How to Fix a Wet Phone

Posted on April 23rd, 2009 by Elaine

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You’re at a wild pool party, eager to show off, so you run and cannonball into the pool. As you splash into the water, you realize with a sinking feeling that you forgot to remove your cellphone from your pocket. It’s a disaster, but don’t fret: there’s still chance for you to fix your wet phone.

What You’ll Need:

Wet cellphone
Paper towels
Vacuum
Bowl of uncooked rice or dessicant gel packs

Procedure:

As soon as you realize that your cellphone has been submerged in water, fish it out as quick as you can! Remember, time is essential when you’re fixing a wet phone and every second matters. Get it away from the water.
Now you have to disassemble it. The battery is always the first one that’s damaged in a wet cellphone, so you have to take it out as soon as possible. Electricity and water are a terrible combination, so by doing this, you ensure that minimal damage happens to your battery.
Shake your cellphone out, to get the excess liquid out. Get some paper towels, then press them down on the phone, to make sure the water comes out. Remove the phone cover and casing, so they won’t trap water underneath your cellphone.
Most cellphones require a SIM card, and if yours has one, take it out, even before the phone dries. SIM cards can be easily destroyed by water, but if you take it out and dry it off as soon as you can, you may be able to salvage some of the information stored in it.
Even if you don’t see liquid anywhere in your phone anymore, there’s still unseen moisture trapped in it. To remove this, cover your cellphone with uncooked rice. This can absorb a lot of water. Dessicant gel packs also work great, and you can find these when you buy new clothes or shoes. Cover your phone with this for up to three hours. When using rice, make sure small grain pieces won’t enter the phone.
Get your vacuum and put the hose at least four inches away from your phone, while it’s on. It won’t remove all the water, but it will help lessen the damage. As an alternative to the vacuum, you can use a compressed air can, the kind you use for dusting off computer peripherals and keyboards. Hold the can straight, but not too close to the phone, because this might cause freezing.
Leave your phone for a day or two with the power off. Afterwards, turn it on and see if it works. If you’re quick enough with these steps, the phone will be still be working. Put back the SIM card and the cover.

Additional Tips:

If you’re in your car and your phone gets wet, put the phone on the dashboard and let the sun dry it out.
Dropping your phone in a liquid that’s not plain water, such as salt water, can be more disastrous. The liquid might have mineral deposits which can be left behind, even after the phone is dried. To solve this, use methyl alcohol or distilled water as a rinsing solution for the contaminants, before you completely dry the phone.
Using a hair dryer instead of a vacuum is okay, but remember to use only a low heat setting. If you use air with a very high temperature, the phone parts can heat up, causing more harm than good.

Cellphones can be expensive, so when yours gets wet, try this tactic to salvage it first. Cross your fingers and move quickly, and you might get your reliable old phone working again.