wet phone

[micky]

Phone didn't work, even though battery had substantial charge.

At the T-Mobile service center, the rep opened the phone and showed me that it was wet inside. Why? When I turned on the water at the fountain, there was a surge that thoroughly doused my pants and sport jacket. Even though the phone was in my shirt pocket underneath the jacket and was partially protected by a rubberized case. enough water managed to seep in to cause the phone to malfunction. The rep suggested that before I opted for a replacement phone, I should disassemble the phone (basically taking the battery and SIM card out) and immerse it in bowl of uncooked rice for 24 hours. It worked! I mentioned this to a number of people who were aware of this "folk remedy?. Silica gel would even be better as a desiccant, but it is not exactly a household item.

[gfretwell]

Silica gel works a whole lot better. You can get in bulk.

[micky]

If anyone should have that, it shoudl be T-mobile or a fix-it shop. Are there any fix-it shops?

For my friend, it was more important to use the rice right away than wait for the stuff to come in the mail.

BTW, I've heard of absorbents, but never sorbents. I'm sure there's a joke there somewhere.

But thanks for the link. I'll send it to him. He won't likely buy any, but I'm sure he's interested.

[Seymore4Head]

I have read that the best thing to do if you get your phone wet is to not turn it on. Turning it on while wet could damage it more easily. Use a vacuum cleaner and then bowl of rice.

[bob haller]

Heating the phone with a hair dryer set on low also works, since it evaporates the water quickly....

[bob_villa]

The best thing is remove the battery and SIM card quickly, as most, if not all, cell phones are technically always on (like most things today, it's a "soft" off).

[Percival P. Cassidy]

My reservation about all these suggested methods of drying out the phone is that they do nothing about whatever dissolved salts that were in the water, the residue of which could be conductive or otherwise harmful to delicate electronics. My inclination would be to rinse it with deionized or distilled water first, and only then dry it out by whatever method is safest.

Perce

[DerbyDad03]

I've been using the rice method for a number of years. I don't recall that it has ever failed me. My most recent use was when the remote sensor for my indoor-outdoor thermometer fell out of its mount and laid in the rain for at least 8 hours. When I picked it up the water literally poured out of it. Luckily, the batteries popped out when it hit the ground so I don't think it was ever powered up while wet.

24 hours in glass of rice and it powered right up and starting sending sign als to the base unit.

The previous time was when I left a cooking thermometer/timer on the deck n ext to the grill. There was water sloshing around inside the LCD display. T he switch was in the On position, but the display was blank. This unit does not time out, so I was a bit worried. I turned the unit off (before even m oving it) then took out the battery, shook out as much water as I could and buried it in rice for a few days. I popped the batteries back in and I've been using it for about 6 months now.

[danny burstein]

[snip of the rice suggestion. Also hair dryers..]

A basic air flow from any type of fan, including sitting it in the vent of an air conditioner or a spare 12VDC computer fan, or pretty much anything, will work every bit as well as a hot air stream (from that hair dryer).

It just means taking a bit longer.

Much safer.

[bob_villa]

I worked for a company that maintained POS systems for Walgreen (when they were in IL mainly, before they expanded nationally). If we had repair PCB's that had smoke, rodent or bug feces, or spills...it was common practice to hot water power wash (not high pressure) and compressor air dry. I had and never heard of a board not surviving the procedure.

[clare]

Evaporating the water leaves any disolved solids behind. Absorbing the water with a dessicant leaves less behind, as it can absorb the solids as well.

The secret is to get the battery out as soon as possible, and shake out as much water as possible - avoid "wet shorts" that put voltage where it does not belong - which can permanently kill the phone.

[clare]

The advantage of an air conditioner is it is "dry" air. (and won't overheat anything)

[gfretwell]

The problem with wet phones is they are usually powered on and something fries on the board. The only good news is the flash card and the SIM card usually survive. I found one on the beach that had been in the water for quite a while but I was able to read the flash card and find out enough to get it to the original owner. It was more a "note in a bottle" moment than actually returning anything of real value. It was in the water for weeks.

[Mark Lloyd]

Considering "off", I once measured the electrical power used by a cable box when "off". It was indistinguishable from the power it used when on.

[trader_4]

Really? Inquiring minds want to know when the water molecule leaves the circuit board inside the phone, how does it know if it's going to just wander off with the air into the breeze, or if it's going to wind up in the desiccant that's outside the phone so it needs to bring it's buddy solid molecules along? Does it phone ahead? I'm sure I'll now be on Clare's double secret ignore list. Just the facts.

[trader_4]

Wow, you figured that out?

[Stormin Mormon]

My copier repair people used to tell me to put my copier paper in the frost free refrigerator to to dry it out, so it copies better. Likely would also dry out cell phones, like it does jello.

[micky]

So will the AC will have to run int he winter too? Including the full-size compressor? Since the dash is in the passgenger compartment, warmed by the heater?

"The system only runs when drivers turn on the HVAC system."

This is ambigous. If it had said only runs when drivers turn on the AC**, that woudl answer my question, but they include the heat. So if it's cold out and people are using the heat, that means the HVAC system is on.

**I suppose this is what they mean but I just wish people woudl pay more attenttion to what they say.

Why can't they use that semiconductor cooler, with no moving parts, like is used in picnic coolers? Don't those work?

[micky]

His was definitely on. That's how he knew it didn't work!!

Cell phones can't swim well. They should wear Mae Wests.

[micky]

I should say that that was nice of you.