...Potential beer damage?

hi....,

Embarrassed to admit this is my second ever post, about my first ever module (which I will one day disclose its identity if it survives the ensuing...).

Asides from increasingly (one may say) dabbling in synths for the last year, I have been learning to play the drums for the previous 3 years. More recently, I've been attempting to make less unpleasant noises with my synth (i.e. my one single semi-modular), and my very recently acquired powered (and thankfully unconnected at the time of this incident) board, along with an (equally unconnected) first-ever module. Whilst practicing the drums, I accidentally knocked over a freshly-opened, pint-sized can of beer. Said can sadly projectiled an, again thankfully, smallish..yet considerable.. amount of foamy frothy beer such that it moderately lightly covered at least part of my truly cherished module... and to a smaller degree, also to the board I mentioned.

They were fairly quickly wiped off of any excess liquid and did not appear to... well, look any different. Curious if anyone can suggest any methods or strategies to minimize the odds of damage and/or mitigate my acute sense of... unwiseness? Would be greatly appreciated!

Let it dry, then try it. Of you can't see if it's really dry, 2 days should be enough. Don'ttry to force it with hair dryers etc, which may damage it. I've seen coke end up on a keyboard and after drying, it worked again (though the keys were very sticky with all the sugar)

Thoroughly dry and don't force it, like Arrandan says, before attempting to energize the circuitry. This should prevent shorts, as that's the main danger. Even though you can't use heat to help dry it a shitload of dessicant packs might help, especially if you can put them inside. The secondary danger is corrosion of the curcuitry. If you can access the internals and check for sticky build up, after drying you might be able to clean some of the the residue with 90% rubbing alcohol and q-tips. Just make sure the excess dries as well.

I learned booze and synths don't mix so well after twisting a knob off of an envelope generator. Thankfully it was just a round pot shaft that had the knob glued on, but still scared me enough to stick to traditional instruments and move the electronics to a safe location, if inspiration hits after a few. Not to tell you how to live your life or anything, I just know that's a bad feeling that can be easily avoided

Let it dry, then try it. Of you can't see if it's really dry, 2 days should be enough. Don'ttry to force it with hair dryers etc, which may damage it. I've seen coke end up on a keyboard and after drying, it worked again (though the keys were very sticky with all the sugar)
-- Arrandan

[...] Not to tell you how to live your life or anything, I just know that's a bad feeling that can be easily avoided
-- yeahivandalizm

yeahivandalizm, I need all the help I can get, really appreciate it!

Arrandan/yeahivandalizm, thank you both -- I am reasonably optimistic that it's gunna be okay, but am definitely going to resist any urge to verify before another day and a half or so elapses.

Hahaha me too, me too. I'm sure you'll be fine. As fragile as electronics are, they're also pretty resilient. Air conditioners have circuit boards and sit out in the rain and humidity for years. The electrical compartments aren't fully water proof, and they're fine for the most part. I've seen one get damaged from moisture build up, but it was a large swimming pool unit and it was the chlorine gas entering the compartment that destroyed it. I know synths aren't AC units, but as long as your thing isnt waterlogged (beerlogged) you should be good. Am curious to know how it turns out though, holler back when you get that sumbitch runnin again.

Am curious to know how it turns out though, holler back when you get that sumbitch runnin again.
-- yeahivandalizm

Kinda forgot to update, but thankfully both the module and the case are in good working order! Thank you again for the proper advice. There are a couple of buttons on the module (oh, btw it's a 2nd-hand Maths with a black faceplate) that are a little bit sticky, but also work alright. At some point I'll have to do some triaging to clean 'em out, but I'm thinking I might leave that to the pros.

Happy holidays!

Whoooaaaaaa, where'd ya get the black maths? Happy it's working again!

Edit: second hand, I gotcha. I'm a bit toasted, myself, today.

EDITED Dec 18th 2022, 20:24