5 Steps to Take When Your Phone Drops Into Water

Accidents happen.
If you’re ever in a situation where your phone is giving you problems because you got caught in the rain, or dropped it in the sink or toilet, here are 5 steps you can try:

Turn the device off and do not charge it - You want to keep the phone non-operational while it dries out.
Drip dry and shake off as much water as possible
Dismantle whatever you can - If you are able to remove the battery and cover, do so. The more you expose the better it will dry.
Cover your phone in a bowl of rice - Rice will help absorb moisture (at least it did for this Washington Post writer) like how it does in salt shakers.
Draw it away with a vacuum cleaner held over the affected areas for up to 20 minutes in each accessible area, having already removed the majority of liquids and moisture manually and dried all visible moisture by hand, so that none enters the vacuum cleaner. This method is preferable to leaving it to dry naturally as it halts any oxidation from occurring deep inside, such as can result in functional issues later on. This is the fastest way (less than thirty minutes after your phone drowns, it can be completely dry and working, especially if you are able to also partly or fully disassemble it) to quickly get all the internal moisture out of the phone effectively and stop the internals from ‘rotting’ away. Remember that the goal is to suck all the moisture and humidity out of the phone not to blow it even further in and create even more evil humidity deep inside

All in all, the idea here is to get it as dry as as possible - in as quick a time as possible. You’d be surprised how many phones spring back to life once they are dried out. Speaking from experience, I once completely submerged my trusty old Nokia 3315 several times during a camping trip (I forgot it was in my pocket). I just dried it out, and it was just as good as new :)

Note: Fans and hair dryers are not a good ideas as they tend to force moisture further into the small components deep inside the phone eventually causing corrosion.

Update: 17th April 2008: Point 5 changed from refrigeration to drying with a vacuum cleaner (Thanks WikiHow)

On a related note, here’s a video on how to fix your laptop should you spill liquid on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Eu1b8EA0tM

Have you ever dropped your phone into water? Tell us about it in the comments!

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23 Responses to '5 Steps to Take When Your Phone Drops Into Water'

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engtech said,

on April 11th, 2008 at 12:37 am

one of my friends went hot-tubbing with his cellphone in his pocket.

still worked, but had some strange behaviour afterwords.

that’s how you build “character”
hwkns said,

on April 11th, 2008 at 3:46 am

I wonder if it would be better to emerse the phone in to fresh water after it had fallen into salt water than go to a recovery process. Also one might want to remove the battery pack immediately after the accident. When one tries to salvage an engine (gas or diesel) the best strategy is to keep it emersed until one was ready to drive off the moisture because a humid surface in presence of air was the most destructive in terms of oxidation. Perhaps there are components of a cell phone that de-solve
in water that would preclude such an approach.
anonimouse said,

on April 11th, 2008 at 4:13 am

Here’s what I did after my friend put her phone into the washing machine (in the pocket of her jeans):

• Got it out of the washer quick. There was water inside both inner and outer displays.
• Took out the battery.
• Set the kitchen oven to low — 140F=60C. Put a cookie sheet above the electric heating element to make sure the phone isn’t exposed to direct radiant heat.
• Put in the phone for 10 minutes
• Pull it out of the oven, and water is gone! But displays are black.
• Cool it, water is back as condensation, but displays look more normal otherwise.
• Back into the oven. Repeat the heat-cool cycle five times and the water stays gone.
• Put the battery back in, it works! Outer display remains a little discolored.

That was two years ago. The phone needed a new battery after a year, then finally died for good recently.

YMMV
jeff said,

on April 11th, 2008 at 5:56 am

Last summer I dunked my motorola Razr when I fell off of a dock with it in my pocket. (Sorry, no video) It was completely drenched

I immediately took the back off and removed the battery and memory card. I then set it on a rock in direct sunlight on a 90+ degree day. It actually became hot to the touch. By sunset, the heat had completely driven the moisture out, I put the battery back in and it has worked just fine. The only lasting effect is that my “6″ key needs to be pressed a little harder or it doesn’t work sometimes.
Margaret said,

on April 11th, 2008 at 1:10 pm

New phone fell into swimming pool - once recovered, immediately removed battery (this is key!). Patted dry all surfaces, shook out any water that could be shaken. Left on towel overnight, blasted with hairdryer to get rid of any remaining moisture. Put battery back in and powered up, but took apart again to make sure it completely dryed over the next day. Worked fine until replaced 3 years later.
Main thing is to remove battery as fast as possible to prevent shorts.
Sherri said,

on April 11th, 2008 at 5:19 pm

I dropped my new Samsung SGH-t519 (last year) in floodwater after getting out of my vehicle. I grabbed it from the water so quickly, I bet it wasn’t in there for over 2 seconds. I slid off the back and rubbed the battery dry on my scrubs, and did the rest of the phone too. I got lucky, and never had any problems with it due to water.

Back in 2001, water got into my home from a tropical storm; after turning off the electricity and unplugging everything I could think of, I started putting stuff up onto furniture and in boxes, then because I spent a lot of time trying to get my inherited dining set onto food cans (and my cat caught his tail on fire from a candle, but I dipped him in flood water before the flame got to his skin), I forgot that we’d recently put MY pc on the floor (I had unplugged and put up the power strip, and completely forgot about the tower, argh).

