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I get a lot of emails asking about what to do when a PSP gets dropped in water or left out
in the rain and the main thing to know is that time is definitely of the essence. Quite often
somebody will get their console wet and let it lay around to dry for a while then start
playing as normal thinking all is well. This is rarely the case.
What usually happens is that even once they've dried out there's still corrosion slowly
eating away at it until it finally gives out. By that point there's nothing anybody can do
about it other than replace the damaged part and this can quickly add up to a lot of money.
Now if the PSP just got a small amount of water dripped on it with any luck it probably
won't end up being that big of a deal but if it really got soaked it's absolutely imperative
customer who's son left the PSP in the bathroom while he took a hot shower and the
resulting condensation just wrecked the whole thing so it doesn't necessarily take a whole
lot of drenching to cause a major problem.
One thing to keep in mind is that once it's gotten wet you have a much better chance of
coming out of it with no permanent damage if you don't try to turn it on or charge it until
after it's been cleaned up. Even when everything seems dry as a bone there can still be
tiny amounts of water underneath the microchips and sending an electric current through it
is the worst thing you can possibly do.
In summation, if your PSP got pretty well soaked you'll want to take the entire console
apart as soon as possible to let it dry out properly and then clean the various electrical
components with rubbing alcohol to prevent the corrosion setting in. Most people aren't up
to this kind of work but there are things you can do yourself before sending it to someone
like me to do the job.
Number one is to take the battery out and leave it out until the console's ready to be used
again. Take out the memory card and UMD game if they're in there and leave the memory
card cover and UMD door open. Leave the battery cover off as well and of course dry it all
off as well as you can and put it somewhere warm to help the water evaporate. If you
happen to have a #000 screwdriver handy you can go ahead and take the faceplate off
which is not a big deal at all and will certainly help a lot with the drying process. Once
you've done all you can yourself get it to a repair shop asap. If you're mailing it you can
package it up for transit, doors/covers still open, in loosely wadded up newspaper or paper
towels to help it dry out a little more while it's on the way. The good news here is that no
matter how wet it got if you follow the instructions above there's a very good chance it'll
come back to life good as new without another major investment.
One thing I have to mention is that a few people on the Internet suggest putting it in the
oven to dry which can easily turn into a disaster if you're not careful. I've received
partially melted PSP's and there's just no hope at that point and whatever you do please
don't put it in the microwave :-)
Setting it in rice is another one which is OK except for the grains of rice making their way
inside the console. These can easily jam up the laser gears so I'd be cautious of trying this
unless you have a good way of ensuring no rice get's inside. Putting the whole thing inside
a pair of pantyhose and then in the rice might work or something along those lines.
Personally I don't know if this would really help or not but if you're careful it can't hurt.
That said, if you'd like me to take care of it I'll be happy to do so and with any luck it'll only
come to a $49 'labor only' repair if we get to it quick enough. Of course there's no
guarantee it'll turn out like that but I'll give it my best shot and there's no charge for it at
all unless I succeed in getting it going again. All you need to do is go fill out the form on the
Repair services page to let me know it's coming and then package it up loosely in
newspaper or paper towels like I mentioned above. I'll email to let you know as soon as it
arrives and hopefully a little later I'll be emailing again with some good news.
in the rain and the main thing to know is that time is definitely of the essence. Quite often
somebody will get their console wet and let it lay around to dry for a while then start
playing as normal thinking all is well. This is rarely the case.
What usually happens is that even once they've dried out there's still corrosion slowly
eating away at it until it finally gives out. By that point there's nothing anybody can do
about it other than replace the damaged part and this can quickly add up to a lot of money.
Now if the PSP just got a small amount of water dripped on it with any luck it probably
won't end up being that big of a deal but if it really got soaked it's absolutely imperative
customer who's son left the PSP in the bathroom while he took a hot shower and the
resulting condensation just wrecked the whole thing so it doesn't necessarily take a whole
lot of drenching to cause a major problem.
One thing to keep in mind is that once it's gotten wet you have a much better chance of
coming out of it with no permanent damage if you don't try to turn it on or charge it until
after it's been cleaned up. Even when everything seems dry as a bone there can still be
tiny amounts of water underneath the microchips and sending an electric current through it
is the worst thing you can possibly do.
In summation, if your PSP got pretty well soaked you'll want to take the entire console
apart as soon as possible to let it dry out properly and then clean the various electrical
components with rubbing alcohol to prevent the corrosion setting in. Most people aren't up
to this kind of work but there are things you can do yourself before sending it to someone
like me to do the job.
Number one is to take the battery out and leave it out until the console's ready to be used
again. Take out the memory card and UMD game if they're in there and leave the memory
card cover and UMD door open. Leave the battery cover off as well and of course dry it all
off as well as you can and put it somewhere warm to help the water evaporate. If you
happen to have a #000 screwdriver handy you can go ahead and take the faceplate off
which is not a big deal at all and will certainly help a lot with the drying process. Once
you've done all you can yourself get it to a repair shop asap. If you're mailing it you can
package it up for transit, doors/covers still open, in loosely wadded up newspaper or paper
towels to help it dry out a little more while it's on the way. The good news here is that no
matter how wet it got if you follow the instructions above there's a very good chance it'll
come back to life good as new without another major investment.
One thing I have to mention is that a few people on the Internet suggest putting it in the
oven to dry which can easily turn into a disaster if you're not careful. I've received
partially melted PSP's and there's just no hope at that point and whatever you do please
don't put it in the microwave :-)
Setting it in rice is another one which is OK except for the grains of rice making their way
inside the console. These can easily jam up the laser gears so I'd be cautious of trying this
unless you have a good way of ensuring no rice get's inside. Putting the whole thing inside
a pair of pantyhose and then in the rice might work or something along those lines.
Personally I don't know if this would really help or not but if you're careful it can't hurt.
That said, if you'd like me to take care of it I'll be happy to do so and with any luck it'll only
come to a $49 'labor only' repair if we get to it quick enough. Of course there's no
guarantee it'll turn out like that but I'll give it my best shot and there's no charge for it at
all unless I succeed in getting it going again. All you need to do is go fill out the form on the
Repair services page to let me know it's coming and then package it up loosely in
newspaper or paper towels like I mentioned above. I'll email to let you know as soon as it
arrives and hopefully a little later I'll be emailing again with some good news.