Why are Nintendo devices waterproof

[Halvorsen]

Nintendo DSi - fell out of pocket while in car. Fell in puddle. Recovered and turns on (had a top cracked screen, but I repaired it)

New 3DS - Mowing my lawn and set the system on the lid of my recycle bin. Somehow it apparently got knocked over and again, SOMEHOW landed in the empty garbage can full of rainwater, literally at least a foot (I think I know who did this)
Within four hours of sunlight and chill I'm using it to type this very post.
3DS games, I'm sometimes irresponsible and leave my 3DS games in my pockets (I have a ton of 3DS games and a TON of clothes). Mario Kart 7 (twice), Smash, Sticker Star: all sporting that lavender lilac.
So are they actually pretty resistant to... you know.
Death?
Never forget that Game Boy that got bombed.

 

[TheCyberQuake]

My little brother took his DSi into the bathtub and splashed water onto it just a month after getting it because "he wanted to test it was waterproof". That was how he scientifically proved that the DSi is NOT waterproof. He is not a very smart child. Let's hope he learned his lesson to just assume it isn't waterproof with his 3ds.

The games, however, are a totally different story. I once found 3 DS carts just outside my house (ones that were not mine) and it was a very rainy day. Took them inside, let them dry for a few days and they worked perfectly fine.

Honestly, water itself doesn't kill electronics, but rather the liquid shorting parts that shouldn't touch and frying it. As long as it doesn't leave too much of something conducting when dry, as long as it get dry enough before turning back on it has a pretty good chance of turning back on.

 

[Davidosky99]

I can't say the same as my little brother like 4 years ago left my dsi xl in the rain for a full night. It never powered again neither survived

 

[mgrev]

but you brick if you replace the home menu (without a9lh). sigh.

 

[Halvorsen]

The very funny thing is that I bought 2 2DS consoles to repair a few weeks ago.
I had a ton of stuff for school, then forgot that I had a science fair. Thinking fast, I just so happened to bring those two devices. One was water damaged (but I fixed it to turn on) and the other I repaired fully.
So in around 30-40 minutes, I wrote a two page paper on why devices die under water, and when I demonstrated, (I had beforehand taken the battery out of the working one and left the other one with the water-damaged screen working.
I showed them that the system with dirty rainwater (fully working system with no battery) does not turn on after my testing, and the system with near completely pure water (evaporated Fiji water) still turns on, despite screen damage.
I got a 50/60 on the entire project.

 

[mgrev]

The very funny thing is that I bought 2 2DS consoles to repair a few weeks ago.
I had a ton of stuff for school, then forgot that I had a science fair. Thinking fast, I just so happened to bring those two devices. One was water damaged (but I fixed it to turn on) and the other I repaired fully.
So in around 30-40 minutes, I wrote a two page paper on why devices die under water, and when I demonstrated, (I had beforehand taken the battery out of the working one and left the other one with the water-damaged screen working.
I showed them that the system with dirty rainwater (fully working system with no battery) does not turn on after my testing, and the system with near completely pure water (evaporated Fiji water) still turns on, despite screen damage.
I got a 50/60 on the entire project.

so basically you lied?

 

[Halvorsen]

so basically you lied?

No, I didn't lie. I just never did the experiment. I already knew the results of the experiment beforehand, so if that counts as lying, oh, no *gasp*. What will I ever do?

 

[TheCyberQuake]

I can't say the same as my little brother like 4 years ago left my dsi xl in the rain for a full night. It never powered again neither survived

That's because rainwater can contain enough minerals to leave traces when dry, still causing shorts. It depends on the rain. It also has a greater chance to die if the device is still powered on compared to if it were not on when it got wet.

 

[Veho]

Because Nintendo devices are for kids, and kids drool.

 

[Subtle Demise]

My brothers, when they were younger, left their brand new gba sp systems outside in the rain. They didn't work after, but they were dumb and didn't let the systems dry for a few days first.