How many times have you done this? NF - PSA

[splashhopper]

Dayuuuum. I knocked my Blackberry off the vanity and in to the toilet last night!

 

I IMMEDIATELY reached in and grabbed it. Thank goodness I had flushed the toilet. Pulled the battery out within seconds and am now in the process of drying it out... slowly and prayerfully. "Oh please cell phone gods, keep this one alive. It's only 4 months old and has a full life ahead of it." (This is the replacement for the one I drowned when I flipped my canoe last summer).

 

So far, the white dot has NOT turned pink or red to say that I have water damage yet. ( factory procedure to prevent false warranty claims from some unscrupulous consumers) I know this from my training with Telus when I used to sell Telus phones for a few years.

 

Here is the method I am using and had heard this from the Motorola techs that we used to deal with.

........................................................................

 

Even if a wet cellphone seems dead, there's a good chance it can be resuscitated. Just make sure you act fast--the longer the water sits inside, the greater the likelihood it will destroy the phone for good.

 

This is a DIY moment. While consumers are conditioned to send back broken merchandise, your phone's warranty probably doesn't cover water damage. And you may not have much luck pulling a fast one on your phone company--most of today's phones come with a "water sticker" that permanently changes color if it gets wet.

 

The first step: Immediately cut the power by removing the battery. Resist the urge to power up your phone to see if it works--just turning it on can short out the circuits. If you have a GSM phone, or any phone with a sim card or media card in it(the type used by Rogers), you'll want to remove the SIM card as well. Even if your phone turns out to be beyond repair, the SIM should retain a lot of its information, such as the contacts in your phone book.

 

With the battery safely set aside, you now have one goal--dry your phone, and dry it fast.

If you let the moisture evaporate naturally, the chance of corrosion damaging the phone's innards increases. Instead, blow or suck the water out. But don't use a hair dryer--its heat can fry your phone's insides. Instead, opt for a can of compressed air, an air compressor set to a low psi or a vacuum cleaner (a wet/dry Shop-Vac would be perfect). The idea is to use air to push or pull moisture out through the same channels it entered.

 

Finally, use a desiccant to wick away any leftover moisture. The most convenient choice is uncooked rice. ( Thank goodness I am married to a Filipina Goddess,, she always has enough rice to feed the nation around somewhere! )Just leave the phone (and its disconnected battery) submerged in a bowl of grains overnight. If you're worried about rice dust getting inside your phone, you can instead use the packets of silica gel that often come stuffed in the pockets of new clothes. But acting fast is far more important than avoiding a little dust, so don't waste time shopping if you don't already have a drawer full of silica gel.

 

The most important thing to remember is to avoid heat.

That means no hair dryers, ovens, microwaves or extended periods in direct sunlight. While heat will certainly evaporate the moisture, it could also warp components and melt adhesives. Those fragile glues are also why you'll want to avoid dunking the phone in rubbing alcohol (an oft prescribed tip on the Web). Alcohol is a solvent and can dissolve the internal adhesives. (If you drop your phone in the toilet, it's okay to wipe the outside with alcohol to disinfect it.)

 

One final, perhaps surprising, note: If your phone gets soaked in salt water, you should probably flush the whole thing in fresh water before it dries. When salt water evaporates, it leaves crystals that can damage a phone's fragile components. Just be sure to remove the battery before flooding the device.

 

.......................................

 

It worked... it really worked. (this time)

Edited January 8, 2011 by splashhopper

[aplumma]

Well I see were the name splash hopper comes from now. Good tips and with the price of phones these days it could save you a chunk of dough.

 

Art

[Dondorfish]

Sorry to hear about your BlackBerry - hope all works out for you - but thanks for the info - between boating all summer, and ice fishing all winter, I have come close a few times to dumping it in the drink, but haven't actually done it YET. Now at least I know what to do - when it finally happens. Hope I didn't just jinks myself!

 

Thanks

Tracker (Don)

[splashhopper]

Sorry to hear about your BlackBerry - hope all works out for you - but thanks for the info - between boating all summer, and ice fishing all winter, I have come close a few times to dumping it in the drink, but haven't actually done it YET. Now at least I know what to do - when it finally happens. Hope I didn't just jinks myself!

 

Thanks

Tracker (Don)

 

The MOST IMPORTANT thing to do>>>>

 

PULL THE BATTERY OUT IMMEDIATELY

[Pikeslayer]

Does your wife know you were in the bathroom with your blackberry?

[splashhopper]

Does your wife know you were in the bathroom with your blackberry?

 

She thinks my blackberry is another appendage already

[Dondorfish]

Does the same hold true for digital cameras - I know someone who has lost a few on Temagami?

 

Tracker (Don)

[irishfield]

Does the same hold true for digital cameras - I know someone who has lost a few on Temagami?

 

Tracker (Don)

 

Left out .. hire Scuba Diver for that one Don!

[Dondorfish]

LOL - Didn't know about the diver! - did you manage to get it back - and was it ok?

 

 

Tracker (Don)

[splashhopper]

Does the same hold true for digital cameras - I know someone who has lost a few on Temagami?

 

Tracker (Don)

 

I don't know Don... That is why my wife bought me a "waterproof " camera.... that i FORGET to take with me fishing

[irishfield]

Camera toast... memory card still loaded and good! Second one.. I almost had it dried out good, but I put it in the oven one more time and fried the digital sensor for taking pictures.. I still use that one as my docking station to download my cards.. there is another one out there in Grey Owl Lake...

[Gerritt]

The company I sub off of washes electronics all the time. Using something called a Fireline. The key is distilled water, and a low lengthy drying process. They can even repair water damaged keyboards, cell phones etc... by actually washing them.

 

Not a cheap system by any means.. but in the insurance industry this is a god send.

 

http://www.firelineinfo.com/about.htm

 

G.

[Dondorfish]

Camera toast... memory card still loaded and good! Second one.. I almost had it dried out good, but I put it in the oven one more time and fried the digital sensor for taking pictures.. I still use that one as my docking station to download my cards.. there is another one out there in Grey Owl Lake...

 

 

Well - at least you saved the card and the pictures - to bad about the 2nd card thou - after reading your posts, I put away my "good" camera, and went out and bought a cheap digital camera, for the boat, and ice hut.

 

Tracker (Don)

[splashhopper]

It works.... yeahhhhhhhhh

[mercman]

i HATE cell phones. Dont own one, never will, dont want one.If ya wanna talk to me, call me at home or work.

Why DID you bring the phone to the can Ron.....