GR-20 -Spilt wine at gig...... help!

Started by fish, March 04, 2012, 10:32:41 AM

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fish

At a gig a few nights back, a stupid drunk woman spilt white wine over my gr 20. I didn't notice unfilled I went to play my brass bit in the song and when I looked down all the lights were flashing like a Christmas tree and the sound was dead. Ive taken it apart and soaked up the wine with kitchen roll as best I can. Anyone have any advise to salvage it? I'm gonna start using my gr 55 this week but need the 20 as a spare/backup. Grrrrr bloody woman!

gumtown

Hopefully it was a good quality wine, dry the GR-20 out in a warming closet for a few days, hopefully there is not too much sugar content in the wine, this will make the switches sticky. You might be able to flush a little methelated spirits through the switches if they are problematic.
Same thing happened with my GT-10B, luckily i managed to tip it on it's side at the gig and let the two glasses of wine that smashed on it run out of the end. It kept going the rest of the night thankfully.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

fish

I've just plugged it back in after letting it dry for 2 days and it seems ok now. Phew!
That was a lesson learnt.

Thanks for the info.

This has now got my brain ticking.

Anyone made a "splash cover" for their pedals?
I was thinking of making somethin out of perspex to put between my pedals and the audience for future gigs.

gumtown

You could place your floor equipment in a large clear plastic bag and tape off the end with the cables coming out.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

Mrchevy

    Dude, that sucks. Did she at least offer to make it up to you ;) Not sure what products you have in your corner of the world but if everything seems ok, you may want to still disassemble it and spray it real good, switches and all, with some kind of circuit cleaner. You didn't mention if you had done that. As Gumtown said, if all you did was soak it up and let it dry, it will gum up the switches or any contacts over time. On the same note, my wife handed me my cell phone this afternoon after graciously washing it for me.... in with the rest of the laundry. Blew it out with compressed air and sprayed contact cleaner in it. In the morning I'll either be calling her to say I love you or getting a new phone. WOMEN ::)
Gibson Les Paul Custom
Epi Les Paul Standard
Gibson SG 50's prototype
Squire classic vibe 60's
Epi LP Modern
Epi SG Custom
Martin acoustic

Princeton chorus 210

GT100
GR-55
Helix LT
Waza Air Headphones
Boomerang III

And, a lot of stuff I DON'T need

fish

I just left it to dry and it seems fine. I'm going to give it a clean tomorrow with some 99% ISO to make sure it doesn't get too sticky.  Hope your phone is ok.

Machh_2

hi, if you are brave enough ... lol ... you must open your GR and clean inside, to get the sugar and other impurities that may have been inside it, even the GR back to normal operation, these impurities can corrode the circuit board.
When such episode happens with the devices that I fix, I pull the plate, wash with soap and water and let dry in the sun all day and return everything to normal, if you do not want to wash the whole circuit, at least clean the site with alcohol or benzine, and rectified a toothbrush and let it dry, the important thing is not to let impurities into the device ..

[] 's

aliensporebomb

Another suggestion: very large tupperware container and place white rice inside it and then seal it up in there for a week or two until the moisture evaporates.  Yes, you will likely have to open it up to clean the sugar/impurities as suggested but I had a friend whose cellphone got dunked in cough syrup during an episode of muddleheadedness with a bad cold and that actually allowed the cell phone to work again after a few days.  But it really needed to be cleaned quite thoroughly inside and out for 100% operation.
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

gumtown

And what ever you do, don't get any solvent into the LCD display, it will dissolve.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

Rexx

 Years ago my cat barfed on my GR-1 and I didn't notice until many hours after it happened.  I cleaned up the exterior then took it apart, using Q-tips and electronic contact cleaner I cleaned the circuit board, while in there I cleaned all the case and also cleaned the pots, switches and jacks.
Once all cleaned I wrapped the unit in plastic wrap and cut out holes to access the knobs so "barfs" couldn't do as much damage again.

curteye

Aloha Guys,

Some great insights, suggestions, examples and answers in this thread.

Tanx guys for the heads up!
{'-'}
If yer gear ain't breakin' down, you ain't workin' much.

fish

I'm thinking of using cling film ( or cellifane as you guys over the pond call it).

Cheap and cheerful.

Plus making a mdf splash guard and giving a quick safety announcement before gigs.

That should minimize the chance again.

Ooh and I finally got my gr55 into my set tonight with my band in practice. Using it tomorrow night at a gig so shall report over next few days on how it went.

Machh_2

or....stay away from drunks.... lol...

tekrytor

Electronics printed circuit assembly houses typically use water soluble flux and actually wash their newly assembled PCBs in household dishwashers to remove the flux. They are then dried at a controlled temperature. I don't recommend it because I've not seen what all is on the assembly and what could be damaged, but hot water can be a good way to remove water soluable contaminants IF you follow the proper procedures, mainly romoving all residual water by drying the board completely before power is applied. If not, BOOM. Something will be damaged. A dry wine is better than a sweet one though, which like coke or pepsi,etc,  which eat whatever the contact fairly quickly. I've repaired several synthesisers where sweet soda drinks or fruit juice were spilled onto them and only a few drops made it onto the PCBs, but those few drops ate through traces and fiberglass layers on the boards within a few weeks of the spill. These tiny drops left micro craters where they landed with no scorch as a short-circuit flash would.

Avoid the sweet stuff if you can.




