How-to: Wet Cell Phone - What To Do if Your Cell Phone Gets Wet!

[tavenger5]

First of all - don't panic!

1. OFF - It's probably already off, don't turn it back on! If it happens to still be on, turn it off!
2. Dry - Remove the battery, and anything else that can easily come off. If slider, unslide - flip, unflip. Dry off as much as you can with a napkin or small towel
3. Wait - don't turn the phone on for at least a day, 2 is even better.
   
4. Check - Put the battery back in, turn on the phone. Check everything, including keys to see that things are working properly. If they are, great, if not - next step
5. Replace - If the last step failed - take the phone to your service provider. They will probably check the 'wet indicator' to see if the phone got wet. In most cases, in less you have a special warranty, your provider will not replace the phone for free. Good time to upgrade! Hopefully you have backed up your contacts!

[willyable]

Whew! REal sticky issue. I thought it's the end of your phone when it gets wet. I am glad of your tips John. Will remember every step of it. My friend's phone fell into the toilet bowl and she never got it back into shape.

[crimson]

This happened to mine while we were
at a conference (really bad timing).
I let it sit and dry for a full day.
Worked just fine
It was a Nokia, BTW.

[crg]

my daughter has a LG cell, just got it a few months ago, and now the thing doesnt work for sh*t. I took it to the verizon store and they said it had gotten wet, bottom of the battery has a little red square on it. my daughter swears she has not spilled anything on it, etc. I believe her, she'd tell me if she had. is this the wet indicator? the little red tab on the bottom of the battery? does it turn from white to red when wet? can a new battery solve the problem if the phone turns on? thanks

[tavenger5]

humidity and very damp areas can sometimes turn that square red.

No, get a new phone.

[twocents]

I dropped my first cell, a nokia into the toilet bowl (it was in my back pocket) and it worked just fine after a day.

The second phone I dropped in water was a total loss. It was my first razr, two days after I got it. Was walking through a constuction area and had it in my hand, guy almost ran over me on his bike and scared the crap out of me. Long story short, it flew across the sidewalk and into the hole in the street filled with water and a couple construction guys.

They fished it out for me, but I needed a new one.

[jennyyu]

Well, professional speaking all this steps are basic requirements.
But if your cell dropped in salt water, that is an other matter, not just dry it can do. Because the mineral still remains inside the fone.







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[Comfis]

tnx for all these useful info.. just dropped my mobile to water :S hope it will work

[laima]

Wow this was real helpful. I usually take my mobile with me to toilet when i haf to stay away for long. Will remember these tips if it gets wet next time...

[N.Doe]

Good advice,I do many of those points myself.But to say the truth,I never had much problems with water on my cells.I dropped a Siemens and a Vodafone several times in the bathtub and in pools.Nothing happened to them,I didn't even turn them on.Don't listen to me anyway,I was probably just a lucky Joe until now with water.I can't say the same thing about me when it comes to my cells falling on cement and other hard surfaces :-/ .

[blackspot007]

Great advice. I've never dropped my cell into a toilet. But I'm way too careful with it. New chocolate. Great phone.

[codex]

My cellphone is a sony ericsson k800i and it got saturated at a concert (im guessing this means salt water )...it still turns on and everything but the numbers 4, 6, 0 and left joystick all cut out at the same time. Does this mean a part of the circuit board is fried? My problem now is that my phone lock has a 6 in it so after i turned it off to dry it (stupid now i think about it) i cannot get back into the phone.

So the question is:
Will a repair company be able to somehow access the phone (ie be able to get the 6 key working) so i can retrieve my contact list and photos from it or is it not worth the "inspection" fee.

Cheers

[lttlbddy]

Mine got a little wet while being used in the rain. It now works fine IF it is plugged into a charger. If I unplug it, it immediately turns off.

Can a battery short out?

It shows that the battery get fully charged.

[anakin41]

some idot on yahoo answers said to use a blowdryer i was told never use
a blowdryer would mess up the circuit board

[lttlbddy]

After the phone was dry, I took it into the Verizon store. They used a small brush and some kind of solution to clean the battery contacts and the contacts were the data cable plug in and the phone has been working fine since.

I guess I got lucky this time.