Don't want to give bad info but, I wondered why a hairdryer couldn't be used in addition to all that has been done to assist in drying? Low setting without letting it get too hot...just curious.

[Born Tired]

Thanks Den. I think that's what I'll do.

Guest, thanks for the advice. I read in the link above where someone used their hair dryer on low and still damaged their machine. The low setting on my hair dryer may also be too hot. Hopefully there will be no problems now.

Esther
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[kteague]

That happened to my ResMed Spirit Auto - dumped an over half full humidifier into my plugged in turned on machine, and it sat in that position for several minutes before I saw it. Talk about sizzling! Put it in drain position overnight, used blow dryer on low (cool) setting for about an hour next day. Plugged it in and everything worked fine. Someone on here told me to just be sure not to plug it in and turn it on till I was sure it was no longer wet. Wish my daughter's expensive camera that the granddaughter left out in the rain this week had been so lucky. Hope it works out well for you.
Kathy

[ablong]

I am glad you are winning.

A couple of years a go I had my first machine and took a trip to
Houston and stayed in a hotel. I set the machine on the night
stand and went out to eat. When i came back to room I had had room
service clean the room and relized how easy the cleaning person
could have dumped water in my machine. After that I emptyed
tank inthe morning. and refilled in the evening. When I returned home
I purchased a back up machine from our host. I use machine and
spread the time out between machines . I could have one sent to me
next day air if I need it. ( One of the advantages of children)


Again Good luck
Allen

[Born Tired]

Hope it works out well for you.
Kathy

Thanks, Kathy. I used it all night without any problems so I'm hoping that there will be no future problems from this.

A couple of years a go I had my first machine and took a trip to Houston and stayed in a hotel. I set the machine on the night
stand and went out to eat. When i came back to room I had had room
service clean the room and relized how easy the cleaning person
could have dumped water in my machine. After that I emptyed
tank inthe morning. and refilled in the evening.

Thanks for the heads-up. Good to keep in mind even when visiting someone that might come in to tidy up.
Esther
__

[jburnham]

Next time....

I hope there isn't a next time, but in case there is - fresh water is fairly harmless on electronics for short periods. Search the internet for stories about wet cell phones. The key is unplugging things and thoroughly drying them before turning them on again. I've heard of people using hairdryers and ovens on low temperatures. When in doubt, leave it drying for days longer than you think you need to. In addition to the safety hazard, the short circuit caused by wetness is what usually kills wet electronics.