As a former repair tech, WHY do people still perpetuate this Rice nonsense?

[goodtofufriday]

How could anyone who even knows the smidgiest amount of tech knowhow (ie this forum) still tout this rumor around. 

[TVwazhere]

Rice nonsense? I'm not sure what you're referring to...

 

*edit* oh, the old "put it in rice" to remove water

[mmaatt747]

4 minutes ago, goodtofufriday said:

How could anyone who even knows the smidgiest amount of tech knowhow (ie this forum) still tout this rumor around. 

I'm no repair tech and have used this method myself several times... care to expand on your OP.  You didn't provide any info

[TVwazhere]

3 minutes ago, mmaatt747 said:

I'm no repair tech and have used this method myself several times... care to expand on your OP.  You didn't provide any info

https://www.gazelle.com/thehorn/2014/05/06/gazelles-guide-water-damage-truth-rice-galaxy-everything/ (first article I found on google)

 

I'll be honest. I always thought putting in rice helped a lot. Though if anyone asks, I tell them it's because Asians come at night and repair the phone like the tooth fairy lol.

[mmaatt747]

4 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

https://www.gazelle.com/thehorn/2014/05/06/gazelles-guide-water-damage-truth-rice-galaxy-everything/ (first article I found on google)

 

I'll be honest. I always thought putting in rice helped a lot. Though if anyone asks, I tell them it's because Asians come at night and repair the phone like the tooth fairy lol.

Just read the link.  That actually really makes sense too now that I think about it.  Normal rice takes a long time to absorb water on your stove top compared to oatmeal.

[goodtofufriday]

11 minutes ago, mmaatt747 said:

I'm no repair tech and have used this method myself several times... care to expand on your OP.  You didn't provide any info

Rice can't absorb water thats IN a device, and doesn't absorb moisture IN a device either. And if the spilled substance is anything but water, it will leave gunk behind that needs to be cleaned out, which again rice cannot do. 

[mmaatt747]

Just now, goodtofufriday said:

Rice can't absorb water thats IN a device, and doesn't absorb moisture IN a device either. And if the spilled substance is anyt but water, it will leave gunk behind that needs to be cleaned out, which again rice cannot do. 

Yeah I did know that contaminates are left behind once the water evaporates so it's not the same as actually cleaning a device.  But why would rice not absorb moisture in a device (assuming the device is not completely sealed).

[mmaatt747]

... and if it was completely sealed it would not have had moisture get inside anyway

[goodtofufriday]

Just now, mmaatt747 said:

Yeah I did know that contaminates are left behind once the water evaporates so it's not the same as actually cleaning a device.  But why would rice not absorb moisture in a device (assuming the device is not completely sealed).

Unless the water is evaporating into vapor rapidly, rice would only absorb water it comes into contact with. so any water that sits on inside the device will stay there, and if it evaporates at room temp then the air will absorb it more than the rice would. 

[mmaatt747]

1 minute ago, goodtofufriday said:

 and if it evaporates at room temp then the air will absorb it more than the rice would. 

That's a good point.  As for cat litter (which I admit could be messy with electronics) I had an interesting experience.  I had an open bag of it for over a year in my garage.  I tried to used it on an oil spill in my driveway and noticed that it was quite moist.  It appeared that it did a really good job of pulling moisture out of the air (it had never been in contact with liquid water).  I live in Georgia so it's admittedly pretty humid here.

 

It seems like if you could safely heat a device  then that would evaporate any water better than any absorbing material could eliminate water from a device.

[goodtofufriday]

18 minutes ago, mmaatt747 said:

It seems like if you could safely heat a device  then that would evaporate any water better than any absorbing material could eliminate water from a device.

Pretty much yes. But if there was a short when the water spilled no amount of heat or rice will get that, which is often too. 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

My favourite quote about this:

"If it was true, you can cook rice by just leaving out in the rainforest."

Think it was Alton Brown.

[Thunderpup]

a friend of mine asked me for help because she is supposed to design an experiment using the scientific method regarding an everyday occurrence at home. 

 

After my first idea was scratched due to weather conditions where she lives i recalled this forum post, and so I told her to design one to test whether using rice helps dry out electronics faster.  She won't be using an actual electronic device, but instead something small and plastic but not completely sealed to act as an analogue to a electronics device.  

[DeltaGames]

b/c its proved to work over many, many trials

[goodtofufriday]

2 minutes ago, DeltaGames said:

b/c its proved to work over many, many trials

No, it has not. Its no more effective than letting your phone sit anywhere else, in anything else. Correlation =/= causation. 

[mmaatt747]

3 hours ago, DeltaGames said:

b/c its proved to work over many, many trials

 

8 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

https://www.gazelle.com/thehorn/2014/05/06/gazelles-guide-water-damage-truth-rice-galaxy-everything/ (first article I found on google)

 

I'll be honest. I always thought putting in rice helped a lot. Though if anyone asks, I tell them it's because Asians come at night and repair the phone like the tooth fairy lol.

@DeltaGames Look at TVwazhere's link

[samiscool51]

because rice is nice!

Ha Ha...

...

no-one?

 

[Mooshi]

I thought this thread was about Raidmax cases and led fans at first when I saw rice

[GreenToxon]

I think the only reason that it seems to work is that if someone happens to spill water on their device, they turn it off. And leaving it in the rice overnight or for a few days means that at least they won't be attempting to power it on (which is what would short something out).  2-3 days later maybe if any water got it it's dried or moved somewhere that doesn't harm it. Not absorbed though as most people think it does. 

[captain_to_fire]

15 hours ago, goodtofufriday said:

How could anyone who even knows the smidgiest amount of tech knowhow (ie this forum) still tout this rumor around. 

I think silica gel packs are better adsorbent materials than rice. I don't know if the Bheestie bags work better. Even if someone successfully dried the insides of theor phone, the warranty is already void because they have markers inside the phone that can tell them if there's water damage. That's why Samsung and Apple only advertises water resistance up to 1 meter of freshwater for 30 minutes. 

 

[Misanthrope]

It just seems intuitive to people: Rice absorbs moisture and people put it on salt shakers to keep them from clogging due to humidity so it surely should absorb all that moisture from electronics!

 

Not as intuitive: water damage would happen at the speed of electricity which means that as long as capacitors and other parts got water contact and some kind of current the damage would be close to immediate to water contact and even if well isolated it wouldn't take water more than a few moments to reach the key parts in question.

[baconbuilder99]

that. is. the. single. most. stupid. thing. ever

 

*facedesk*