Dropped my cell phone in a pool of H2O

[bgoodman4]

As noted in the subject line I dropped my cell phone in a pool of water today (the case slipped off my belt while I was playing with the dog) and it was a while before I noticed it sitting in the pool. I immediately removed the battery and the phone is now drying out.

First question: how long should I wait before trying to power it again?

Second question: if it will not power up either on battery or plug is it worth trying to get it repaired? I hate the idea of paying someone to look at it if its not likely to be repairable but I also hate the idea of simply junking it.

[Watasha]

If it's anything like mine was....don't bother trying.:-[ :)

[bgoodman4]

-{ Quote: "If it's anything like mine was....don't bother trying.:-[ :)" }-

Thats sort of what I figured but thought I would ask before just doing.

Other comments and opinions appreciated. Especially as to how long I should wait for the thing to dry before trying to power it up.

[gambla]

As far as you can disassemble it (right expression?), do this first. Then let it dry a minimum of 24 hrs, depending on the air temperature. After that, i saved my first Nokia N82 with having the PCB a 24hrs. bath in "Isopropylalkohol" (german name, a very clean type of alcohol), you should get this at your local drug store/pharmacy. Good luck!

[thanatos_theos]

How to Save a Wet Cell Phone (http://www.wikihow.com/Save-a-Wet-Cell-Phone)

[bgoodman4]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will give them a try and let you know what happens.

[LenC]

I also doused a phone a while back. I removed battery, blasted it with my wife's hairdryer and left fliptop open for 2 days. It worked fine afterwards.

Good luck!

[bgoodman4]

-{ Quote: "I also doused a phone a while back. I removed battery, blasted it with my wife's hairdryer and left fliptop open for 2 days. It worked fine afterwards.

Good luck!" }-

Thats encouraging. I thought of the hairdryer but decided not to use it as I was not sure what the heat would do to the phone. From what I read its not a good idea as the heat could drive the water deeper into parts of the phone than it already is. I have the phone in a bag of rice now and will leave it there for 24 hours (which would be about 2 days total drying time) and then give it a try.

Fingers crossed.

Will report back on the morrow.

[bgoodman4]

I am very happy to report that I put the battery back in the phone and it fired up normally. Thanks a million for your help, much appreciated.

[quintile]

It's amazing what you can learn at Wilders'... rice? Really? 8)

[zapjb]

Glad you're sorted. What I heard to do was immediately take out battery. Shake out & dry off components (batt, batt cover & phone). Then dip the batt & batt cover in 70% or higher rubbing alcohol. Then immediately take out & dry off. Now for the phone. Submerge it in the alcohol & immediately take out & shake the alccohol off. Repeat 2-3x. Then dry off as much as possible & let dry for at least 24 hours.

[bgoodman4]

-{ Quote: "Glad you're sorted. What I heard to do was immediately take out battery. Shake out & dry off components (batt, batt cover & phone). Then dip the batt & batt cover in 70% or higher rubbing alcohol. Then immediately take out & dry off. Now for the phone. Submerge it in the alcohol & immediately take out & shake the alccohol off. Repeat 2-3x. Then dry off as much as possible & let dry for at least 24 hours." }-

In my case no alcohol was used but I was smart enough to remove the battery immediately upon retrieving the phone from the pool of water and I dried what I could off immediately. Things I learnt, and that make sense are as follows.

Leave the battery off the phone (duh) and open all tabs, and if the phone is a slider slide it open to facilitate drying.

Use a vacuum cleaner (hose) to draw as much moisture out of the phone as possible by holding the phones open tabs near the suction hose (recommendation was for apx 20 min per open tab).

Store the phone in a bag of rice for 24 hours (if you have access to a desiccant then use that instead of rice).

Do NOT use a hair dryer as that can cause vapour/moisture deeper into the phone. (I am not sure about the logic here but thats what I read).

Of course knowing the above is handy before you have a problem so you can implement the remedies ASAP so hopefully a lot of folks read this thread. I was sure the phone was toast and was very pleasantly surprised when I put the batter back on the phone & it worked.

I do not think dipping the battery in the alcohol is a good idea as you are allowing the battery to discharge and possibly/probably short out, but dipping the phone makes sense in order to facilitate the rapid removal of H20 (denatured alcohol is what should be used, not regular drug store alcohol, and certainly not wine, beer, or spirits :) ).

All in all a good day.

[TechOutsider]

Dropped my iPod nano 2g in the wash .... 3 years back. Since then it has been roughly treated - but it still works like a charm.

What I did? Nothing special. I tried to dry it with a blow dryer and left it for a couple of days.

[SourMilk]

DO NOT USE A VACUUM CLEANER!!! It will cause a static charge buildup and zap internal parts. Lesson learned about 15 years ago when "cleaning" a dusty motherboard.

SourMilk out

[Searching_ _ _]

I had 2 Nextel Motorola ic902's.
Another person I let use the other phone, washed 1hour in a front loader, dried on high for 1 hour, then found it wasn't working so put it on the charger for a minimum of 1/2 hour before I was asked to solve the problem.
After looking at the phone and seeing it was still filled with water while charging I quickly unplugged it as my stomach sank then proceeded to lecture and swear repeatedly. Clutching the phone for about 3 hours during lecturing I finally put it in a drawer to rest in peace.
6 months later I took the phone out removed the battery, which was swollen and deformed. Using the battery from the working phone I gave it a go and to my surprise it booted up just fine and found the towers.

Go figure.

[Watasha]

-{ Quote: ".....(denatured alcohol is what should be used, not regular drug store alcohol, and certainly not wine, beer, or spirits :) )...." }-

That's what you use to celebrate the fact that your phone works!;D

[Searching_ _ _]

-{ Quote: "(denatured alcohol is what should be used, not regular drug store alcohol, and certainly not wine, beer, or spirits :) )" }-
Denatured alcohol is pure distilled grain alcohol, ethanol, with a purging agent added to make sure you yak. Additives can include isopropyl alcohol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, and denatonium.

Isopropyl alcohol is water, propene and sulfuric acid then distilled.

I think you would be better off using isopropyl alcohol.

[linuxforall]

This is why I use a Samsung Marine, its not a great phone like my SONY Aino but it sure the heck can take accidents in stride.

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/2009/07/18/samsung-marine-b2100-outdoor-mobile-phone.html

[bgoodman4]

-{ Quote: "That's what you use to celebrate the fact that your phone works!;D" }-

Exactly right,,, good one.

[ameyap]

A friend of mine had taken his nokia with him by mistake while river rafting. he had it in his pocket when we all had a dip in the river. he realised it after he climbed back on his raft. he dried it for like a couple of days and luckily for him it started without him having to do anything else. it depends mostly on luck i think