What to do if your Ledger key have gone in the washing machine

[Lucius]

Someone please correct me, but if any HW that is not water resistant were left in the washing machine for a long time (30+ minutes), it doesn't seem to me that there would be any help. What the OP described is a situation where you notice very quickly that you have HW in the washing machine, and if it ended up there, it would probably be in the pocket of your pants and jacket so you wouldn't notice it until the washing machine finished washing.

That's why it's always smart to check the pockets before putting anything in the washing machine, and visually check if there's anything there that shouldn't be there. I recently read an article about a cat that barely survived being washed in a washing machine and almost paid with its head for its habit of sleeping inside the washing machine.

[makime]

Someone please correct me, but if any HW that is not water resistant were left in the washing machine for a long time (30+ minutes), it doesn't seem to me that there would be any help. What the OP described is a situation where you notice very quickly that you have HW in the washing machine, and if it ended up there, it would probably be in the pocket of your pants and jacket so you wouldn't notice it until the washing machine finished washing.

That's why it's always smart to check the pockets before putting anything in the washing machine, and visually check if there's anything there that shouldn't be there. I recently read an article about a cat that barely survived being washed in a washing machine and almost paid with its head for its habit of sleeping inside the washing machine.

My ledger have been more than 1 hours in the washing machine and I have save 2 on 3 with the method in the videos.  And the 3rd , have worked 2 or 3 days.  The more important things its avoid the more possible the oxydation .. is exist a machine for remove all moisture on electronic device, but its not available for all ... Then we have to make our best with what we have ...

Anyway , our 12 or 24 words of recovery are always there for save de situation in the worst case ^^

[Lucius]

My ledger have been more than 1 hours in the washing machine and I have save 2 on 3 with the method in the videos.

I assume that devices was not submerged in water the whole time, which would perhaps explain why it is still revived after bathing. It's not something most people should be worried about, but it's good to know what to expect if a similar situation happens to someone. 

Anyway , our 12 or 24 words of recovery are always there for save de situation in the worst case ^^

Except in the event that the seed ends up in the washing machine, and it turns out that our HW is broken - that would be really bad luck, so it's wise to have at least two backups in case everything goes wrong

[m2017]

Consider putting your ledger and other small hardware wallets and usb sticks in a waterproof case so as they don't even get wet in the first place.

Putting it in a waterproof case or using a cryptopod like this might be better, because it is designed for Ledger Devices.
Has Fire Resistant & Waterproof protection.
Made of aluminum alloy material.
Preventing Ledger or hardware wallet damage is better than fixing it.

I found it on amazon and it's on sale for $19.99.


https://www.amazon.com/Crypto-Ledger-Nano-Case-Cryptocurrency/dp/B096SSSRD7?th=1

Such a case is really able to save the ledger from being washed in a washing machine. In general, and not only from this. For example, from mechanical influences due to which the display may break or the printed circuit board break, as a result of which the device will fail. Case, after all, will not hurt, especially since the price of $ 20 is not so big. But on the other hand, $20 for a case for a $80-100 device looks a bit expensive. I think I would not refuse this, although fire protection is doubtful. It is unlikely that aluminum is able to withstand a large fire, but it can protect it from a small one. Ideally, such a case should be made of stainless steel for greater strength, but this will certainly lead to an increase in the cost of the case.

[n0nce]

Someone please correct me, but if any HW that is not water resistant were left in the washing machine for a long time (30+ minutes), it doesn't seem to me that there would be any help. What the OP described is a situation where you notice very quickly that you have HW in the washing machine, and if it ended up there, it would probably be in the pocket of your pants and jacket so you wouldn't notice it until the washing machine finished washing.

Keep in mind most such devices have no built-in battery. As long as electronics are powered down, the worst that can happen is corrosion. You should make sure everything is bone-dry (however way you accomplish that) and check for corrosion; if you have any, it might be fixed by board repair shops.
Anything with a battery though, will most certainly be dead.

Personally, my reply to the question in the title is: 'Take one of my seed phrase backups, restore it on a new wallet, done.'
Or maybe restoring it on Tails and sending the funds to the new hardware wallet.

Sure, electronics may be salvageable, but there is no safer way than a seed phrase backup.

[Lucius]

Keep in mind most such devices have no built-in battery. As long as electronics are powered down, the worst that can happen is corrosion.

That's why it was a little strange to me that the OP managed to save 2 out of 3 Ledger X that we know have a built-in battery, and we know that that model has had problems with the battery for a long time, so contact with water would only make the whole thing worse. However, it seems that the charge of the battery also plays a crucial role, because of the three devices tested, two had a discharged battery while one did not. I guess that one stopped working a few days after the successful rescue.

[kamvreto]

Such a case is really able to save the ledger from being washed in a washing machine. In general, and not only from this. For example, from mechanical influences due to which the display may break or the printed circuit board break, as a result of which the device will fail. Case, after all, will not hurt, especially since the price of $ 20 is not so big. But on the other hand, $20 for a case for a $80-100 device looks a bit expensive. I think I would not refuse this, although fire protection is doubtful. It is unlikely that aluminum is able to withstand a large fire, but it can protect it from a small one. Ideally, such a case should be made of stainless steel for greater strength, but this will certainly lead to an increase in the cost of the case.

HW storage cases like this are very suitable, security is more guaranteed if HW is used and carried everywhere. The use of this case will indeed protect devices that cost $80-$100, but for some hardware wallet users it's not about the price of the wallet, but the content inside that is very important with assets that may be hundreds of times the price of the Hardware wallet. The materials used must be made of strong and rust-resistant materials for long-term use and any conditions, even these are also water and fire resistant.

~snip~
Sure, electronics may be salvageable, but there is no safer way than a seed phrase backup.

An electronic or hardware wallet can be purchased at any time, but the seed phrase will be very important and the only one that can be made. if you don't do a good and safe backup of the seed phrases, then it's useless. Hardware wallet vendors have provided boards or paper that are used specifically to record seed phrases.

[SFR10]

the best solution is to dry the components individually.

I'm curious to know how you would've approached the situation if there wasn't an easy way to disassemble Nano X components: e.g. PCB is glued to the battery while also being glued to the case

and make sure there's a good airflow. A great place to dry electronics is inside your PC case, or on top of it if you have fans blowing upwards. It worked for me countless times.

I have mixed feelings about this ^{[even with a good airflow]}... Depending on how the configuration is inside someone's PC and how they normally use their computer, there's a lot of generated heat between the space that you're going to place it ^{[sandwiched between the GPU and PSU (for the most part)]} so while it helps with drying them, it could also damage some of its components ^{[especially since we're talking about a product made by Ledger]}!

[Pmalek]

People say all kinds of things and promise their methods work.
I have read that it's ok to place an electronic device under sunlight as long as it's for a short period of time. Like 10-20 minutes max. Other's say don't do that under any circumstances. The funny thing is that both will claim they are experts on the matter at hand. You will get similar opinions for hair dryers. Sure, that's ok, just don't make contact with the drier and the other device. And then there is the complete opposite information that this is not recommended as it will damage the electronics.