My steam deck was in an apartment fire.

[Blaq93]

Slightly clickbaity title, but I did have a fire in my apartment, the fire just didn't engulf the entire apartment. Long story short my stove caught on fire, the apartment sprinklers came on and completely flooded and drenched my apartment. The first the I grabbed was my steam deck. Sad part is the steam deck probably got about a half a gallon worth of water on it, I don't hear any water in the inside. But should I be worried that some water slipped through and there may be long term damage?

[bean]

if you haven't done it yet
DO NOT TURN IT ON

You need to stick it in a box/enclosed space with some desiccant*, preferably a plastic one, with the steam deck and give it some time. bonus points if you have a dehumidifier. Make sure that you put the steam deck either flat on the bottom or standing (propped up) so the vents are closer to the ground.

* you can get desiccant in most supermarkets/big-box/convenience stores. Just go to your local supermarket

[deaddoof]

Originally posted by Blaq93:

Slightly clickbaity title, but I did have a fire in my apartment, the fire just didn't engulf the entire apartment. Long story short my stove caught on fire, the apartment sprinklers came on and completely flooded and drenched my apartment. The first the I grabbed was my steam deck. Sad part is the steam deck probably got about a half a gallon worth of water on it, I don't hear any water in the inside. But should I be worried that some water slipped through and there may be long term damage?

Unplug the battery and dump it in rice. Take out the hdd and check if its ok separately

[Silicon Vampire]

Originally posted by deaddoof:

Originally posted by Blaq93:

Slightly clickbaity title, but I did have a fire in my apartment, the fire just didn't engulf the entire apartment. Long story short my stove caught on fire, the apartment sprinklers came on and completely flooded and drenched my apartment. The first the I grabbed was my steam deck. Sad part is the steam deck probably got about a half a gallon worth of water on it, I don't hear any water in the inside. But should I be worried that some water slipped through and there may be long term damage?

Unplug the battery and dump it in rice. Take out the hdd and check if its ok separately

Don’t. Rice is almost as bad as sand.


Use a real desiccant appropriately.

[nicoper]

Originally posted by deaddoof:

Originally posted by Blaq93:

Slightly clickbaity title, but I did have a fire in my apartment, the fire just didn't engulf the entire apartment. Long story short my stove caught on fire, the apartment sprinklers came on and completely flooded and drenched my apartment. The first the I grabbed was my steam deck. Sad part is the steam deck probably got about a half a gallon worth of water on it, I don't hear any water in the inside. But should I be worried that some water slipped through and there may be long term damage?

Unplug the battery and dump it in rice. Take out the hdd and check if its ok separately

Do NOT dump it in rice. It does more harm than good.
https://ifixit.com/News/30047/rice-is-for-dinner-not-repair
https://ifixit.com/Wiki/Do_Not_Put_Your_Device_in_Rice

[Blaq93]

Originally posted by bean:

if you haven't done it yet
DO NOT TURN IT ON

You need to stick it in a box/enclosed space with some desiccant*, preferably a plastic one, with the steam deck and give it some time. bonus points if you have a dehumidifier. Make sure that you put the steam deck either flat on the bottom or standing (propped up) so the vents are closer to the ground.

* you can get desiccant in most supermarkets/big-box/convenience stores. Just go to your local supermarket

Ty for the info, but it doesn't seem to be water in it... Now it was drenched but I removed from water asap and dried it... Are you saying the internals could still be fried?

[Blaq93]

And I thought there was some slight water resistance, given the reason valve initially advised against taking apart your deck due to breaking seals.

[bean]

Have you turned it on?

don't, if you have not

[Blaq93]

The steam deck can't handle a splash or a spill of water?

[Blaq93]

Originally posted by bean:

Have you turned it on?

don't, if you have not

Yes, I've turned it on. I'm really upset now hearing this. It was the limited edition OLED.

[bean]

Originally posted by Blaq93:

Yes, I've turned it on.

ok well if you turned it on and it didn't short on boot that is a good sign. You are not COMPLETELY safe from corrosion though.

You can risk it and just keep using it as-is but I would suggest you take it to someone who fixes electronics or is familiar with electronics/computer repair and have them ECC it. You can do this yourself as well, as long as you feel comfortable opening it up.

It is a simple process you can do yourself with a product that is readily available at most big box/hardware/auto-parts store.

electronic contact cleaner (different brands)

it is a spray, look up tutorials so you know where to aim it. The idea is for the spray to disperse water (molecular) and contaminants so that as little oxidation as possible develops. It also cleans everything on your mobos real nice and shiny.

[nicoper]

Originally posted by Blaq93:

The steam deck can't handle a splash or a spill of water?

It's kinda hard to make a device with large air intakes and exhausts water resistant.
A couple drops on the screen? Probably fine.
Dunking it in a bucket of water? Not great. Could survive if you're lucky and nothing corrodes. Same as most electronics.

[Blaq93]

Originally posted by bean:

Originally posted by Blaq93:

Yes, I've turned it on.

ok well if you turned it on and it didn't short on boot that is a good sign. You are not COMPLETELY safe from corrosion though.

You can risk it and just keep using it as-is but I would suggest you take it to someone who fixes electronics or is familiar with electronics/computer repair and have them ECC it. You can do this yourself as well, as long as you feel comfortable opening it up.

It is a simple process you can do yourself with a product that is readily available at most big box/hardware/auto-parts store.

electronic contact cleaner (different brands)

it is a spray, look up tutorials so you know where to aim it. The idea is for the spray to disperse water (molecular) and contaminants so that as little oxidation as possible develops. It also cleans everything on your mobos real nice and shiny.

This is unfortunate but alright.. so I'll probably open it up, but I don't know when I'll have time. Id probably be best to just buy a new one, or I'll take it to a repair shop. I'm just upset it can't handle a splash of water

[ugafan]

Originally posted by Blaq93:

Yes, I've turned it on.

Does it work? If so, it's probably fine. It sounds like you're not even sure water got inside.

If it makes you feel any better, over the years I've spilled water on my mechanical keyboard lots of times. When this happens, it starts malfunctioning, repeating letters that aren't pressed. I swap it out and let the keyboard dry for a few days. Afterwards I plug it in and it works again.