[MyLife_MyCar]

My car key goes a full cycle in a washing machine

About 3 weeks ago, on a lazy morning, I was just done with my coffee and turned on the laptop to start the routine office work while still yawning!

Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz vibrates my mobile phone and I was cursing the work people for calling me so early in the morning (it was 11 am, but still early for me :P).
A quick glance on the phone and it was my building watchman calling.

Relieved, I picked up the call and he goes, "Bhaiya, 2 ghante baad car hatana padega. Kuchh samaan nikalna hai parking se. (Saar, You'll have to move your car a bit after 2 hours as I have to take out some stuff from the parking)."

I would be in a meeting after two hours, so thought of moving the car right away. Told him I'll be down in 5 minutes. Logged into my laptop, opened Teams, waited for status to turn green which indicates I'm available (hehehe!!) and got up from my chair to go to the parking.

Opened the cabinet drawer where I keep my car key and, of course, it wasn't there!

Vrrrrrooooommmmmm.. I realised that washing machine is doing its duty, and I realised that it has my shorts that had the key in one of the pockets!

Expecting the worst and thinking if I will have to claim the insurance for this stupidity, I ran towards the washing machine and took out the shorts. Then, took out the key from its pocket, and surprisingly it seemed dry.

Not trusting what I saw, I frantically started googling what to do next. Wait! At least I should open up the key first and check what's the situation inside.

To open up the key:

1. Look at the back of the key. Push the small lever in the direction shown


2. Take out the physical key completely


3. Take a flathead screwdriver and use it to open up the case by inserting it in the gap (as shown between the two red arrows). While doing this, I was careful not to press any button that might damage the electronics inside.


4. The inside of the key


I was again surprised, and somewhat relieved, as there was no trace of water inside it.

5. The circuit board is mounted on a plastic platform and very well covered by a silicon casing



6. Separated all the parts carefully . Everything felt dry and not a single drop of water anywhere.



Then, used my wife's hair dryer to blow hot air on all the parts and left those in the open for the entire day.

Next day, assembled back the parts and it was time to test if it's working properly. With the keys in hand and the butterflies in the stomach, went down to the parking and clicked the unlock button.

Voila!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnHnl6HAFRU

At this point I was wondering if it was the (Decathlon) shorts or the good packaging of the Hyundai key that did not let the water inside. Or was it the "spin cycle" of the washing machine that took out all the water, if any. Can't say for sure.

But all is well that ends well!

[Aditya]

Hyundai Verna key goes through a full washing machine cycle - Post moved to a new thread.

[greyhound82]

For me following went through the wash and dry cycle

Punto Keys: Had to be replaced
Apple Watch: Intact. Not even a scratch on the glasses
Apple AirPods Pro with case: Partially damaged. Repaired on Apple Care

[ashis89]

In the past 3 months, I have experienced 3 such incidents already.

In August, a few of us friends were meeting in Goa. After the long drive to Goa, each one was looking forward to that dive into the swimming pool. I got in talking to everyone and after few minutes, realised my pocket felt heavy. It was my phone - Samsung s20 FE 5g. Took it out and kept it in the sun for an hour. The phone has been working fine as if nothing ever happened. Some moisture got into the camera lens which took 3-4 days to dry up.

The same day, half an hour later one of us felt something fallen on the pool floor. Took it out and it was my friend's car key - Nissan Kicks. Left it to dry for an hour in the sun, just like the phone. Has been working fine.

And finally last week, my car key fob went through a complete washing machine cycle after it sneaked in via my dirty pair of jeans. Wife was shocked to discover it in the wet jeans. I took the key and left it near a window which sees some sunlight, for a day. And it has been working fine.

[pareekvirendra]

I did the same thing with the keys of my Toyota Corolla Altis. I just kept the key out for a day and the next day it worked fine and has been doing so since.

Since I have just one key, I was really scared. However, all's well that ends well.

[Sam800]

Thankfully i have only washed my keys this way which aren't remote and are simple keys of older cars. I washed my oppo earbuds in washing machine though (its mic stopped working).
My baleno has remote key (Delta variant) which has buttons engraved into physical key. I felt my keys needed a harder press to operate them and they didn't often worked on single press.

I hung them on cloth drying rope for couple of hours in sun and they work as new now

[Jeroen]

On these keys the most likely parts that get damaged or get worn out for that matter are the micro switches. Just a tiny bit of moisture is enough to have them malfunction.

You did the correct thing by opening up the key and let everything dry out. On most of these keys the micro switches can be replaced by anybody handy with a soldering gun. Eventually those switches will wear out. Replacing the micro switch is a fiddle job but usually a hell of a lot cheaper than replacing the whole key.

Jeroen

[tristis2008]

I had the same issue with my car key recently for the very first time. Took out the battery. Dried as much as possible. Left the key in dessicants overnight. Checked Next day. Everything seems okay as of now.

[Bsimhan]

Reminds me of the time when our passports (mine and my wife's) when into the washing machine in Chennai when we were visiting. Caused a lot of drama at the airport with the photo page lamination getting unstuck. After a lot of procedural documentation, we ended up with getting a fresh set of passports issued at Melbourne.

[Rednblack]

Wow. Everything you did is correct, except for using hair dryer to dry the key. Although the chance is low there is still some chance for the key to get damaged because of the static electric discharge from the blower.

[manubg92]

You could use use some isopropyl alcohol to clean the PCB and dry it off. It should remove any remaining moisture which might later corrode

[callvvijay]

Originally Posted by MyLife_MyCar

Relieved, I picked up the call and he goes, "Bhaiya, 2 ghante baad car hatana padega. Kuchh samaan nikalna hai parking se. (Saar, You'll have to move your car a bit after 2 hours as I have to take out some stuff from the parking)."
..............
Next day, assembled back the parts and it was time to test if it's working properly. With the keys in hand and the butterflies in the stomach, went down to the parking and clicked the unlock button.

A question still pesters me - How did you manage to take the car on that day??

Cheers!

[MyLife_MyCar]

Originally Posted by Bsimhan

Reminds me of the time when our passports (mine and my wife's) when into the washing machine in Chennai when we were visiting.

Haha! It's hard even to imagine what you went through.

Originally Posted by Rednblack

Although the chance is low there is still some chance for the key to get damaged because of the static electric discharge from the blower.

Thanks for this info. Wasn't aware of this. I did take precautions to not hold the parts very close to the blower. Don't know if that was safe. Fortunately, the key is fine.

Originally Posted by manubg92

You could use use some isopropyl alcohol to clean the PCB and dry it off.

Yes, I read that somewhere on the internet. But I didn't had any.

Originally Posted by callvvijay

A question still pesters me - How did you manage to take the car on that day??

Good question. I should have answered it in the original post.
I used the second key to move the car.

[r24x7]

I had one such instance, but was just case where the junior me threw the keys into a home decor fountain pond and the keys were submerged for say 5 mins hardly.


I never bothered to open up the key since my vehicle didn't come with PEPS push button system, but the old style insert and rotate type.

I simply used the physical key to unlock doors and start the engine. After few hours, operated remote lock and unlock and it was not only working just fine but also hasn't been problematic since past 2 years till date.

[rbvg@]

I've had my keys (tata altroz) go through the full cycle, but they worked flawlessly. Guess they're waterproofed.