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So, I had some water in my home office, I know that wasn't very responsible, but let's not point any fingers here. Long story short, a bit of water ended up spritzed onto some of the actual plugs of some of my AC adapters and suchlike. Very fortunately, these plugs weren't actually plugged into anything at the particular moment that this occurred. However, very stupidly, I wiped off what I believed to be all the water, let them dry for a few minutes, then plugged them back into my uninterruptible power supply… which was, also very luckily, not plugged in at the time of the water incident either… but, it was still holding a charge from the time that I did have it plugged in… which, after all, is sort of the point of having a UPS, isn't it?

So anyway, though, when I did plug the adapter cord into the UPS, there was a little bit of a quiet crackling sound and possibly a small amount of smoke or at least a faint, ozone-ish smell of heated plastic or metal.

I unplugged it quickly, looked at it, and saw that there were still a few small water droplets clinging onto the portions of the prongs (or pins, or whatever you want to call them) closest to the plastic part of the plug, and immediately started freaking out, as I am wont to do in these sorts of situations (which seem to keep recurring for me with very alarming and disheartening regularity). Luckily too, the adapter wasn't actually plugged into any equipment either, but still… I am sure, to some this might seem like a bit of an overreaction, but to me, the possibility of damage is very real and very worrying—I am all-too-acutely aware of just how true it is that water and active electronics definitely don't mix—at the very least, this little debacle surely damaged my uninterruptible power supply somewhat, if not outright ruining that particular outlet or even the entire unit, no?

I haven't tried it again since this occurred. The UPS cost me about $70. Should I just trash the thing… donate it to charity? Wait a few days for it to dry, then try using it again? There's no point in keeping it if the fuses or resistors or capacitors or whatever it is in there that protects my equipment and keeps it safe during blackouts and spikes and such are burned out, is there? What should I do? ⊙﹏⊙

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    Replace it. You can no longer be sure it will do it's job.
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 8:24

2 Answers 2

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If it was plain water and only a small amount, the UPS should be fine once you get it completely dried out. You will need to open the case for the inside to dry out (unplug it and if you will be handling anything inside, you can wear thin gloves to avoid the possibility of a jolt).

Remove the battery to disconnect the internal power and to create an opening for air circulation (in some UPSs, the battery is in a separate compartment and it will need to be removed to open the case). Note which wire goes to which battery terminal. If there is a puddle of water inside, turn the case to let it run out, being careful not to lose any loose screws. Use a can of compressed air to blow out the sockets and the inside, particularly any visible wetness. Then set up a small fan to blow air into the inside and let it run for at least a day (don't use a hair dryer or other heater). Since you heard sizzling and smelled ozone, look for any signs of charring or carbon deposits and clean it off (small brush or cotton swab and you can use 91% or higher isopropyl alcohol).

After the inside is completely dry, reassemble and test it. If it works, there was no permanent damage.

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  • Sigh… yeah, I was pretty much expecting it to be some whole god-awful herculean labor like taking it completely apart and everything… well, I suppose that for most people, it would only be a slightly burdensome task to add to their workload, but for someone like me, with severe OCD, it's… well it's certainly a big problem. But thank you for the honest and accurate answer. Fortunately, the battery is in a completely separate compartment and easy enough to disconnect. So… just out of curiosity, if I just gave it like a week to dry, without taking it apart, what are the chances it would be ok? :/
    – Josh Zmijewski
    Commented Oct 4, 2014 at 1:53
  • Without opening the case and getting air to circulate inside, it could take an extremely long time for internal water to evaporate, and without visual inspection, you won't know. You don't need to completely disassemble it. Just open the case so you can get air to circulate through the inside (usually about 4 screws hold the case together). Typically, the circuitry is fastened to one side of the case, but parts like switches may slide into openings in the "removable" half. It had to be assembled, you're just reversing the process and it should go back together without special tools.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Oct 4, 2014 at 2:14
  • Separate the halves of the case slowly, looking for what needs to go back into the removable half and how it fits. For example, there might be slots that something slides into. If you are cognizant of how it comes apart, you will see how it goes back together. If it looks too complicated, see if there is enough slack to just separate the halves of the case to give you a gap. Then folow the instructions in the answer just working with the gap. If you have something like a small blower (like a tiny vacuum or a hair drier with a non-heat setting, direct that into the gap for a day or two.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Oct 4, 2014 at 2:24
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I would recommend waiting for a day or 2 and then trying it again. If all the water that was on the plugs has evaporated, then its bone dry and safe to use. If however you have reason to believe that water might have gotten into the UPS because of which the circuits might have possibly been damaged,take it to a technician and see if the cost of having it fixed is lower than replacing it.

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  • I am 99.9% sure that at least some water did drip down into the UPS, due to the fact that the pins on the plug itself still had some water clinging to them after unplugging it, and to the hot plasticy smell… however, it might have only been a tiny amount of water, perhaps even just, like, water vapor? I don't know. If the UPS is completely dry now, before I actually turn it back on, would it still have damage? Ugggh.
    – Josh Zmijewski
    Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 8:09
  • most probably YES. best take it to a technician. You don't need to risk damaging it more by switching it on again.
    – Dhiwakar Ravikumar
    Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 8:25

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