How it failed · water or fire
Platters survive water. Data survives fires that destroy the machines around it. What kills these drives afterwards is well-meant first aid — the power-up 'to check', the radiator, the bag of rice — and time, because corrosion starts within hours. Seal it, send it, fast.
Talk it through with an engineer
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| What you see | What it means | First move |
|---|---|---|
| Dead after a flood or leak | Water has reached the electronics — the platters inside are almost certainly fine | Seal it wet, send it |
| Trips the plug or PSU when connected | The board is shorting — every attempt pushes current through the head amplifier | No more attempts |
| Green or white fur on the connectors | Corrosion already established and spreading | The clock is running |
| Through a fire but physically intact | The sealed chassis shields the platters; the melted board is replaceable | Handle gently, don't open |
| Soot inside vents or ports | Acidic, abrasive contamination — destructive if the drive spins | Never wipe, never power |
| Seawater immersion | Chlorides attack the recording layer itself — the most aggressive case | Keep it wet and sealed |
Your device is logged with its own case reference the moment it arrives. An engineer assesses the fault, confirms what's actually recoverable, and you get a fixed price in writing — no diagnosis fee, no obligation, and no paid work until you say go.
Wet drives stay wet and sealed in transit — drying crystallises corrosive deposits onto the platters. Fire drives travel padded and unopened, soot undisturbed.
Corrosion is treated, contacts restored, and destroyed boards replaced with donors carrying your drive's original ROM — the electronics rebuilt around untouched platters.
Corrosion resumes where treatment ends, so the drive is imaged promptly and completely — after which the original has done its job forever.
Before you pay the recovery fee you approve a full listing of what came back. Your data returns on new media with free return postage, and the case only closes once you've confirmed everything opens on your side.
The pattern across every water and fire case we see: the outcome is decided before the drive arrives — by whether it was powered on, and how fast it travelled. The drives that arrive sealed, untested and prompt recover routinely; the ones that were 'just checked quickly' on a wet board are the ones that need donor heads too.
The owner's instinct was perfect: no power-up, sealed wet, posted next morning. Contacts treated, the shorted board replaced with its ROM carried over, and a full image taken the same week — twenty years of family photos, dry side up.
Usually, yes — if it was never powered on wet and it reaches a lab quickly. The platters survive the water; the electronics take the damage, and electronics are replaceable.
No. Rice is folklore for sealed electronics — it can't reach the inside, it adds starch and dust, and corrosion spreads happily the whole time it sits there.
Often. The sealed metal chassis shields the platters, and the melted circuit board is replaceable. Heat warping and soot are the real risks — which is why the drive must not be opened, wiped or powered.
No — counterintuitive but true. Drying crystallises dissolved minerals and salts onto surfaces. Keep water-damaged drives sealed, and salt-water drives wet, until they're on the bench.
Every restart of a damaged device costs data. Open a case first — the diagnosis is free either way.