Revive a submerged cell phone

Owen says on July 7th, 2006 at 12:31 pm

As a thought for others, you might also want to rinse the phone in distilled water before you ‘bake’ it. Prevents cooking ‘junk’ onto the phone or components ;-) If it was submerged already you won’t be doing any more damage.

impactednurse says on July 7th, 2006 at 8:05 pm

…and now you have saved your phone, you could potentially save your life. In your list of contacts add an entry under ICE (In Case of Emergency) Enter a contact number for the person you wish to be notified in case of calamity. And make sure that person is aware of you medical history, allergies etc.
[http://impactednurse.com/?p=41]

Paris says on July 8th, 2006 at 9:50 am

I don’t see the point of the oven – which seems like a bad place for a battery, no matter how small. I live near a river that people regularly fall into fully clothed and mobile phones tend to recover from the experience simply by drying out.

chuck says on July 8th, 2006 at 9:57 am

A buddy of mine repaired aircraft electronics in the US Navy. Sometime a plane would miss the carrier and wind up in the ocean. They pulled all of the circuit boards, rinsed them in fresh water and put them in an oven at 175-200. They also used hair dryers. Worked for me when a burst pipe flooded my basement computers and computer workbench

Tree says on July 8th, 2006 at 2:13 pm

I had a similar experience; I dropped my phone in the bath while having a pedicure! I fished it out within a couple of seconds; then the nail lady snatched it out of my hand and gave it a good couple of shakes. She then stuck it under the nail dryer while I finished getting my toes done.

I took it home and didn’t turn it on overnight; turned it on the next day and it worked like a charm.

I gave her a good tip!

Paul Turnbull says on July 9th, 2006 at 10:11 am

A lot may matter about when then drop occurred. I dropped my in a toilet that only contained water. I quickly got it out of the water and popped the battery out. I let it dry out for a day and all was good.

If toilet had contained more than water then I would have rinsed out with water (after removing the battery). Salts are corrosive and conductive. They don’t get along with circuits at all.

I think the oven and hair drier suggestions are just to speed up the drying process more than anything else.

liam says on July 10th, 2006 at 9:18 am

the oven seems like a bad idea to me. i dropped my phone in the toilet several months back. quickly snatched it out. took out the battery. put it under a fan and let it dry out overnight. worked fine the next day. several weeks later, however, the circular thing (don\’t know what to call it) around the camera lense fell off. i assume the that the water weakened the glue that was holding it on.

an oven just seems like a bad idea. too much heat or for too long and you might wind up doing more damage than a few seconds of water exposure.

i know someone who accidentally put his phone in the dryer and every since then the mic\’s been fuxxed up.

Shapeshifter says on July 10th, 2006 at 9:30 am

This happened to a digital camera recently. The battery was quickly removed to prevent frying the device. Then, a hair dryer was used on low temp. (Some of these dryers can actually cook electronics.) The display/monitor had moisture caught between its protective layers. So, we put fresh silica gel in the empty battery compartment and then placed the camera in a Ziplock bag overnight. By morning the display was in great shape and the camera has worked beautifully since.

radioeyes says on July 10th, 2006 at 10:44 am

Why i always save my information to a SIM-Card, and back it up on an excel spreadsheet.

If you’re very careful, take the cellphone apart and “bake” everything BUT the lcd screen. It’s delicate to heat, and might be the first thing to fry, and likewise it’s resistant to water.

jpcherry says on July 10th, 2006 at 11:55 am

My phone ran through the wash cycle, and trying many of the above mentioned methods, I resorted to isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol, 2-propanol, etc). I soaked it without the battery for 2 minutes, air dried it for an hour, and it turned on just fine.

Mariah says on July 10th, 2006 at 3:53 pm

Ok as someone who drops alot of cell phones in water, here are some tips:

1) Don’t worry about rinsing it off (unless the toilet had something nasty in it) toilet water is generally clean and won’t leave any baked on residue
2) Remove the battery immediately
3) Bake it in a 150 deg oven or LESS for 30 minutes
4) Don’t turn the phone on for at least 24 hours (no cheating!)

