How to repair a wet cell phone

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Wet cell phone
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Wet cell phone

Let's put ourselves in a fairly common situation. We have to go to the bathroom.

As we are in the middle of a conversation, Candy Crush's game, immersed in several tuits or whatever prevents us from getting rid of our smartphone, we decided to take it with us to the bathroom.

Several minutes later we find that our mobile is wet as a result of a terrible fall. What do we do?

The bathroom is a day-to-day example, but actually our phone can fall into swimming pools, into the sea, or get wet quite easily if liquid falls on the table.

The first thing we have to do is stay calm because everything is not lost. And now we'll get our smartphone out of the water as soon as possible.

The longer, the more water can be filtered. Once we have the basics, we'll talk about the steps to follow.

What NOT to do

If it was off, don't turn it on.
Do not press any button or key.
Don't shake it or shake it. Don't put pressure on him or hit him.
Don't play doctor with your smartphone and start removing parts. The device comes with a Liquid Damage Indicator (LDI), which if activated could invalidate the warranty. Opening the phone makes it easy to activate. If you think it's absolutely necessary to dismantle it, do it, but only if you think you have the necessary experience.
Don't blow on him. This could send water to other internal parts of the phone that have not yet been reached, causing further damage to the process.
Do not apply heat of any kind, including a hair dryer. excessive heat could damage your smartphone. Don't put it in the microwave or freezer, either.

What to do to resuscitate your wet cell phone

If your phone was not turned off, turn it off and leave it upright.

Remove the protective cover, in case you had one. Removes the microSD card and SIM card from their slots.

Open the back casing and remove the battery if your phone can. This is not possible with models with a non-removable battery, as you will understand.

Take a cloth or paper towel to dry gently. The most important thing is that the water does not pass through other areas.

If the water damage is very great, you can use a vacuum cleaner with an adapter to carefully vacuum the water that can be found inside the cracks, and which with a cloth are not easy to reach.

The next step is to put the smartphone in a plastic bag filled with raw rice. Rice is very good for absorbing liquids. The myth of rice is true.

There are drying bags for phones. If, by any chance, you have a... it's time to use it! On the other hand, if you don't have one, but consider yourself a clumsy person, it might be interesting to buy one. They are sold in most electronics stores.

Wherever you put the phone (drying bag or container with rice), leave it in there for a couple of days.

After that couple of days, you can turn the phone back on. It's a good idea to check that everything is working perfectly, so take a walk around the interface, try the speaker playing some music or other things like calls, touch screen response, cameras or the proximity sensor.

If your phone doesn't turn on at all, try charging the phone to see if this works. If it is not charged, the battery may be damaged.

So you'll have to replace it or let it dry longer. In the worst case scenario, your phone may be damaged and there is no solution. We recommend that you take it to the technical service so that a professional can check it.

If the phone turns on and works the way it should, don't trust it. It is advisable to keep a close eye to see if your behavior changes in the next few days.

Preventing before curing: aquatic cover

There are several options on the market, some a bit expensive for what they actually offer. My advice is to take a look at the different options available on the internet. Among them, I recommend you Overboard that allows you to make full use of the phone.

Other Tips

As soon as it happens:

Turn off the phone, the idea is to minimize damage to metal components. Humidity and electricity have never got along well, so we recommend you turn off the power. The later, the worse the damage.

Removes the battery

If possible, remove the battery from the smartphone and start drying each piece separately. Otherwise (if your phone cannot be disassembled), proceed to the next step.

Uses air

It's best if you use compressed air of the special class for electrical components. However, if you don't have it, use an air gun. VERY CAREFUL: it must be cold air, if you use hot, everything can get worse.

Put it in the sun

If there is no rice, another option is to put it in the sun on a napkin. You can't leave it too long, because overheating can damage the screen.

To avoid that, it's good to put a fan on it, which also helps to dry it.

When you are satisfied and believe that moisture has been absorbed, try to turn it on.

It may or may not work: a lot depends on how wet you got and, above all, which chips inside the phone got wet.

This, again, is not exact science. It's an act of hope.

Covers the parts

You can use rice, which is very useful for absorbing moisture, or even - if you have them - silica gel sachets, which are included in backpacks and bags.

Let it rest for 24 hours and don't move it. If possible and if you have a guarantee, take it to be checked.

Another less conventional trick is to put the components of the device inside a bag and introduce next to them some anti-humidity bag that usually come when you buy a jacket or a pair of shoes. Finally, something very important.

If the terminal gets wet in the sea with salt water, before proceeding to all the steps that we have counted must first wet the phone with warm water, to at least eliminate the corrosive effect of salt. Don't doubt it, it's already wet.

A soaked mobile phone is not necessarily a broken terminal forever, but you have to be fast and follow some very specific guidelines.

The first thing you need to be clear about is that when you fall into the water it has most likely gone out. Don't try to turn it on, it could cause a short circuit and melt some component.