Darjeeling 991 Turbo S Key & VTS Fob

[Z80]

Hi,

Currently on vacation in Turkey. Before I left the UK I parked the 911 at my dear mums house because my garage is full of stuff.

I left the keys in a teapot in Ma's kitchen. She hates tea and never makes any. The teapot was a safe place to keep both the Porsche key & the black tracking fob.

So, two Porsche keys nice and safe in the teapot that never gets used.

Wrong. She had a visitor yesterday who likes tea. Teapot is then used and boiling water poured in on top of the teabags and the Porsche keys. Lady guest enjoyed her tea and an hour or so later said teapot was emptied and the teabags and keys thudded & clanged out into the sink.

The teabags were thrown away but the Porsche keys are now being dried out on the Aga.

Unbelievable & true.

I won't know the outcome till I return mid August. Just wondering:-

Is it likely the keys are irrevocably wrecked?
The guest is still alive apparently but is there any likelihood the lady will suffer from lithium poisoning from the batteries that powered them?

Thanks,

Greg

 

[salisbees]

I put my fob through the washing machine on two separate occasions and then dried them slowly in a low heat oven over a year ago and there seems to have been no ill effects [8D]. I don't know about the battery thought but doubt there is an issue!

 

[Dylan1]

She deserves to die for that []

 

[tscaptain]

I always wondered why it's referred to as the 991TTS.....Now we know - Tea Time Special.[]

I doubt there will be any others to give you the benefit of first hand experience, Greg! However, I reckon it should dry out ok and unless the battery fell apart I doubt any chemicals were released.

 

[pwebb]

That's a pain Greg!

If you can persuade someone back home to open the fob (it splits in half to change the battery) it will possibly help the drying process inside.

 

[Z80]

Thanks for your replies of which Dyllan's was most amusing.

Seems then there's a chance they'll be ok. Hope so cos' an email from OPC Dick Lovett's says the key is £197 plus £60 programming, the fob £25 plus programming and all has to happen at the OPC.

Cheers,

Greg

 

[waxman]

Seems then there's a chance they'll be ok. Hope so cos' an email from OPC Dick Lovett's says the key is £197 plus £60 programming, the fob £25 plus programming and all has to happen at the OPC.


- that's more expensive a cup a cha at the Ritz[&o]

 

[RJKflyer]

Re the battery, surprisingly most coin cell producers state, for Lithium cells: The electrolyte is both non"corrosive and non"toxic.

I would replace the battery, as the thermal stress at 100 deg C, suddenly, may cause it to weep subsequently - which may well give you a large bill.

Most electronic components are rated to operate at 85 deg C, and better quality ones for 105 deg C (two sort of 'standards'), so a fair chance they'll work.

Semiconductor junctions will usually stand about 120 degC before damage.

 

[Z80]

Hi,

Update:

Returned from hols & tested tea infused keys.

Porsche key is fine. Keyless entry works fine.

No red flashing led from the VTS Fob though so cleaned off black grunge on battery contacts and a few of the surface mount components using switch cleaner. Battery hadn't opened but replaced with a new one anyway. Red flashing back again. No phone call from Cobra on a test drive.

Cheers,

Greg

 

[Dylan1]

excellent news
it seem like she may be spared death after all[]

 

[pwebb]

That's a result Greg, better than my experiences with mobile 'phones and water...

 

[tscaptain]

ORIGINAL: pwebb

That's a result Greg, better than my experiences with mobile 'phones and water...

Funny, well not really, that you mention that Peter. My car was an "extra" on a film set recently. The track to the country house where the film was being made was very mucky after recent rain. So I managed to find a bucket, hose and running water. Half way round I bent down to rinse the lamb's mitt and my phone, located in my shirt pocket, kindly obliged by slipping out and dropping into the bucket. It was retrieved very quickly but on inspection it seemed to think it had a headphone attached. When I tried to charge it later not a lot happened. However, having read about these things, I left it in a sealed bag of uncooked rice over night and lo and behold the next morning it charged ok and the headphone symbol had gone - lucky escape!![]

 

[pwebb]

Trouble was that when they opened up my 'phone it had an indicator strip (like litmus?) that had changed colour to show it had got damp - so no insurance/warranty/repair possible sir - would you like a new one for £X00? [][] I hadn't even dropped it in the loo which seems a favourite one, just left outside and it had rained overnight.

What film was it? We had filming here last week too - dead bodies in the river [][]

 

[tscaptain]

ORIGINAL: pwebb


What film was it? We had filming here last week too - dead bodies in the river [][]

Nothing as gruesome as that. Quite the opposite really. A west country author, Rosamunde Pilcher, is apparently very big in Germany and they have made lots of feature length films from her books - in German. So this was a German film company making another of her "roses round the door/tea and tiffin" type movies. My car was the trusty steed of a classic car salesman - but it only just sat there and looked lovely![] I also understand large numbers of German tourists visit Cornwall just to see the locations for the films! It was all pretty boring really as a 1 minute scene for the film took all afternoon to shoot. Still, it proves that being a member of the display register works!