Helpful tips:
1) Don’t bake it longer than 1/2 an hour and NEVER back it at 200, it’ll melt
2) If you bake a phone once, you can never bake it again, it melts even at lower temperatures the second time
3) Blow Dryers take too long, bake it, then let it sit, works like a charm

This has worked on all variety of plastic nokia phones. I haven’t had the opportunity to bake my shiny metalic RAZR yet

Ken says on July 10th, 2006 at 4:36 pm

I HOPE the “it” is putting the phone into oven and NOT the battery!!! Putting the battery into the oven may be dangerous…

As stated above
“No. I took the phone home, removed the battery and put it in the oven for a good bake on the “warm” setting, followed by a half hour in front of the blow dryer.”

David says on July 10th, 2006 at 5:32 pm

Baking doesn’t do a whole lot of good, unless you need it dry fast. The goal is to eliminate the moisture, which shorts some of the components in the device. If the battery remains attached, electrical current flows places it shouldn’t, and the device fries. Pop the battery out and let it dry. If you want to do this in an oven or a clothes dryer (suspended, not tubling), that’s fine, but not necessary.

Rubbing alcohol will help dry it out, since this displaces the water and then evaporates quickly. Silica gel was another great suggestion, or any other dessicant. Again, the goals here are to remove the water before powering up the device.

Tap (or toilet) water does contain impurities, and these impurities may end up dried within the device. If your water is full of minerals (put some water in a clean, small pot and boil it away to see what gets left behind), I would suggest rinsing it out again under some distilled water, as another poster recommended.

A can of compressed air would probably help too to push water out of spaces that it might get trapped in.

The only electronic component that is likely to be harmed by exposure to water are electrolytic capacitors (blue tin cans) with paper tops. The tops may absorb the water and begin to break down.

Nomadness says on July 10th, 2006 at 11:14 pm

Remove the Battery! Immediately!

Don’t wait untill you get home. Don’t take the time to power it down, just P u l l t h e B a t t e r y.

As David said, the problem with wet electronics is that fragile IC’s wil get shorted out. No battery. No Juice. No Shorts.

When I worked at an AT&T wireless store, (back in the day when the ‘important people’ carried cell phones) I saw hundreds of water damaged phones. Again, as David said, rubbing alcohol is the trick for cleaning and displacing the water. We pulled the phones apart and cleaned them with alcohol and a old toothbrush and that often saved the day (and the phone numbers). We even saved phones that were dunked in salt water.

Resist the temptation to ‘check it’ before its been cleaned and completely dried. Enjoy life without your phone, camera or iPod for a few hours.

Jacob Leggett says on July 14th, 2006 at 10:22 pm

Put the cell phone in the dryer for about a twenty minute cycle it makes alot of noise but it works well :O)

Karin says on July 18th, 2006 at 5:44 pm

I’m so glad I found this site (thank you, google!).

My cell phone was in my bag with a leaky water bottle. When I fished it out, I thought it wouldn’t turn on b/c it needed charging. I slipped off the battery (in back of phone, on opposite side of keypad) and saw that the normally-white sticker, was pink.

I took a Q-tip soaked in rubbing alcohol and cleaned off all the components that I could reach. Then, I let the phone and battery bake under a 60-watt lamp overnight and most of today.

This evening, when I came home from work, I reinserted the battery, charged the phone and turned it on. Voila! It works perfectly (so far).

rajiv says on July 20th, 2006 at 7:45 pm

i accidently put my phone in a cup full of soup now it will not work it says “bootloader usb ini” the phone is motorolla e815 can some one help please what should i do.

your help will be appreciated.

rajiv.

Mary says on July 21st, 2006 at 2:13 pm

I dropped my phone in the pool and removed the battery and let it dry for several days. I plugged it in to the wall charger and turned it on. Everything works but the lcd screen. What to do!

Justin says on July 24th, 2006 at 3:33 pm

I saved my phone in a similar manner as well.. Although, mine spent significantly more time underwater than the normal drowning – probably about 45 minutes worth of being completely submerged.

