Friday, March 14, 2008

How to Deal with a Soaked Mobile Phone

One of my biggest fears is dropping my mobile phone in the pool. For this reason, I never take my handset near a pool or any place wet. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that water can do a lot of damage to a mobile phone.

I am so obsessed with keeping my cell phone protected from water that I did some research on what to do in case my phone gets soaked. Accidents cal always happen and it's always best to know the proper procedures when faced with an emergency.

Anyway, I found out to my dismay that most cell phone guarantees do not include water damage. this means that you'll get nothing from your carrier if you destroy your mobile phone by dropping it in the lake during a fishing trip. I made a note to myself that I will ask for a water damage guarantee when I purchase a new handset.

I also found out that if a mobile phone gets soak in sticky liquids such as soda, then it will be mostly useless. However, plain water is not as damaging as I expected. Although the damage might also depend on how long it stays underwater. A phone that has been soaked in plain water may still work if you let it dry out thoroughly. However, that may also depend on luck.

If you find that your device is not working after being soaked, then you don't have to go desperate. there is still a chance that a cell phone repair business can bring it back in working order. You may have to shell out a few bucks for the repairs but this is a small price compared to purchasing a new handset and completely losing your phone.

After i did my research, I decided that the best option is caution. Repair businesses can resurrect a soaked phone but nothing beats taking good care of your phone. If you protect your device from being soaked in water, then there will be no need to hire repair services.

3 comments:

squidinkcalligraphy said...

There's a company somewhere that sells phone 'condoms' - it's more or less a normal condom that you put on your phone, and tie the end. Apparently invented by a painter who dropped his phone in a tin of paint...

Also, a trick I heard about (not tried) in case you do drop your unprotected phone in water is to (previous to the incident) collect a heap of those silica-gel desiccant things you get in shoes and other things, put a lot of them in a box, then put your wet phone in with them. The silica should absorb all the water before too long, and hopefully you'll be back to normal.

I did once drop an old sony-ericson in the bath but surprisingly it worked without problem once it dried out.

Mark said...

my phone went through a full 20 minute wash, rinse, spin cycle. thought it was a total loss. wasn't hoping for much, but i took out the battery. placed the phone in the oven (with oven off, but pilot light on) to put it in a warm dry place for a couple days. (keeping it in direct sunlight for a couple days would also probably do the trick.) after the two days, i snap the battery back in, and... IT WORKS. And... ITS MUCH CLEANER. I would think the only modifications for this procedure would be: when you drop in seawater or the toilet, rinse the phone (dont be hesitant since its already soaked) in regular water to flush out the contaminants so they dont dry inside the phone.

Unknown said...

Another alternative to drying small electronics is to place it in a small tupperware container filled with rice. It can dry a device overnight. I had a MP3 player go through the washing machine and after a night in rice, it worked fine.