Flooded Hard Drive: Why You Must Not Let It Dry Out (and What to Do Instead)
A hard drive that has been in water is not doomed, provided you do not let it dry out as is. It is not the water that kills a drive, it is the corrosion that follows: when the water evaporates, the conductive salts and residues remain on the circuit board and keep eating away at the metal. This guide explains, with the chemistry behind it, the three destructive mechanisms (short circuit, oxidation, electrolytic corrosion) and details the right first-aid steps: never plug it back in, remove the circuit board, rinse it with clean water, dry it fast, never open the casing, and hand the drive over to a lab as fast as possible. You will also find the aggravated cases (mud, extinguishing powder, chemicals), the time factor and an insurance trap well worth knowing: do not let the cleanup company sort through or throw away your storage media.