The battery is dead (and it should be after so many minutes completely submerged and with no way to open it to dry), but the phone works 100% (screen and all). Needless to say, I’m surprised it still works. Ordered a new battery and it’s all good.

Phil says on July 27th, 2006 at 4:32 am

I baked my phone at 150 but it still melted… Oops.

BigBob says on July 27th, 2006 at 6:58 am

I dropped my phone in a river and was not able to retreive it for about 24 hours–it got a good soaking. I removed the battery, rinsed it with bottled water, sprayed it with contact cleaner, blew it with an air compressor and set it in the hot sun on my dashboard for two days. It came back to life, but still has some problems. It can’t figure out whether it’s charging or not. It can, however, make calls and the display is fine.

simm says on July 30th, 2006 at 4:21 pm

hey i dropped my fone ages ago down the toilet but i dint no u cud out it in the oven so u fink if i get it wet agen then out it in the iven and then the hairdryer it might work agen?

Buster says on August 4th, 2006 at 12:20 pm

Ok i jumped in the pool with my phone in my pocket, and didnt realise it was in my pocket til i went to get out, (10 min approx?) i took it home dried it out and stuff, so now it turns on but the display wont light up, i can see the screen and it works, just no backlight :(… also the phone gets quite hot, any help would be awesome!

Jared says on August 6th, 2006 at 11:28 pm

I got in the pool with my cell phone in my pocket and I had no idea until it started vibrating like crazy. I guess its some kind of warning thing??? But luckily it alerted me, and I could get it out of the water quickly. I removed the battery and let it sit out and dry. When I got home though, it still didn’t work. So I just let it sit out and dry.

Then I got on this website tonight and I decided to do the hairdryer thing. But something weird happened. My lcd screen started turning all green. So I turned the hair dryer off and just set it infront of a normal fan. I hope that by tomorrow it will work….

donie says on August 20th, 2006 at 10:32 pm

i once dropped my phone in a bucket of pig’s urine, and the only way i could get it to work was by sucking off the urine then then soaking the phone in human urine.

Amy says on August 24th, 2006 at 9:09 am

“I resorted to isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol, 2-propanol, etc). I soaked it without the battery for 2 minutes, air dried it for an hour, and it turned on just fine.”

My question is this – does the LCD screen work? I have a new Nokia camera phone and am worried about the screen and camera not working anymore since there’s water behind them.

Cristian says on August 25th, 2006 at 7:26 am

I’m quite experienced with phones and baths.

I just took a recent bath with the phone in the pocket… During a recent mtb adventure, we decided to cross a river pushing the bikes, and at the end I realized that my phone (Sony Ericsson P910i) was in the ankle pocket, submerged during the whole process.

Pretty scared, I rushed to quickly remove the battery, but, when I took the phone out, I was surprised to see that it is still working, having signal and displaying everything corectly (while with plenty of water on it). But after the initial surprise, I found out that none of its buttons are working, being unable to stop it (other than extracting its battery). Anyway, I was able to operate it with the stilus.

This is the 2nd time this phone had this water problem (first being also on bike, standing in the rain for hours, not having where to hide the phone), and both times it was running during the wash, but having the keyboard problem after. The keyboard simply starts working when the phone dries. I just extract the battery, clean it of water, shake the phone well (to get the water out of it), put the battery back and that’s it. For a day I’m able to operate it only with the stilus, but the 2nd day it dries completely and the keyboard comes to life.

So drying the phone well is required, and a good thing is to shake it continuously (without battery and SIM card, and with its clamp open, if any) for some minutes, to force water get out of it. Definitely a hairdryer helps after that (blowing thru holes around buttons, for example), but I’m not reccomending the oven (phones have many thin plastic components which melts at very low temperatures).

If, after drying it, it doesn’t work well (buttons not doing the right thing or the LCD showing strange things), then put it in alcohol (w/o battery and w/o parts which clearly don’t retain water) for minutes, then dry it again. The idea is to replace the remaining water with alcohol, which evaporates quickly after.

