How to Fix a Wet Cellphone
Many of us have done it, I know that I have twice. We have dropped our cellphones in water. In the past I just thought that the phone was fried and bought a new one. It turns out that the phone may seem dead but there is a good chance you can save it. You have to act fast because the longer the water is inside the phone the greater the change it is toast.
The first thing that you need to do is cut the power by opening up the phone and removing the battery. Do not turn your phone on while wet to see if it still works. If your phone uses a SIM card you will need to remove that too.
At this point many people want to either stick the phone in direct sunlight or use a blow dryer or dunk the phone in a bowl of rice. Dont do it. Direct sunlight can warp and damage the parts inside, a hair dryer can also damage parts as well as melt various adhesives in the phone. A bowl of rice can add rice dust to the moisture before drying it causing poor connections all over the place.
The best option is to use a vacuum cleaner to suck the moisture out of the phone. Be carefull not to touch the phone directly to the end of the vacuum but instead use your hand to help the suction to reach all of the different areas where moisture can be. After a few minutes the phone should be nearly dried out.
If you do not have a vacuum available you can use a can of compressed air to blow out the phone. This works almost as well as the vacuum method.
If you have silica packs you can drop them and the phone into a ziplock bag over night to dry up any remaining moisture.
Now you need to clean the battery connection with a dry soft cloth. Once the connections have been cleaned you can put the battery back into the phone and turn it on. If it works, great job. If it doesnt work it may need a more professional cleaning or it may be toast.
The guys at Mobile Device Rescue in Houston are expertly trained cellphone technicians and may still be able to diagnose the problem and fix it.
By Jon Roland
