USB External Harddisk warning related to water on table !

[Skybuck]

Yesterday I had a "close call".

There was a power outtage, the laptop continued to function.

There is a usb external harddisk attached to the laptop.

I tried to reach for my old phone (dead too) and in the process I knocked over a cup of water.

Fortunately the ammount of water was low and there was some toilet paper nearby.

The USB external harddisk was 20 centimeters away from the cup of water.

The USB connection is quite low to the table.

I am pretty convinced that with enough water spillage a short circuit and possibly damage to the harddisk could have occured ?!

Perhaps place usb external harddisk a little bit on something heightened ? But then a drop might occur which might damage the drive, so bad idea.

My initial idea was the power connecter should perhaps be on top of it to prevent this kinda of scenerio... but then nothing can be placed on the drive itself...

I wonder if these drives are tested for a water scenerio !?!

Anybody know what happens if water reaches the usb connector ?

These models are USB Seagate Portable drives... and such 4 TB and 5 TB.

Also what happens to GIT if there is a power failure ?!?!?

I did make a backup of the git repository a few minutes before the power failure.

I deleted the old backup first... slightly safer would be make new backup first then delete old backup =D

Bye for now,
  Skybuck.

P.S.: I write this message because I believe external USB drives might become popular to store blockchains on... but apperently it is not without (major) risk ! =D

Follow up:

My solution for now is the same as the solution for the laptop airflow.

I have some unused DVDs in boxes... 4 boxes the hold up the laptop.

Now I will use a 5th DVD box to hold up the harddisk drive.

There is a slight risk that I might pull it down and it falls onto the table.

But I consider the risk of knocking over a cup of water also very high.

I was warned yesterday that this might happen and I don't want to short circuit the hardisk !

Some sector damage might be tolerable as long as this device remains functioning !

Bye for now,
  Skybuck.

[joniboini]

Why not make sure you don't put any water-related things close to your device in the first place? That's an easy and quick solution to prevent possible headaches. Or use a cup with a lid to seal your liquid so if you knock it out accidentally, the water won't get spilled.

[jrrsparkles]

Most of the hard drives comes up with a protective cover made of PU leather which is not actually water proof but it is water resistant and shock proof so certainly wallet spillage is not going to make any issues but if the water touches the connector pins then it may damage it completely so keep your drive safe if you have something important in that drive.

[devil2man]

most electronic equipment is sensitive to water, when it happens to hard disks it can be a real tragedy and the possibility of losing everything (games, photos, music, films) forever we can partly prevent by buying a case for the external hard disk but it is never 100% safe

[Foxpup]

Anybody know what happens if water reaches the usb connector ?

Only the connector? Not much happens in that case. Electricity follows the path of least resistance (to grossly oversimplify) resulting in it flowing through the water instead of your hard drive's power supply, causing at worst a temporary loss of power to the drive and possibly the whole USB bus (knocking out all connected USB devices). In that case, just turn off your computer and dry everything out before restarting and everything should be good as new. It's unlikely you'll cause permanent damage that way.

But before you go using your hard drive as a coaster, note that if any water enters the hard drive itself, it's a whole 'nother story, assuming it's an actual hard drive and not an SSD*. In that case, the internal mechanical components can be seriously damaged, and the disk surface itself can be corroded, rendering your data irrecoverable.

*SSDs, including flash drives and memory cards, are pretty much indestructible, and on more than one occasion I've accidentally left one in my pocket while doing laundry with no ill effect (in my defence, they're getting smaller all the time).

[Lorence.xD]

Why not make sure you don't put any water-related things close to your device in the first place? That's an easy and quick solution to prevent possible headaches. Or use a cup with a lid to seal your liquid so if you knock it out accidentally, the water won't get spilled.

Exactly, that problem is not the manufacturers problem. If the item goes out of the factory then it will be the users responsibility to take care of that item since they bought it. Why would you put a liquid near your electronics, too lazy to get off the chair and drink far from it.

[boyptc]

Not of that much concern if the connector is the one that has spilled water. You can even replace that with a new one but it wouldn't affect the connected drive.

In that case, just turn off your computer and dry everything out before restarting and everything should be good as new. It's unlikely you'll cause permanent damage that way.

This is correct advice and always the first rule when a device got wet.

Don't open it and make sure to dry it.

[Skybuck]

Why not make sure you don't put any water-related things close to your device in the first place? That's an easy and quick solution to prevent possible headaches. Or use a cup with a lid to seal your liquid so if you knock it out accidentally, the water won't get spilled.

LOL, Cause then I will dry out an die ! LOL.

[Skybuck]

Why not make sure you don't put any water-related things close to your device in the first place? That's an easy and quick solution to prevent possible headaches. Or use a cup with a lid to seal your liquid so if you knock it out accidentally, the water won't get spilled.

Exactly, that problem is not the manufacturers problem. If the item goes out of the factory then it will be the users responsibility to take care of that item since they bought it. Why would you put a liquid near your electronics, too lazy to get off the chair and drink far from it.

I drink a little bit every time. Walking away would take way too much time. It's reasonable to have a drink near the computer at home. World of Warships especially makes me thirsty ! =D

I am high up in the air where is very dry ! =D

Also I am not the first human being in history to knock over a drink onto a table... This is a pretty common accidents, which casts doubts on placing external harddisks on tables ! Especially where there is a slightly little gap between the usb plug/connector and the harddisk... and so low to the table... hmmm... now it's no longer an issue, harddisk on top of a dvd box.

[Ucy]

P.S.: I write this message because I believe external USB drives might become popular to store blockchains on... but apperently it is not without (major) risk ! =D

You mean like also running a Blockchain from USB drive, or just storing an entire Blockchain on USB drive? Something like that should be possible, I will be surprised if the former hasn't been done already. Sounds good and doable.



If you are worried about the harddisk getting damaged by water, you probably should water-proof it with additional covering... I wonder if such covering exists in any form? I remember watching videos of people spraying some sort of "liquid" substance on their devices to water-proof them. I don't know if that really works and is reliable.
    Or you could search for water-resistant external storage device to see if that too exist and is affordable