Sabrina says on September 24th, 2006 at 8:26 am

Hi, my nokia cellphone has fallen into the toilet..yes, with pee. :[ I immediately removed the battery and put it under a blow dryer. I put the battery back in to see what happens and it just turns on with a tremendous amount of vibrate. :\ I used a Q-tip w/ alcohal and swiveled it around all the places it could reach..still the same thing. It is now sitting beneath a lamp.

Question about the alcohal: Do I rest it in alcohal or just the Q-tip?

Sabrina says on September 24th, 2006 at 10:45 am

Well, it has stop vibrating now; 3 hours later from putting it under a lamp. But now the screen just lights up and I can’t press the power button..it will not turn off. Suggestions?

Joe C. says on October 17th, 2006 at 10:28 am

Be careful if your oven is not accurate. Safer method!: If you have an old (non-flat panel) computer monitor or television – the top gets to about 120 degrees or more. I put my phone on top and put a small pan over it upside down (to capture the heat) probably could have tented the phone with aluminum foil also. (Just give some room to allow the monitor to vent its heat and not capture it all into your tent).

Christee says on October 19th, 2006 at 2:08 pm

I have a Sony Ericsson w3001. I sleep with my phone beside me and this morning I woke up to find my phone submerged in a cup of water! I immediatly took the battery, sim and memory card and left it to dry. When I came back from classes that day I put my phone back together as I thought it was dry. I put it on charge. The charge screen did not appear but a red light which usually appears when charging came on. However, My LCD screen on the front of my phone went a silvery colour, as if it was full of condensation. Im not quite sure what to do… Should I just leave it for a few days or should I try the hair drier option??

Ben says on October 24th, 2006 at 6:06 am

I was carrying a glass of tea with my phone in the same hand (yeah, stupid idea), and when I went to put down the tea I dropped the phone, which I was holding above the tea, into it. It couldn’t have been in there longer than a few seconds. I grabbed out immediatly it was all vibrating and stuff. Don’t know if it’s from short circuiting or a warning.

Anyway, I couldn’t find any rubbing acohol so I just wiped it with soaked paper towel and then dried it off again and blew in several of the crevices and around the buttons… I took out the the SIM card and battery pretty fast too. Some stickers got soggy under the SIM card does that matter? Anyway, I’m letting it dry under a lamp with the customize panels removed. It’s a Sony Ericsson.

Lilly says on November 7th, 2006 at 10:32 pm

I was in the middle of washing dishes and had to take an important phone call (yes both HAD to be done at the same time guys .. sigh), alas I dropped my precious treasure into the sink full of water. To look on the bright side, it couldn’t have been submerged for more than a few seconds. I immediately took out the battery and it has been sitting over there on my banister for about 8 hours now drying out. I just checked on it 10 minutes ago and it seems completely dry. I shook it and heard nothing. I’ll wait until tomorrow evening to turn it back on just to be safe, but it seems fine now. I’ll try the whole “hairdryer” thing for ten minutes before I turn it back on, too. This site was awesome, thanks!!!!

Bill says on November 11th, 2006 at 11:16 pm

You know I would normally not be a fan of the rinse and bake mehod but I had a very important call I was waiting on. I have a Moto Razr that got placed in a drink by my 3 year old when I was not looking. Rinsed it out. put it on the top shelf of the oven at 170 for 20 min (no bat or sim card). Let cool, replaced sim and Bat and all works. I will be using my insurance though but it got me through. Thank you.

Kat says on November 12th, 2006 at 8:52 pm

Hi, I accedently washed my phone. I had no Idea what to do so I just left it alone.I tried to use my parents batterys but it still did not work. Now a week later it shows the little cover screen and has sound again but i don’t have my full screen still. Is there any hope to fixing it, or is it too late?

Jay says on November 22nd, 2006 at 12:26 pm

Hi I will be giving your oven trick a go this evening !! I dropped my phone down the toilet and pray that it gets back on its feet as it not even paid for yet.

