Comment Re:There is hope (Score 1) 512
Not so fast. With today's surface mount electronics there is the danger that water has set beneath the components and the hummidity has infiltrated. This causes a slow and agonizing death to components.
I've seen this happen to mobile phones (dropped in the bucket or rained upon), television sets, media players, etc.
The best bet would be to submerge the PCBs in alcohol (98%) and leave them there for a day. Then just hope that the circuits won't corrode over time, as they do in this cases. This is the standard recovery method used here for mobile phones or home electronics.
You can also use some water-repelling products for larger electronics with wide PCB traces. I'm thinking something in line with WD40, contact sprays sometimes contain that.
Again, with the average life of these electronics being around 5 years you might squeeze some more usage from them, but it's a bet. There's no guarantee that they work flawlessly after being subjected to >80% hummidity.