30+ Tips to Save your Cellphone dropped in a Toilet, Lake or Pool

An accident of cellphone with water is very common these days. Sometime expensive phones like blackberry, iPhone or smartphones falls into toilet which is the most horrible experience and you cannot manage to flush it, or in bucket full of water while washing clothes. There are other cases like your toddler baby throw your phone into a pool or you accidentally spill over coffee on your mobile phone or you got it damp in rainy season or forgot to take out you cellphone from your jacket before washing it in washing machine.

According to a source, around 1 million British have accidents involving cell phones and toilets every year. Michael Powers, vice president of product management at Asurion, the second-largest provider of wireless phones insurance in North America, said – About 20% of the claims coming in were because phones were damaged by some kind of liquid, including “being dropped in a lake, pool, and, yes, in toilets.”

There are several ways to save a wet cell phone that will make your cellphone operable again and preventing you to purchase another expensive phone. Follow the simple methods listed below to bring your drowned device back to life and its warranty. The methods listed below holds good if your iPod and MP3 Player falls into the Toilet.

Simple Steps to Save Wet Cellphone

1. Do not Panic at all – You can save your phone if you follow right instructions at right time. Keep yourself cool and don’t panic at all. The key to saving a wet cell phone is “Patience”.
2. Remove your cell phone from the water – Water takes no time in getting into your mobile phone. If a glass of water is spilled on cellphone and the phone is connected to the charger, then disconnect the charger immediately. Most damage occurs when the phone is wet and there is a power source.
3. Remove the battery – Water is a good conductor of electricity. Make sure that you remove the cellphone battery as soon as possible; else the electrical circuit inside your cellphone will get damaged due to short circuit. The circuits will survive in water if your cellphone has no battery or any type of electric power attached.
4. Remove SIM Card – Contact List is the most important thing that you would like to save instead your cellphone. Some people do not bother to pay for getting their phone contact list back. There may be other important data present on SIM card. To save your SIM card just wipe it off with dry towel or tissue paper. Do not keep your SIM card under direct sunlight.
5. Remove all covers and external connectors – Make sure to remove all external covers to open up as many gaps, slots, in the phone. This will help you in removing water from every possible area of your wet cellphone.
6. Remove the excess water –   Shake it well without dropping it to remove the excess water. Using towel is not recommended as it might take time to absorb the water from your cellphone. Instead, use tissue paper and press it gently against your cellphone to absorb the water.
7. Use Newspaper To absorb Water – Everyone do not have tissue paper at home. Do not panic, in that case you can use newspaper which has got good water absorbing capacity.  Do not panic, if neither of the two is available to you can use small towel as well to remove excess water from your wet cellphone.
8. Male Vests To absorb Water – If you are looking for immediate action, you may also use male vests to absorb the excess water.
9. Use ear-buds – There are certain narrow areas inside your cellphone where your fingers cannot reach. To remove water from those areas you can use ear buds.
10. Use Tooth Pick – Take a tooth-pick and roll-on tissue paper on it and then remove the excess water from narrow areas of your wet cellphone. Make sure that you do not clog the wet paper in the narrow gaps.
11. Using Vacuum Cleaner - To remove residual moisture you can use vacuum cleaner with precautionary measures. Hold the vacuum cleaner in one hand and place your cellphone on a towel (placed on the top of a table). Maintain a good distance between vacuum cleaner and wet cellphone. If they are too close then your phone or vacuum cleaner may damage as a vacuum can create static electricity. Do not use the vacuum cleaner to dry out your wet cellphone for more than 15 minutes. 
12. Using Un-Cooked Rice – You may not believe that you can save your wet cell phone by placing it in a container of uncooked rice (dry rice) overnight. The rice has an excellent moisture absorbing capacity and would absorb any remaining moisture.
13. Place the phone on top of a TV – This method may not work if you have LCD TV placed on wall. Instead if you are having TV which emits a low heat from the vents placed on the top, you can put your wet cellphone there. This method may take some time to dry-up your cell-phone but the method can be used in cases where you need to spend some time with your guests instead drying up your cellphone.
14. Place the phone near microwave - You may place your wet cellphone near the rear vent of the microwave which emits out low heat that might help you in drying up your cellphone.
15. Place wet phone in front of an air conditioner – You can safely place your wet cellphone in front of air conditioner. Air from an air conditioner is dry, and will evaporate water faster.
16. Place your cellphone in Sunlight – If you do not have much time to dry up your cellphone then just remove the excess water using tissue paper or towel and then place the wet mobile phone in the area where sunlight is present, say near windows. Do not place your mobile under direct sunlight. Do not place your phone under sunlight for extended periods.
17. Use Desiccants – Desiccants helps in absorbing moisture to a greater extent. You can go to the stores to buy desiccant. You can ask for “Damp Rid” , “Dry Right”  or “Dry-All”.
18. Use Silica Packs – You might have seen silica packs inside electronic goods that you have purchased. Those silica packs are rarely used. But make sure you do not throw them. Instead, collect them so that they may be used in removing excess water from gadgets. You can put silica packs and wet cellphone together in a bag and leave them for at least 2 days.
19. Using Spirit or Methanol – What would you do if your cellphone falls into salty water? If you dry up using the methods listed above then the water may form crystals on the electronic circuit of your cell phone which may cause further damage. After removing the excess water, to remove water minerals, rinse the phone gently with spirit or alcohol using cotton cloth. Alcohol might dissolve the internal adhesives used in electronic circuits. Make sure you do not apply alcohol to those areas. Do not connect the battery until the alcohol smell goes away.
20. Using Compressed air – If you already have a can of compressed air then you may use it to remove the water from small gaps. Do not think of getting it from computer store. You don’t have that much time. Hold the can straight and push the air (set to a low psi) into speaker, mic, keypad, and hard to reach gaps. This will pull out moisture from small gaps.