Randy says on November 26th, 2006 at 11:15 am

Hello, LOVE the site. I just tried to swim and my phone was in my pocket… Would it be okay and put it in alcohol now after it is almost dry. Brand new phone not even paid for. I need help. This is a brand new phone. Does anyone have a LG ax355 Can i just go buy insurance and then in about a week call them up and say it broke. I HATE WHEN THINGS HAPPEN TO ME. Thank you

THANKS TO ANYONE WHO CAN HELP.

Christian says on November 29th, 2006 at 8:35 am

My girlfried dunked her phone in APPLE JUICE for about 5 minutes. She was on the freeway, at night, crossing a long bridge and couldn’t fish it out right away.

She finally pulled over and dried it off…sort of. When she got home she dried it off more.

Now, the next day, even with the volume all the way up, voices are quiet.

How do you CLEAN a damaged/coated SPEAKER?

Would alcohol do the trick?

nugget says on December 3rd, 2006 at 9:53 pm

yer i think it does i droped my phone in a creek for 3 days the fished it out the amazing thing is that i still works ista motorola l6 but its pink o yer alchol doe work to clean the speaker

Christian says on December 10th, 2006 at 8:18 pm

So I used rubbing alcohol.

It:

Cured her speaker problems nicely.
Fixed the connectivity problem w/ the USB.
Has really screwed up her display.

So….I’m not sure what I’d do if I could do it again. I guess I’d just really really make sure no alcohol gets on the screen or inside the phone if at all possible.

Derek says on December 19th, 2006 at 4:45 pm

I too dropped my phone in the toilet (with urine), but after I took the battery out and let it dry for 24 hours. Now it works just fine. Should I still try to give it an alcohol bath just to make sure it is clean, or should I leave well enough alone and be happy that it works?

Thanks

Quintus says on December 22nd, 2006 at 6:50 am

I forgot to take my phone out my jeans and put it in the washer, only a hour or so later i figured out i hadn’t removed it from my jeans. I then tried to turn it on but luckily it didn’t short circut, then i took apart and then read up on google how to rescue a wet phone. then everyone said to put it in the oven and i thought that was a bit drastic, so i decided to leave it to dry, i blow-dry it sometimes bacause there is water on the screen and it looks really black. I will have to see if it wor5ks or not now

Jamie Elliott says on January 5th, 2007 at 12:57 pm

This morning my 11 month old daughter threw my Lg 5300 in the bathtub, I managed to get it out after only a couple of seconds. I did’t take the battery out right away. I also tried to turn it back on. Right now the sound doesn’t work and when I open my phone, the screen is white. Is there something that I can do to make my phone work again? Please help!

brian wells says on January 19th, 2007 at 5:41 pm

i left my cell phone in my car the battery died and i was busy and left it in there a couple more days then got around to charging it it wont come on the charge light comes on but it was feezing those few nights is it froze for good?

Sophie says on January 25th, 2007 at 11:34 am

AHHHH i just dropped my friends phone into hot chocolate i really dont know what to do. Have taken it apart and tried drying but it wont turn on. should i put it in the airing cupboard?
Please help casue i feel like a fool!
Thanks You x

Jeffriken says on February 7th, 2007 at 11:11 pm

so i dropped my phone in the sink while i was doing dishes, and now my phone is vibrating like crazy and won’t stop. The screen is dead, and everything is completely blank. >_

ken says on February 8th, 2007 at 9:17 pm

I recently dropped my samsung t809 in the toilet n it got soaked with water. I didnt know to pull the battery out immediately. It’s been a few days now. What should I do now? Should I try to buy a new battery and pray that it will work? I would appreciate any helpful advices

horace says on February 11th, 2007 at 12:27 am

i sat on my phone and it smells like butt. can anyone help me with this?

