Electronics and water never go well together and cell phones are not an exception. Cell phones are portable and are always with us, even in the bathroom. So, they are more vulnerable to dropping into water, whether it is just a splash of water or a swirl in the washing machine.
If the dip is not too long, then most probably you will be able to save your phone with the below mentioned methods. Even if it did go for a long swim, it is still recommended that you try out below mentioned methods as a last hope.
In this tutorial, we will show you different methods to dry your phone, you can just use the one that is more feasible for you.
Note: We will only be covering methods that come with least risk. Although, there are many other methods with fast results, but they also come with the risk of destroying the phone completely.
Get the Phone out of water As soon as Possible
The first thing you should do is get the phone out of the water as soon as possible with your Ninja reflexes. Yes, it means even if it is swimming in the Toilet. Although, be very careful if the phone is dropped in water while it was on charge and the charger is still attached. This can be very dangerous, so seek professional help in such situation.
Remove Power source
After safely retrieving the phone, put the phone on a few paper towels, open the back cover and take out the battery (if possible). Don’t wait for turning off phone safely from the power menu option, it will be enough to short circuit your phone. Furthermore, if by any chance you make the mistake of turning the screen on and see funny patterns, don’t laugh, take out the battery or things won’t be funny soon.
It is better to take out the SIM and SD card as well (if possible) even if the phone doesn’t survive there is a good chance your contacts and some data may survive. Although, it is recommended that you create a backup of all your contacts and data today, so you won’t lose it in such accidents.
Dry from the outside
Before trying to go deep and save your phone’s internal system, it is better to dry it out from outside to avoid further damage. Take some paper towels and start cleaning all the visible water from the phone. While cleaning make sure you don’t shake the phone too much, try to be gentle so the water doesn’t go deep in the system.
For tiny spaces, cover a toothpick with a paper towel and gently clean the spaces.
Dry from the inside
Drying from the inside is where things get tough and risky, there are many different ways to dry the phone. We are not going to tell you to open the whole phone and lose your warranty and probably damaging your phone in the process if you are not professional. We are going to tell you some simple methods that are easy to perform and pretty much anyone can do it. You just need to pick the one that works best for you.
Method #1: Use Silica Bags or Uncooked Rice
You have probably heard about this trick already, but it is quite handy one and in most cases works like a charm. You need lots of silica bags, these are the one that you mostly find in shoe boxes, aspirin bottles and purses,etc. with instruction to “Never” eat them.
If you are planning on saving your phone in the future, then start saving them now. If you are currently going through this wet situation, then start running around in the house to see if you could find any of silica bags. If you don’t have enough (you need to almost cover whole phone), then you can also get them from a craft shop, they use it for flower drying.
If you can’t get silica bags, then Uncooked rice are also a good replacement. Although they are a bit less efficient than silica bags, but still they will work fine. Just put the Silica bags or uncooked rice in an airtight bag (sandwich bag will work) or in an airtight container.
Place the cell phone inside that it is completely covered in the silica bags/ uncooked rice. Firmly close the top, so no air could enter and leave the container for 24 hours. Although, leaving over night works fine, but to be extra careful leave for 24 hours, or even 48 hours if you think your cell phone had a longer dip.
After that, turn the phone on and see if everything is working fine or not. Some common things to check will be, touch screen, Camera, funny behavior of screen, hardware buttons and charging and hands free ports. If there is any issue, then put the phone back in the container again (may be replace Silica bags/uncooked rice if possible) and wait for 24 hours more and try again or move to the next method.
Method #2: Use Alcohol to displace the water
This method might seem a bit rough, but it is actually simple if it is done properly. You can use 92% isopropyl Alcohol to clean your phone. The alcohol will displace the water and as it evaporates faster, it won’t get stuck like water either. It is also non conductive so it will not damage the circuits of the phone, but do make sure isopropyl alcohol only contains distilled water not tap water.
Although you need to be careful about exposing the phone to heat as it may damage the screen or the phone case. To get started, take a bowl or cup, whichever is big enough for your phone and fill it with isopropyl Alcohol.
Now, dip the phone in it and wait for 2 minutes. After that, take the phone out and lightly shake it to get rid of as much alcohol as possible. You will need to dry the phone, but never use any kind of heating method to do so. Heat can destroy the exterior of the phone including the Screen.
Instead of trying to dry the phone with any heating methods, just leave the phone on couple of Paper towels in room temperature for 24 hours (1 day). This should dry the phone without heating it up, if not, then extend the time to 48 hours (2 days). Although, make sure there are no heat sources near the phone, even a Light Bulb.
Last Resort
If nothing works, then it is time to let the professionals handle this. Get your phone to an authorized dealer, they know it better how to fix your phone. However, don’t just go to them and say it is not turning on please fix it, in hopes of getting it fixed on warranty. They can easily find out if the phone is wet or not, most phones have a built-in water detector, generally located above the battery. If it is red, the warranty will not be claimed.
It is also good to tell them about the situation properly, so they will take required measures to fix your phone.
If you have any questions, or would like to share your experience with a wet phone, let us know in the comments below.
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