Mobile phone how to dry out?

[rayke1938]

Took my next G telstra mobile for a swim today and it didnt like it.

I pulled out the battery and left it in the car for 5 hours and when I reinstalled the battery the screen lights up but has no display.

There is an outside screen that normally displays the time and telstra logo and this small screen has condensation visible in it.

I am leaving it under a lamp to keep it warm overnight in the hope that it will dry out but I have my doubts as it has been in the sun for most of the day.

It has 16 months of contract to go and telstra wants an arm and a leg to replace it.

Thinking of dunking it in metho to disolve the water but uncertain what the metho will do to the LCD screen as I know that metho will cause humminbird lcd screens to crack.

Appreciate any advice.

Cheers

Ray

[Bommie]

Ray, pull it apart as much as you can and let it dry for a couple of days

[chubbstar]

Pull it apart mate and hit it with your wifes hair dryer. Good luck mate:unsure:

jayson

[hulk]

HI Ray,

I have done the same and a hair dryer usually can do the trick if you are able to get one. The heat gets into all the components and it dried over night.

Mind you nothing could save my phone that I had in my pocket whilst mowing the lawn then threw into the wash straight after. Didn't realise until I went to put into the dryer and she was curtains.Funny enough the sim card survived.

Regards

Hulk

[kiwifisho]

Throw it away n get another mate as soon as they get wet they are gone.

Dean;)

[badboygibbo]

wish this post was here last year when my phone slipped out of my pocket and into a livewell with a nice yellobelly in it. I didnt have a clue what to do so good bye phone

[Smiderman]

Ray

id be concerned about what the salt does to the circuit board, the salt would conduct electricity hence pobbibly create a short so id keep the battery out till its dry . dont work too close to the lcd screen as they seem only to be sitting on a rubbery surface. Perhaps a little blast with a wd40 or similar. maybe talk to the guys at jaycar for thier recommendation about the best option

[rayke1938]

It was fresh water. The part with the lcd seems to be sealed.

Cheers

Ray

[Cowfish13]

In future, if you drop anything electrical into salt water, turn it off (if it is still on) and wash under fresh water. Then as Bommie said, take it apart as much as you can without being crazy about it and let it dry for a few days.

I personally wouldn't do the metho treatment. Dunno what it might do. But, by the sounds of it, your phone may already be stuffed:( sorry

[Smiderman]

if thats the case i reckon followthe tips above .but not sure that id be using a heap of heat though.have you got any of those moisture busters crystals you use for mildew / damp or silica crystals you get with certain electrical goods etc and keep it in a sealed enviroment that may help

[Davo_Dinkum]

most people i know that mobile's went for a swim died or never worked proper again. but there is a chance it will work,one of my kids droped my uhf hand held in the creek . it was in there for 2 hrs before i found it ,i puilled it apart and let it dry for a week and blew it out with the air bed pump and it still works . but i think it all just luck.

[flatty_catcher]

agreed with Bommie

take the sim out and wipe it clean,

salt and shit will not do anything as long as it dries out..

you might get it back

Dan

[Dec]

My phone went for a swim and when I got home I wrapped it in a few towels and tapped it up then put it in the tumble dryer for 15 min and it started to work again but it still took a few days for the screen to get back to normal. Also forgot take all the parts out when you put it in the dryer incase if falls out.

[Rocket75]

Pull apart as much as possible and leave all in a sealed container filled with uncooked rice in a warm spot for a couple of day. The rice should soak up the moisture as the heat draws it out.

[kriso]

Dec wrote:

My phone went for a swim and when I got home I wrapped it in a few towels and tapped it up then put it in the tumble dryer for 15 min and it started to work again but it still took a few days for the screen to get back to normal. Also forgot take all the parts out when you put it in the dryer incase if falls out.

ummmm just make sure the battery is out when you do this or your dryer might scattered all over you laundry after a nice bang:unsure:

[Smiderman]

Rocket75 wrote:

Pull apart as much as possible and leave all in a sealed container filled with uncooked rice in a warm spot for a couple of day. The rice should soak up the moisture as the heat draws it out.

