How Can I Fix My Cell Phone – It Got Wet!
Most of us are very careful to keep our cell phones dry, and cell phones are generally made to withstand some minor water exposure. The problem comes when you completely immerse a phone in water. At that point, you face the question, “How can I fix my cell phone – it got wet!”
Everyone agrees that the first thing you should do is to remove the battery from your wet cell phone. Once you take the battery out, leave your [tag-tec]phone[/tag-tec] alone. Do not try to turn it on for any reason. Turning on a wet cell phone can easily short circuit the battery and the inner workings of the phone. Once this happens, you will have no choice but to buy a replacement phone.
If your cell phone got wet in salt water, you need to take extra care. Some experts suggest that after you remove the battery, you rinse it and the phone in clean distilled water to wash away any salty residue. This prevents additional corrosion of your phone.
Next, take a dry cloth or a paper towel and gently try to get as much water off the cell phone and battery as you can.
Now you need to give your wet cell phone at least three to four days to dry out. You can assist the drying process by placing your phone on a warm air vent, such as the top of a computer monitor or a cable box, or you can place it in front of a low-speed fan. Placing it near an air conditioning vent may actually speed up the drying process while preventing the risk of warping or melting that using heat can cause.
You can try to accelerate the drying process by placing your phone in a container of uncooked dry rice. This will help to absorb the liquid more quickly. You can also seal the individual parts of your cell phone in a plastic bag with some small silica packs such as those found in shoes or electronics. Leave them in the bag for a few days and the silica should absorb most of the moisture from the cell phone parts.
After a few days, look at your cell phone carefully. If it appears dry, attach the battery and try to turn it on. If it works, you can be very grateful and get on with your life. However, if it won’t work, take the battery off again and let the phone continue to dry for another day or so. If it still doesn’t work after this, it may be time to try a new tactic.
There are alternate methods for drying your phone using denatured alcohol but they are somewhat controversial and probably best left to experts.
If you’re not comfortable doing it yourself, there are companies who will evaluate and repair your wet cell phone. In the event that they can’t actually repair the phone, sometimes a good technician can at least recover some of the data from your SIM card so you don’t lose all of your personal information.
As your absolute last resort, contact your cell phone provider and see if they can repair or replace your phone. Don’t be embarrassed to say, “How can I fix my cell phone – it got wet!” You weren’t the first one to do this and you won’t be the last.
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I did this to my last phone i had, it worked but i dropped my other cell-phone into a bowl of top ramen… How would you fix that. My friends mom says to take it apart. I’m not sure if I want to, or what.
What would I do besides buy a replacement phone?
I recommend you take to an expert in cell phone repair. But from my experience once a cell phone gets wet it is usually fried.
All I hope is that you opted for insurance on the phone when you purchased it.
Darryls last blog post..The Advantages of a GPS Cell Phone
This happened to my phone not too long ago. As said the in post, turn the phone off immediately and remove the battery. Actually, dont even bother turning it off – remove the battery immediately, as you will save several seconds waiting for the phone to shut off.
The water will not short circuit anything if there is no power.
The enemy now is the potential of oxidation damage. If a cell phone repair person is out of the option, and you dont have a warranty – in other words, if youre screwed if the phone dies — then the best option is to take it apart. Find the screws — usually underneath the battery, and remove the cover. Dry with a source of dry heat, like a blow drier on low-heat.
Had this problem last month and found this great how to site that had a video on this: http://www.howcast.com/videos/362-How-To-Fix-a-Wet-Cell-Phone
Total life saver!!
When my freind phone dropped in water. What i did was take the battery and sim card out then dry phone with a towel then place under a lamp a 5 cm back atleas 5 hours or longer of phone still doesnt work.
I did it for 2 hours and it worked perfectly
one little question.how long did it take 4 your phne to dry????
I have an LG View, those are the new touchscreens. I left it in my pants pocket and my wife wife washed it. That means it was completely immersed in soapy water for at least 45 minutes. When I discovered it I removed the battery and used a hair dryer (which no one reccomends) and put it on warm close to the phone and held it for a while. I put the battery back in and my phone came on. You can see some water still in the screen but with a touchscreen you cant really take the screen apart. Well my phone works i can dial out and recieve calls but my touchscreen is a little throwed off. I can use it but its only about 80%
I just read a article on a skiers site for drying cell phone. Its like a bag that outdoors people carr in there backpack. You just put the device in the bag and after a certain amount of time its dry. Its one of those I wish I thought of that moments. Heres the article I found.
http://northeastskizone.com/blog/the-answer-for-a-wet-phone-new-product-to-fix-wet-cell-phone
Its really cool how this works.
Just my luck, I’m in a bit of dilema, I have had my Apple iPhone 3G for the past couple of years and it’s been great. It is my understanding that Apple has a new software update due out called OS 4 and it’s supposed to be adding some new features to the iPhone 3G. The problem is that I bought Verizon’s new HTC Incredible the HTC Incredible and it’s a truly great phone, far superior to the iphone, BUT I’m hearing that Apple is going to be coming out with a completely new iphone altogether, and it’s supposed to be really nice but no one has any ideas as to when and Apple isn’t saying a thing. Should I keep my HTC Incredible, that I have a month to test and give back if I do not want to keep it, or should I give it back, keep my current apple iphone and wait for the release of the new iPhone- tough to make up my mind.
I’ve been reading a few posts and truly and enjoy your writing. I’m just starting up my own blog and only hope that I can write as well and give the reader so significantly insight.
Uncooked rice is perfect for restoring your cell phone if it is dropped in water. My cell phone was inadvertently left in my coat pocket and went through two cycles of wash i.e. 90 minutes of laundry. You cannot imagine my shocked when I realized my phone was in there for two loads of wash. I told a friend later that day and she mentioned to bury it into uncooked rice for a few days. I did exactly that only that I left it for one week and I was amazed when I took it out and it looked perfect. I recharged it and woohoo no problem. It's amazing – My cell phone has been working perfectly -the screen is fine also.
So, I recommed trying uncooked rice if your cell phone falls into water – leave it in for a few days completely buried in the rice.
I need help. I’m using a Nokia C5-03 touch phone, and it comes with this protective screen that can’t be removed. I didn’t drop my phone into water, but I didn’t realize the water from my sweat actually seeped into it! So now there’s a layer of water stuck in between the screen, and I can’t use the touch function. Everything else seems to be working fine though. Do you think the uncooked rice will work too? Please help!