I drained out the 1/2″ water and put it up; it still worked later, after the phone company had to re-install the phone jacks that rusted. But the pc wouldn’t run as long without crashing as it did before the flood. I didn’t know how to disassemble it to dry it out — that probably would have helped.
A Married Man said,

on April 11th, 2008 at 6:18 pm

A Married Man thanks you for the advice.

Sigh
marmot said,

on April 11th, 2008 at 8:07 pm

Last year while I was on an excursion in Amsterdam, I went into the bathroom to change&bath, with my phone- a nokia 6630- im my pants’ pocket… somehow the pocket opened (dunno how, it was zipped closed), and off the phone went: hole-in-one, right into the toilet O_O
Luckily, the hotel was kept very, very clean, and the toilet bowl was thoroughly cleaned mere moments ago- so I took the soaked phone out, and in a moment of panic-inspired lucidity, ripped the battery out, took off the front mask, and shaked it like crazy :D That was a moment worth seeing :)
After a day of drying on the window, the phone continued to work happily- and it still does, to this very day ;)
Jim said,

on April 11th, 2008 at 8:57 pm

I’m lucky enough to work in a facility with a lyophilizer (freeze dryer). I’ve helped several friends and family dry out phones and watches.

1. Get the battery off or out fast.
2. If it fell in salt water, immediately immerse it again in fresh water. Several rinses may be required, but get all the salt out.
3. Put the phone in the freeze dryer for 24 hours.

Freeze dryers are much more common than you think. You might work near one and never considered using it for this purpose.

This technique was inspired by my training in the Navy for recovering aircraft electronics. We used to rinse salt water exposed electronics then seal it in 50 gallon drums of fresh water. As long as it was under fresh water, corrosion would not start. The drums were shipped to a depot where the freeze drying would occur.
Herbalife said,

on April 11th, 2008 at 10:22 pm

Hmmm, didn’t know that rice had another use than just being tasty. Certainly worth a try the next time my phone gets immersed in water.
Ryan Pollard said,

on April 12th, 2008 at 1:51 am

let’s face it i was going for a piss and on the phone to someone, dropped it, broke for like 3 months now it’s working fine. my simple advice is just wait 3 months.
Kin said,

on April 12th, 2008 at 11:52 pm

Some of these tips are pretty good, I followed something similar and it saved my phone (presumably).

But Rice is not there to absorb moisture. It’s there for impact power to keep salt from clumping. So says Alton Brown :)
some guy said,

on April 13th, 2008 at 7:28 am

I dropped one of my phones in the pool and then i got a new one and i fell off a moving car, it still works but there is a large crack on the screen and the ink leaked out and now there is a big splotch on my screen that looks like a black leaf
How to Dry a Wet Cellphone or iPod | 170 Spoons said,

on April 13th, 2008 at 9:30 pm

[…] of my sources for this (since I’ve never had to dry an electronic) include Freidbeef’s Tech, the Washington Post, and Digital […]
Rytis said,

on April 14th, 2008 at 4:05 am

Disagree on dryers - helped me 3 times. Only be careful to not overheat the phone. Disagree on fridge too - objects, that are colder than surrounding air, collect moist, so get it from fridge - you are at step one again.
Rescue Your Submerged Cellphone | SolSie.com said,

on April 14th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

[…] Here are few steps I learned from WikiHow and Friedbeef […]
Rescue Your Submerged Cellphone | SolSie.com said,

on April 14th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

[…] Here are few steps I learned from WikiHow and Friedbeef […]
sekhar said,

on April 14th, 2008 at 4:20 pm

When i dropped my sony ericsson into a small pool at a waterfall, i grabbed it out asap… and did a mental calculation as to whether i could fit a new phone into my budget (No…)

A friend who was with me took of the cover and the battey, and left it to dry in the hot afternoon sun while we chatted. It dried out somewhat but misted up soon afterwards because of the water already inside the phone.

That evening, we set it to dry over the bedside lamp at the hotel (incandescent bulb). We sat the phone on the bottom end of a drinking glass inverted over the bulb. Next morning, no mist! And the phone works fine now.

cheers
Ian Smith said,

on April 23rd, 2008 at 10:21 pm

Once my little one put my mobile phone on mouth and it stopped working. But I managed to get it repair after a while
Adam said,

on April 27th, 2008 at 2:40 am

I’ve lost both my phone and my digital camera to the ocean.. The problem with both was the corrosion factor.
Anonymous said,

on April 27th, 2008 at 6:40 am

handy hint… for liquids other than water… soda,juice, coffee. Clean with rubbing alcohol. remove and disconnect all power supplies, clean batteries separately .submerge item in alcohol or clean it thoroughly with alcohol and swabs. Alcohol will evaporate and item should be like new 24 hours later. make sure completely dry as liquid will act as a conductant and bridge between the tiny diodes on circuit boards and short or fry your compont
Matt said,

on April 28th, 2008 at 9:45 pm

I’ve done the phone in rice thing. The phone still works. I’ve never heard of drying it with a vacuum cleaner. The rice thing was suggested to me by someone who works at a cellular store.
Doxycyclin » 5 Steps to Take When Your Phone Drops Into Water said,

on May 8th, 2008 at 11:19 pm

[…] you got caught in the rain, or dropped it in the sink or toilet, here are 5 steps you can try:read more | digg […]

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