... add to the pan over a low heat 500gms of lamb with sweet chillie sause and simmer for half an hour and serve on the thin bed of rice and garnish with a few corriander leaves :lol:

[Rocket75]

or chicken if you prefer:lol:

[Dasa05]

Mate I normally pull apart as in batt and sim maybe front if it is that sort of phone and put in fan forced oven with door open on 100deg and leave for ten mins or so make sure you leave door open and just keep checking that i's not getting to hot?

[adri4n]

best way is to pull it apart and leave it for a few days before even trying to switch it on. If you switch it on before all the water is dried you'll probably fry the circuits...

[reelchippy]

Ray the hair dryer is the go if you get her back working all good if not bin it best of luck if you are on a plan hope it near the end cheers

[shortie]

You biggest mistake was putting the battery back in and trying to get it to work.

Electricity and water is not good for electronics.

If this ever happens to somebody. dry it before the battery goes back in.

Good luck

[AZZA]

hulk wrote:

HI Ray,

I have done the same and a hair dryer usually can do the trick if you are able to get one. The heat gets into all the components and it dried over night.

Mind you nothing could save my phone that I had in my pocket whilst mowing the lawn then threw into the wash straight after. Didn't realise until I went to put into the dryer and she was curtains.Funny enough the sim card survived.

Regards

Hulk

Thats why I leave those sort of jobs to the expert (wife) and just do the manly chores like washing the boat ,checking the boat,rigging the fishing gear,checking the boat:laugh:

[Terry H]

As Shorty and adri4n said... as soon as electricity goes through the circuits and water is still in there you're goneskies.

Which is why most phones die when submerged because usually they're turned on.

Good luck ray, hope you're lucky

[goat_man_baa]

i taken 3 or 4 phones for a swim and have got them all working again except 1 that i was snorkelling with for about 45mins. I get a takeaway chinese container and fill it with metho, drop the phone in for about 30 secs then empty the container and fill with uncooked rice all around the phone and battery and sit in the sun for a few hours.

I have been told that a hairdryer on hot is no good as it cna turn the water inside into steam and get into places water can't normally get. Sounded like crap to me but he swore by it

[Terry H]

How high a temperature can the circuitry in a phone handle?

Some CPUs can't really operate properly above 70-80C, with damage occuring after that. If you're turning water into steam, surely this can't be good for the phone, regardless of where water gets to.

[reelchippy]

Shit get a new phone ray :ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy:

[rayke1938]

Have dropped it into a guy at Underwood. He reckons $55 to $75 depending if he has to replace one or both lcd screens. Will know on Saturday when I pick it up.

Cheers

Ray

[AZZA]

Reminds me of a day when me and a mate wagged work to go for a fish one morning.He was so paranoid about getting his new u bueat super phone/orginizer wet , that i put it in the glove box for him and asured him it would be fine. On returning to shore he grabed his gear and tripped over the bow rail with phone in pocket and face planted the water:laugh: phone was a write off

[paul10]

reelchippy wrote:

Shit get a new phone ray :ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy:

I'm with reelchippy....For some reason I got real hungry reading this thread.:woohoo:

[Gad]

Don`t know how you are set up with your plan Ray,

one of my lads had his phone stolen,[Monday]he has it on a plan[18mths to go]contacted his phone mob,and they told him he has insurance plan built into his contract ,don`t know if it covers accidental damage,or just theft, I think he may be wiht Optus?

may be worth checking out

cheers

[rayke1938]

Went to pick up my phone on Saturday morning and recieved the bad news. I had stuffed it.

1. When you wet your phone pull the battery our as soon as possible.

I did that.

2. Under NO circunstances put the battery back in even if the phone looks completely dry.

I put the battery back in for about 30 seconds before I took it to repair shop as it looked dry and blew the circuit board.

