How to save a soaked phone

Last night, a bunch of us are at an outdoor concert when the heavens opened up and we were totally soaked in a couple minutes. Our folding chairs became full of water, and wouldn’t you know, a friend of ours had her phone in her back pocket. When she pulled it out, water came streaming out of the phone. (I have never seen so much water come out of such a small device)! Which brings to mind a great technique to bring your phone back to life when it gets soaked and is seemingly dead.

Here’s how to save your soaked phone. Remember the quicker you can perform this Phone First Aid, the better chance your phone will live again.

1.) As soon as you realize the disaster, remove the battery and the SIM card (T-Mobile and AT&T users in the U.S). (iPhone users can’t remove the battery so turn off your phone if it is responsive). Dry the SIM Card and Battery with a towel and set aside.

2.) Get a vacuum cleaner with a crevice tool. Open all access doors and flaps on the phone and proceed to suck water out of every opening or crack in the phone (all around the keys – everywhere!). DO NOT use compressed air or a hairdryer to BLOW – all you’ll do is move the water deeper into your phone.

3.) Submerge the phone in a bowl of uncooked rice or surrounded with desiccant. Turn the phone every hour or so to allow gravity to help get water out of the phone and be wicked up by the rice or desiccant.

4.) Check the phone every couple of hours for wetness. When you change positions during step 3, put the phone on a paper towel. If you have moisture on the towel, there is still water in the phone. Keeping the phone on that side, use the vacuum with the crevice tool to remove the water.

5.) After you have left the phone in the rice or desiccant a day or so, put the battery and SIM card (if used) into the phone and power it up.

6.) If it works, you’re done! If not, there’s couple more things to try.

6a.) Remember when you discovered your phone was soaked? Was the display or any lights still on? If not, the battery may have shorted. Try a spare battery or see if your friendly cell-phone store might have one for the test.

6b.) You could take your phone apart and check for more water. Here’s a good website that specializes in such things.

Last thoughts:
-When I say “soaked” I’m thinking fresh water. Not saltwater or salad dressing. If you’re in this situation all is not lost, check this link on Tekzilla for more tips.

Do you have tips and tricks to save soaked cell phones? E-mail me at chiefgeek@gadgetreviewworld.com.