Official ECM Mythbusters Thread * Share your own Myths!!!

[Blackhawk]

Well, being car fanatics and enthusiasts, we often find ourselves running our own guinea pig projects on different things whether it is to test a new product, confirm compatibility of equipment/components, inventing a new item that helps make life easier, or simply testing what works to repair and item. Share your stories here; they can come in handy for other members to use and share.

I have an interesting myth that I created and confirmed on the same day. We all know about the old wives tale regarding the restoration of 1/3rd the life of dead alkaline batteries in by putting them in the freezer to be plausible. Now I was trying to recover the operating system in my HP Pavilion DV2000 series Notebook this morning (Windows Vista), and the system crashed on recovery. I tried a few times afterward but only got a blank screen.

After confirming the hard drive junk with the troubleshooting help from an online chat professional at HP and some hard disk tests confirming the famous code: "1-07 FAIL", I decided to do something crazy. I removed the hard drive and did exactly what is done with the batteries myth. I put it on the freezer. My hopes were not high for the little 120GB drive that could, but after 30 minutes or so in the freezer, I took it out, dried it well, and let it sit for 20 minutes before re-installing it.

I reinstalled the hard drive and sure enough, the system fully restored and the computer is working perfectly now. Now I get to save $100 on my dream 750GB 7200 rpm hard drive and hold off a little longer. Who would have said that something that was tested to be physically damaged would work again by applying some cooling effects huh? Well there's my story. Share anything that you have found to work when the impossible seemed imminent, anything you discovered on your own, or any invention that made your life easier!  

[CrackerTeg]

Are you kidding me? That's fucking awesome! I'm going to have to try that on one of my desktops and if it works, I'm hooking it to the main TV.

[Mike]

That is crazy... I wish I would have read this about 3 months ago when I threw my dv2000 in the trash.

[Heckler]

I have a DV1000 that's still functional that's going to end up in the trash if you want it, Mike.

No myth's to share currently....

[Mike]

I have a DV1000 that's still functional that's going to end up in the trash if you want it, Mike.

No myth's to share currently....

I'm using a dv6000 now but, if your going to throw it away i'll take it off your hands. I could find a use for it.


Maybe you folks have heard this before but, Alot of people say if you drop an electronic device in water it can be save by sealing the device in a container with Silica Gel. This worked for me when I dropped  a cell phone in the toilet. The catch to this was that I had a buddy that works in shipping get me a 1 pound pacage of silica gel. The theory here is that it the gel pulls the mositure out of the device.

[Blackhawk]

^^^Interesting. I have also heard of the blowdry theory working pretty well.

[JohnnyG123]

I've heard the same thing, only using dry rice. Probably doesn't work as well as the silica gel, but it is easier to find.