Things to Avoid, if your cellphone falls into Water-

1. Do not place cellphone in Refrigerator – Many people recommend placing the wet cellphone in refrigerator claiming that the refrigerator cools things by drawing moisture out of things. I would not recommend this method because most of the refrigerators are automatic and the method may damage your wet mobile phone.
2. Do not put the phone in the freezer – Placing the wet phone in the freezer may damage the LCD of your cellphone and therefore the method is not recommended at all.
3. Do not use a hair dryer – You may use hair dryer to dry up your wet cellphone but again it is not recommended by us. Hair dryer blows air out that may push the excess water deep inside your cellphone which may further damage the components and electronic circuits of your wet cellphone.
4. Do not heat the battery – Make sure to remove the battery first, if you use hairdryer. Do not Heat the battery to remove the water. Lithium-ion batteries are sensitive to heat and might explode, resulting into injuries.
5. Do not place in front of Desert Cooler – Desert coolers are widely used in countries like India and other parts of south Asian countries. Placing the wet cellphone in the vicinity of desert cooler may add moisture to you cellphone. Make sure you do not place your cellphone in front of cooler.
6. Do not place into microwave Oven – Most people have suggested keeping the wet cellphone inside microwave oven with warm sttings. It is not at all recommended by us. Instead of saving you cellphone you may end up in ruining your microwave as well.
7. Don’t put the battery if screen is foggy – Foggy screen indicates that the phone still have the traces of moisture. If the screen of your wet cellphone is still foggy then do not take any chance. Don’t test it by connecting battery or cellphone charger at all. It is advisable to test your cellphone after 2-3 days and if the display is foggy after 2-3 days then wait another 24 hours.

How to Test your wet Cellphone. 

After removing water and moisture completely from your cellphone, re-attach the battery to the phone and see if it works. If your cellphone fails to operate then there is a possibility that your cellphone battery is damaged. To verify, plug your cellphone into its charger without the battery. Now if this works, you need a new battery. Just go to authorized dealer and purchase a new battery.

Prevent water damage sticker from voiding your warranty.

Cell Phone’s warranty does not cover water damage. There are internal indicators that prove moisture in cellphone. This small round white sticker is present under your battery with dots on it. If this sticker gets wet it permanently changes color (from white to pink or red) and your phone is marked for water damage and eventually voiding your warranty claims. Follow simple steps to protect this sticker.

Place a piece of scotch tape on water damage sticker as soon as you purchase your new cellphone. The scotch tape will prevent the water entering into the sticker. If your cell phone does not work after drying up, then you can remove the scotch tape and go to authorized dealer and claim for warranty. This will exempt you from paying a voided-warranty fee. A drop of bleach also can do wonders for you. If the sticker turned out red then just place a drop of bleach on the red spot and it will be turned back to white.                     

Prevent your Cell Phone from Falling Down the Toilet

1. Don’t use your cell phone inside the toilet.
2. If you cannot avoid taking an important call while you are in Toilet, make sure to activate the phone in ‘Loudspeaker’ mode rather holding in your hand.
3. If you keep your mobile phone in the side-pockets of your trousers then make sure to take it out and keep it in safe place like in shirt’s pocket or it is better to hang your trousers behind the door.
4. It is strongly advisable to use the mobile phone cases that can be buckled with belt.
5. Ladies must leave their phones in purse.

You are not the only one!

Jeffrey Nelson Spokesman of Verizon Wireless said his own cousin has dropped his BlackBerry in the toilet twice and a Facebook friend dropped his phone in a cup of coffee. Similarly, Ernesto Londoño managed to save his blackberry by drying it out on a bed of rice after being dip in the toilet. pic[flickr]

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