Tag Archives: Damage

Dropped your phone in the toilet?

Everyday thousands of phones get wet, whether you dropped it in the toilet, spilled coffee on it, got pushed into the pool or put it through the washing machine, now what do you do? Calm down, take a deep breath because Geekaphone has a few steps that you can follow to try to save your phone (no promises).

  • Get it out of the water, asap! The longer your phone is in water, the more likely it is to have permanent damage.
  • Get the battery out! Quickly as possible pull of the back cover and get that battery out. When the phone is on and current is going through, it is more sensitive to damage and possible short circuiting.
    • Now that your phone is off, leave it off. Your friends can wait until you get on the computer to know that you dropped your phone in to the toilet.
  • Remove your sim card if you have one, located near the battery
    • Sim cards survive pretty well, so dry it of with a cloth and then put it aside.
  • Dry off as much water as possible
    • Open the phone up as much as you can and then dry up as much water you can, this means inside the phone where the battery was,
    • DO NOT use a hair dryer, it will likely push water further into your phone, and the heat can damage parts in the phone
  •  

  • Put your phone in a bowel of uncooked rice or other coarse substance that absorbs water to take away the moisture
    • Desiccant, the silica gel packs usually found in purses and pockets, is the best option if you can find it
    • Put your cell in a bag with the rice or desiccant and leave over night
      • Rotate the phone every few hours
  • Leave your phone alone for 12 hours
  • If there is still moisture present after this, then set your phone on an absorbent cloth like shamwow for another 6-8 hours turning every few hours
  • If your phone appears dry after at least 12 hours then put the battery in the phone and turn it on

Some other things to keep in mind:

  • Never try to heat your phone in order to dry it
  • Some phones handle water better than other
    • iPhone
    • Droid
  • How to disassemble a blackberry
  • Alternatively you might want to try using distilled water to save your phone (especially in salt water)

If all else false well at least you have a funny story like comedian Kristi McHugh

Comments Off on Dropped your phone in the toilet?