Repairs to water damaged mobile

[Deleted User]

Wife dropped her mobile in water. Luckily, she has turned it off straight away and its drying out.

I see theres a few places on the internet that claim to be able to fix water damaged phones. Anyone ever tried one and got any recommendations?

4743hudsonj

large bowl/tub, half fill with small grain rice and silica gel (the stuff that you get in shoeboxes etc) if you have it. Phone in, top up with rice, put in airing cupboard for a day or so. The longer the better.

pipsi_2

Before you opt for anything like that, try leaving it off somewhere fairly warm but not too hot so that it could cause condensation inside the phone. An airing cupboard if you have one might work. Leave it there for 12-24 hours so it can completely dry out and try switching it on again. I dropped a phone in the bath a few years ago, it was on top of my book and as i lifted that off the window sill my phone fell in. I dried it out in this way and it worked fine again after that.

Hope this helps.

macman

Have you removed the battery and SIM?

[Deleted User]

Yeh. Gonna try drying it first as some of you suggest. Just thinking worse case scenario... :-(

4743hudsonj

Misunderstood another post so deleted.

flapjack_2

I had almost exactly this problem when I was cornered into taking my mobile phone on the log flume at Blackpool pleasure beach. [Their previous policy was you could leave valuables by the start of the ride but presumably theft liability must've put pay to that].
By the end of the ride my phone was at the bottom of my waterlogged rucksack swimming in a stagnant pool of flume water.
So I took my mobile to the Orange shop and there was the anticipated sucking and gnashing of teeth "Ssssssst... sorry mate, to repair water damage would cost you £150, which is only £50 less than buying a new phone, would you be interested in one of our spanking new models."
I said I'd get back to him and gave it some thought. Then I remembered something from my primary school physics class. Water evaporates in a vacuum. :idea:
Now admittedly this isn't practical for everyone, but I worked at an animation puppet-making firm at the time, and part of their equipment was a mini vacuum chamber for sucking the airbubbles out of liquid silicone.
I asked a colleague who used it whether I could leave my mobile in the glass chamber for 10 minutes and although it took 24 hours on recharge for my mobile to respond to treatment the next day it was working perfectly (I think the other thing about vacuums is that electricity cannot pass through one!). So I successfully avoided coughing up £150 for something I could get for free.
Even if you aren't fortunate enough to own a vacuum chamber or know someone who does, it's worth asking, is it cheaper to buy one than replace a mobile phone? Ask a tame physicist next time your mobile drops in the bog!

prettypennies

On the gadget show the other week, they tried the main methods of drying out a mobile phone.

Getting the battery and sim out of the phone asap was paramount.

They tested:
using a vacuum cleaner to suck all the water out - most successful method

putting the phone, battery and sim under a hot lamp to dry our overnight - fairly successful

putting the phone in tub of rice - didn't work

http://www.gadgetshow.five.tv/gadget-show/blog/what-to-do-when-gadgets-get-wet

4743hudsonj

prettypennies wrote: »

On the gadget show the other week, they tried the main methods of drying out a mobile phone.

Getting the battery and sim out of the phone asap was paramount.

They tested:
using a vacuum cleaner to suck all the water out - most successful method

putting the phone, battery and sim under a hot lamp to dry our overnight - fairly successful

putting the phone in tub of rice - didn't work

http://www.gadgetshow.five.tv/gadget-show/blog/what-to-do-when-gadgets-get-wet

Their tests as usual are ridiculous though. For one the test was in a swimming pool, with clean(ish) water. Puddles and drinks etc are far worse and require rinsing with deionised water first, but as usual they overlook that stuff to fit the feature in.

The best feature is a combination of heat and any hydrophillic substance to trap evaporated water. Vacuuming before that will also help.

catnap53

Any solutions for a phone that has not been physically in contact with water?

Apparently water damaged from normal use.

I wish it had been dropped in a puddle, at least it would have been my fault and I would have been able to try the methods above.

I know I have posted before, but I am still angry about it:mad:

Zzzz

[Deleted User]

catnap53 wrote: »

Any solutions for a phone that has not been physically in contact with water?

Apparently water damaged from normal use.

I wish it had been dropped in a puddle, at least it would have been my fault and I would have been able to try the methods above.

I know I have posted before, but I am still angry about it:mad:

Zzzz

How'd it get wet then ????