Tip of The Week- How to Fix a Waterlogged Cell Phone

A couple of months ago my cell phone fell in the bathtub.  Don’t ask how- it’s really quite stupid.  I am not the only one who has had this “O crap!” moment.  I have friends who have dropped their phones in toilets, sinks and who knows what else ( I am thinking swimming pools this time of year).  Aside from cell phones being expensive, no one wants to lose their contacts or other important phone stuff that they really need.  There IS a way to fix waterlogged cell phones though, so don’t worry just yet and give this a try:

First you will want to take your phone out of the water source as quickly as possible (I am not sure how well this method works with phones that have been submerged for awhile.  My phone was only under water for 30-60 seconds tops).  After taking your phone out, IMMEDIATELY dry it off with a towel.  **Important** Do not use heat to try to dry it out (such as a blow dryer)

Next- fill a bowl up with rice.

Next you will want to take your cell phone apart.  Just open it up and remove the battery and SIM card (if your phone has one).

Then you will want to use a towel or cloth again to dry out the battery and the inside of the phone as best as you can.

Now it’s time to put all of the parts in the bowl of rice.  (You can leave the SIM card to aside to dry on its own if you want)

Make sure the parts are fully submerged in the rice.  The rice will work to draw out the extra moisture inside the phone.  Even though your phone may look dry after using the towel, you will need to use the rice.

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART FROM HERE ON OUT:  You have to WAIT!  This method totally worked for me, but I was a bit impatient (because I was freaking out that I lost a bunch of important contacts for my home based business).  I suggest letting it dry out at least a full day.  I would leave it in the bowl overnight at least.  I made the mistake of being impatient and plugging it in too soon, which caused my screen to get frizzy and hard to use (it got worse over time).  If you charge your phone or turn your phone on too soon, you can cause it to short 🙁  and really reduce your chances of saving your phone.

My phone was completely dead and would not turn on.  There was moisture behind the screen.  Even though I made the mistake of not waiting long enough before charging my phone, I did get my phone to work again and was able to retrieve all of my important data.  In fact , my phone still works, but I got a new one just so I don’t have to deal with the frizzy screen I caused 🙂

If you do everything the right way and are patient enough to wait for it to fully dry out, then hopefully this will work great for you! I haven’t tested this method on other handheld electronics, but I am thinking it is worth a shot on other devices that you had this issue with as well.

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