SY-300/BeatBuddy/VoiceLive 3/GR-55(v1.50)/33/1/50/700/VGA-7/V-Bass, Yam-G10, GPK-4, DIY X-Bee HighlyLiquidCPU "Cozy-Lil-Footie", FCB-1010, other MIDI stuff, Godin Freeway SA and various other GK equipped controllers, Sonar X1, Audacity, KXstudio, Misc devices

curteye

Quote from: tekrytor on March 06, 2012, 08:57:45 PM
Electronics printed circuit assembly houses typically use water soluble flux and actually wash their newly assembled PCBs in household dishwashers to remove the flux. They are then dried at a controlled temperature. I don't recommend it because I've not seen what all is on the assembly and what could be damaged, but hot water can be a good way to remove water soluable contaminants IF you follow the proper procedures, mainly romoving all residual water by drying the board completely before power is applied. If not, BOOM. Something will be damaged. A dry wine is better than a sweet one though, which like coke or pepsi,etc,  which eat whatever the contact fairly quickly. I've repaired several synthesisers where sweet soda drinks or fruit juice were spilled onto them and only a few drops made it onto the PCBs, but those few drops ate through traces and fiberglass layers on the boards within a few weeks of the spill. These tiny drops left micro craters where they landed with no scorch as a short-circuit flash would.

Avoid the sweet stuff if you can.

Word!

I remember doing sound for a heavy metal club in Toronto back in the 80's when we got in a new lighting system.
As I was reading the manual it said something like:
'and if you spill you beer on the console, immediately unplug and then dunk the entire console in clean water and let it air dry'.

I could not believe I was reading this, and luckily I never had to test it out.

But that was many many years ago. I'm sure electronic substances have changed.

{'-'}
If yer gear ain't breakin' down, you ain't workin' much.

stirlo

Yeh Curteye,

I dropped my expensive mobile in the bog few weeks back.....Don't Laugh !!!

I opened it up and thoroughly cleaned it in clean water and then immersed it in a container full of uncooked rice for a few days .The rice soaks up any moisture ...After few days switched on and Hey Presto phone is perfect...

So yes I can believe what the manual is telling you....

Elantric

#16
When drinks spill into electronics, the residual dried sugar becomes a source of contamination to the electronics, if not dealt with, over time the sugar creates carbon arcs and electrical short circuits.. After removing all power sources, ( memory backup batteries, or real time clock batteries),   many electronics repair centers use a vat of hot distilled water to dunk the PC board and wash off all drink residue from the PC board, then let the board dry completely. The Rice idea is OK, or silica gel packs work too.   I nice sunny day works too.

Immediately after the drink spill, if the unit is powered down and then the above procedure is performed  - most report a success and no future problems.

Remember drying the board after a spill is not sufficient,  you must also remove any residual sugar and hot distilled water works best.

Machh_2

I've washed with soap and water, computers mother boards, Roland pianos boards, tv's, stereo equips, powers suplyes (eletrolitics capacitors electrolyte leak and corrode the board and leave the highly conductive plate), and many other appliances, and had success in all, I never lost even one so ...
is only to do with consciousness ....

[]´s

Machh

aliensporebomb

This is a lot more common than you'd suspect.  Someone at my day gig left their phone on vibrate on the kitchen counter and when someone called it vibrated itself off the edge of the counter and landed in his dog's water dish.  Seems like water isn't really a problem if it's just water - you can do the rice trick.  But wine, coda, cough syrup - oh yeah and orange juice.  All of that makes a heck of a mess. 
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

ecca

I washed my computer keyboard in the dishwasher and it came up a treat !
Just take plenty of time to dry it out.

tekrytor

Quote from: stirlo on March 07, 2012, 07:59:51 AM
I dropped my expensive mobile in the bog few weeks back.....Don't Laugh !!!

I've heard several guys say how their iphone fell out of their shirt pocket into the "mix" when they went to flush. There's a shop nearby with a big sign that they recycle any cell phone, working or not. Hmmm, think I'll stick to new phones.
SY-300/BeatBuddy/VoiceLive 3/GR-55(v1.50)/33/1/50/700/VGA-7/V-Bass, Yam-G10, GPK-4, DIY X-Bee HighlyLiquidCPU "Cozy-Lil-Footie", FCB-1010, other MIDI stuff, Godin Freeway SA and various other GK equipped controllers, Sonar X1, Audacity, KXstudio, Misc devices

ecca

Perhaps...... is it wineproof ?   :) :) :)

gumbo

Surely it's too big to fit into a toilet.....

...at least UNintentionally...    ;D
Read slower!!!   ....I'm typing as fast as I can...

DBrenchley

I've noted a number of people mentioning cleaning equipment w/ water ...  to deal w/ what I used to call w/ I was in the "bar" electronics service industry "pepsi syndrome" ..

Water is fine .. while in the medical electronics repair industry, it was common practice to immerse and rinse out hospital electronic equipment as part of out normal preventative maintenance to eliminate possible germs/contaminates .. one IMPORTANT fact ... USE DISTILLED WATER. Tap water has assorted minerals .. many of which are conductive. When the water evaporates these minerals are left as deposits on the PCB. Often the cure is worst than the illness ... ;-)   

Elantric

QuoteWater is fine .. while in the medical electronics repair industry, it was common practice to immerse and rinse out hospital electronic equipment as part of out normal preventative maintenance to eliminate possible germs/contaminates .. one IMPORTANT fact ... USE DISTILLED WATER. Tap water has assorted minerals .. many of which are conductive. When the water evaporates these minerals are left as deposits on the PCB. Often the cure is worst than the illness ... ;-)   

+1

Absolutely use distilled water only !