3. If you drop it in salt water pull battery and immediately place and leave in fresh water and take to repair shop.

Went along to telstra shop today and purchased new prepaid 3g phone for $99 and installed my old sim card and now have new phone with more features than old one.

I dropped into Leisure marine and purchased a waterproof dryfone bag for $9.95 so hopefully it wont happen again.

Bag has double press seal then folded over and sealed with a Velcro strip. It also has an inflatable section so that it will float if dropped overboard and a nice long lanyard to hang it around my neck.

I am also going to get one for my camera.

Cheers

Ray [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/P1010366_AFO-4d2f89e4fa035d72487a9c8ec12c7324.jpg

[chubbstar]

What a bummer mate.

Love the red bag;) . I'm sure I have a pair of high heels to match it laying around here somewhere:P

Jayson

[Gad]

Thanks for the update Ray,

some of us will be more carefull,and wiser with that info.

cheers

[rayke1938]

Just a plug for the repair guy I went to.

AA mobile phones 20 Kingston Road, Underwood 32197444, very nice honest person.

Highly recommended.

Cheers

Ray

[Troy_79]

that sucks man, i've had 3 phones fall in the water while fishing:laugh: the last one that did i took the battery out and let the phone dry for a day or so and it was fine for a few weeks before it shat itself.

[toadie84au]

TerryH wrote:

How high a temperature can the circuitry in a phone handle?

Some CPUs can't really operate properly above 70-80C, with damage occuring after that. If you're turning water into steam, surely this can't be good for the phone, regardless of where water gets to.

thats sustained temp.

<-- electronics techy.

If your blasting the board with a dryer for a few seconds it "shouldnt" harm the chip.. same principal as a wave soldering machine when waving surface mount parts.. they are literaly dunked in 450+ degree solder for 3-4 seconds.

But as someone mentioned earlier worst mistake was to put a battery back in even hours after this has happened.

Heck i dropped an entire beer into my laptop a month after getting it from dell (crapped myself i tell ya) and here iam typing away fine.

steps for ppl in future.

1) pull the battery immediately and DO NOT put the battery back into the phone no matter what temptation you have.

2) Recommend dropping into a repair shop.

OR if you cant afford or the phones not worth paying a repair do the following.

3) Unscrew the phone as much as possible and remove the boards and lcds (make diagrams/take photos to help put it back together later)

4) blast the boards/lcd for a few seconds to draw out moisture from the lcd's (only a few seconds just a few degrees differance will evaporate moisture)

5) goto dickysmiths or jaycar or somthing and purchase mechanical safe wash.. we get this in drums so couldnt tell you what min/pricing is like.

6) submerge the boards in the mechanical safewash and using and old toothbrush gently brush the board to dislodge any dried salts and other corrosive particles (this applies to freshwater also as even fresh contains a small level of salt hence why when working in electronics distilled water is the recommended water for use when cleaning)

now the lcd's will either be plugged onto the board in which case you can remove them before having submerged the board, but if they are soldered to the board only submerge the board to cover the board and not the lcd.

7) gently rinse the board with fresh water preferaly distilled but tap is "OK" again making sure not to dunk the lcd to remove all the safewash.

8) Place all the boards ect into direct sunlight for a few hours.

9) even if the board looks perfectly dry blast the board several times with a heat gun/dryer making sure not to blast for too long each time as you only wanna warm the board/components to draw out any left over moisture.

10) when sure no more moisture is left reassemble the phone throw in the battery and hopefully you have a winner. if not.. at least you have done everything possible for the average joe to attempt without any real tech knowledge.

REMEMBER; If this is an expensive phone, warranties are involved, or whatever do not move past step 2.. simply take it to a repair person.. these steps are simply there to help those with el cheapo phones they dont "really" care about but dont wanna go forking out 80+ bucks if they dont have to.