by Anne Gader

Created on: December 01, 2009

Time is of the essence when your mobile phone is submerged in water. However, thankfully, not all is lost when your mobile phone is dunk in water. By reacting quickly, and correctly, you might be able to salvage the mobile phone and return it into a working condition, saving you money or at least buying you some time.

From my experience and from the advice of friends whose mobile phones love to attempt suicide by water, here are some tips that you can use.

RESCUE FROM WATER

1. Quickly fish out the unlucky phone. The clearer and cleaner the water, the better your chances are. The shallower the water, also the better your chances are of reviving the phone as the mobile phone does not have to experience pressure from being deep in water.

REMOVE SALT, IF ANY

2. If the phone is dunk in salt water, run it under clear water for a few seconds to clean it. This is counter-intuitive. Alternatively, use some wet wipes to wipes it down. If the mobile phone has been dropped into the toilet bowl, you might really want to wash it before attempting to use it.

DO NOT SWITCH ON THE PHONE

3. This is important - Do not switch the phone back on if it goes dark, just leave it to dry. Do not panic, and just brethe until your fingers are steady. The electronic plates in the mobile phones are usually soldiered with lead, which should still function even though it has come into contact with water.

DRYING

4. Dry the surfaces of the phone with a towel, and dry them as much as you can. Once the surfaces are clean and dry, you can open the phone up.

5. Opening the insides of the phone. Take apart as much of the phone as you can possibly put back by yourself, and clean them and pat dry. If you have the time, air dry them. Otherwise, dry them under cool air/low heat with a hair dryer. Or, stick it in the air conditioning duct overnight. For those who are in no hurry, you might consider sticking it in a silicon box with heated silica gel to really absorb as much moisture as you can.

THE FINAL STEP

6. When you are convinced all parts are dry, put everything back together, and re-start the phone.

Good luck! And buy a wrist strap if you can!

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