Most people have dropped their mobile phone into something, like the bath, the sink, the toilet, or even a cup of coffee. There are even cases of people jumping into the pool with a cell phone in their pocket or mothers hearing a grinding noise in the washing machine and realizing that Junior did not empty the pockets of his jeans and the noise was caused by his brand new cell phone.
A waterlogged phone often means that the instrument has to be replaced, but if the rescue happens fast enough it is possible to save a wet cell phone.
Remove the Battery and Sim Card
The obvious first step is to get the mobile phone out of the water/coffee/ washing machine as soon as possible. Cell phones have plastic covers that are relatively tight, which keep moisture out, but not water.
Some people recommend removing the battery while the phone is still under water as it helps dissipate heat and prevent short circuits, but others say this is not a good idea.
Anyway, the battery and sim card ( if the mobile phone has a sim card, some don’t) should be removed by whomever can get the phone out of the water as fast as possible, and after gently shaking much of the water out , the cell phone should be placed on an towel or some absorbent paper towels. The sim card must never have any heat brought neat it, so it is a good idea for someone just to pat it dry with a paper towel.
Dry the Cell Phone
This is where the experts differ – there are those who advocate using a hairdryer on a very low heat to blow the mobile phone dry; others recommend using a vacuum cleaner to “suck” the moisture out of the phone; others are proponents of putting the phone in a bowl of rice grains so that the rice can absorb the moisture and a similar school of thought prefers using silicon crystals to draw the water out of the wet cell phone.
Popular Mechanics recommends “Instead, opt for a can of compressed air, an air compressor set to a low psi or a vacuum cleaner (a wet/dry Shop-Vac would be perfect). The idea is to use air to push or pull moisture out through the same channels it entered.”
How to Dry a Wet Mobile Phone – Slowly
Taking a lesson from all the methods to dry a wet mobile phone, it is obvious that the one thing they have in common is that this is no quick fix. In fact, whoever is doing the drying should be careful not to heat the phone at all.
Absorbent paper towels are very useful for drying the outer parts of the cell phone, but the owner should take care not to get wet paper caught in the grooves inside the phone.
A good recommendation is to let the cell phone lie in a warm place (not direct sunlight) in a bed of clean cotton balls for six to 12 hours after it has been dried the first time.
Test the Cell Phone
After about a day it is time to test the cell phone to see if it works. The owner should first make sure that everything is clean and dry- looking and then re-attach the battery to the phone and switch it on. If it does not work, the fault might lie with the cell phone battery. The owner should then remove the battery from the phone and attach the phone to the charger without the battery to see if it works – if it does, then the battery is the problem.
Next, the owner could try to recharge the battery. If this does not work, the cell phone should be taken to a dealer where the owner should explain in detail what happened. They still might be able to save the phone.
What Not to Do When Rescuing a Wet Cell Phone
There are almostas many things not to do as to do, when rescuing a wet mobile phone.Do not switch it on until it is dry. Don't heat the battery or it could leak or explode.
Warning: manufacturers of most cell phones place liquid damage indicator stickers that will change colors in the presence of a liquid inside their phones. This helps technicians know that you have dropped your phone in water, as most cell phone insurance coverage policies do not cover water damage.
Do not put the cell phone (or any electronic or metal-containing object) into the microwave.
Having followed these suggestions and tips, it might just be possible to get a wet cell phone to dry out and back to working order if the phone owner/ "phone drier-out "remembers to be patient and to do it slowly.