Nokia E65 & E Series Tips Tricks and Reviews

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

6 Tips to Dry a Wet Mobile Phone

You've dropped your phone in a cup of water and while thinking, what are the chances of that happening, you now want to know whether there is any way to turn back time, when your phone was dry and happily serving you. Well, surprisingly, your phone can survive a baptism. Here are just some good ideas you can use to give your phone a fighting chance.

1. Water + Power don't mix If your mobile phone is connected to a charger, DON'T try disconnect the power! Maybe its worth trying to cut the mains power to your house first! If it is not plugged into any external power source, you should remove the battery ASAP. This is because the water conducts electricity and may short circuit your phone.

2. Remove your SIM Card Get it out of the phone. Seems obvious, but when your $500 phone has just been dunked or sprinkled, you don't think straight.

3. Get out in the sunshine Now you should aim at getting your phone as dry as possible. After you have used tissues, shaking or whatever to dry it, its best to leave it out in the sun (preferably where it wont be stolen) to dry. Be careful not to use anything that would make matters worse like blow dryers which could drive water deeper into the phone or any electronic equipment which may create static electricity.

4. Let something else have the water There are certain things like rice which likes to absorb moisture from its surroundings. It may help to leave the mobile in a sack of rice for a while, just remember that its in there or else things might get worse for your mobile.

5. Don't Rush You have to approach this operation with patience. If you try quick methods of trying to fix your phone like an industrial strength heater or something, your phone will age quickly too and it may well end up more of a brick than if you didn't intervene. if in doubt, just let it dry on its own.

6. Testing Once the phone turns on, you might smile to yourself and think the job's done, but you will need to test it extensively. If there are any problems, you may need to go back to the drying and waiting stage.

Article inspired by post on http://www.wikihow.com/Save-a-Wet-Cell-Phone

Got more tips? If this has happened to you, please leave a comment with what your phone drank, what you did to save it and whether it worked.

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2 comments:

  1. Yeah got some water damage in my phone, and its right down the base of the battery (near where the sim card is inserted.)

    Voided the warranty, which really sucks as with 3 that is the only way to get the software update - via 3 care stores etc.

    So looks like i cant upgrade the software on the phone - nokia.com suggests there is no available software update for my phone (after i enter its code.)

    My suggestion is based on what i learnt when chatting to the repairers. They themselves could not repair the phone - but said the following:

    - Where you see some rust or oxidisation - get a metal scraper (i used tweezers and the end of a fine tip pen) to try and lightly scrape away residue covering any of the effected areas of the phone.

    - On the metal connectors of the phone, if these become oxidised then you will have errors. Try to remove the residue from these carefully, as much as you want to remove the rust - you dont want to ruin the connection completely.

    - Acetone was the liquid i was suggested to apply very lightly to assist in this process - however i did it without and it was just as effective.

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  2. I heard putting it on a bed of dry rice sucks out all the moisture. This was tried on a blackberry that fell in the toilet.

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