Mike says on February 13th, 2007 at 12:52 pm

Help !! 4 day old Moto Razor went through a complete wash cycle.. i got it out as soon as the cycle stoped. I took out the battery and took a blow dryer to it,, and let it sit overnight,, the next morning i put the batter in and the LCD screen was very blurry,, but as the day went on the screen cleared up and now its fine,, all my contacts and everything are still in there.. i switched service to a different phone.
Should i try putting my service back on the phone ???? help

Mestd says on March 12th, 2007 at 7:56 pm

I dropped my nokia in the urinal a few months ago like around november i think. I tried the hair dryer and it helped a bit but the phone still dind’t fully function (still turning on and off on it’s own) Just around feburary i checked it again. Everything works perfectly fine except for 2 buttons that are kind of jammed but still work and there’s no signal.

Anyone know how i can regain the signal?

sue says on April 13th, 2007 at 3:30 pm

I washed my cellphone in my jeans – nothing works now and it was soaked.- i will try the hairdryer trick- batteries tend to explode with lots of heat- so I won’t try the oven.

lin says on April 28th, 2007 at 5:49 pm

my phone in a bucket of water and i took out the battery but when i tried to back on the phone the screen is white with water spots

Cordel Haws says on May 7th, 2007 at 9:48 am

I recently went swimming with my Razr and didnt know it till 20 minutes later. Didnt take out the battery till i got home. Dried it with a blow drier for 30 minutes. Now it will power up (sortof) but it wont recognize my SIM card. Rised it with clean tap water, and still no dice. I’m gonna try the alchohol. I really need my pictures from the phone. Any way of doing that? The computer wont recognize the phone anymore. If i cant get it to work how I’m gonna sell it for parts. How can i wipe the memory?

Rick Cope says on May 15th, 2007 at 3:28 pm

My Motorola V60 slipped out of it’s holder, bounced off my foot and into the Chesapeake Bay – 6 feet down. Got a net, scooped it out after about 2 minutes. Leather case helped keep water out. I immedieately ran tap water over it as i pulled case off and battery out. Disassembled all panels – pulled display screen cover off also – put all parts in a box on the dashboard of my car for a day – dried it all out great – plugged battery back in and it works fine. battery no longer seems to last as long so may get a new battery. Just in case, I copied out all my phone books entries in case it dies later. I really like the car dashboard heat for drying – nothing that a cel phone would not likely be exposed to anyway so safer than the oven.

mark says on May 17th, 2007 at 10:53 am

i dropped my phone in a cup of tea this morning, took it out and started pressing the off button.. didn’t take the battery out until about 20 minutes later, now i’ve got it drying out. think it’ll be okay?

Palvi says on May 18th, 2007 at 3:14 pm

hey…i got some moisture into my phone(razr)somehow, i can see the screen sometimes, what do u guys recommend should i put it in the oven or not or should i do something else??

daisy says on May 29th, 2007 at 5:46 pm

i dropped my phone down the toilet,yes drunken night! i took out the battery after about 10mins i fink mi worst mistake was being extremely inpatient n consistantly placing the battery back in to test. i left in warm place overnite the next mornin i tried it out and it didnt work. i left it again in warm place,this morning i tried it out and after reinisterin sim and battery it worked fine started chargin but cut out :( it is now still drying and i have re ordered a new battery is there any hope?

pootie tang says on June 2nd, 2007 at 11:12 am

you know i accidentally sat on my phone and i was worried because it smelled like butt. i found that if i sprayed the darn thing with lysol it was all better. hope this helps.

Jarred says on June 28th, 2007 at 1:37 pm

I had a water balloon in the same pocket as my nokia slider. As you can guess, some one popped the balloon. I didnt know to take out the battery, so the battery stayed in overnight, and now my volume wont stop turning down. Is my phone a gonne, or can it still be saved?

Nathan says on June 28th, 2007 at 3:38 pm

I have a sprint/samsung m300
I was at my friends house about 2 days ago and got into the pool with my clothes on haha and my phone started vibrating like crazy like it was a warning or something i got the phone out took out the battery and let it dry for a day and everything works but the phone keeps on vibrating like crazy and today i just keep on letting it drie and i put under a lamp.

Fiz says on June 29th, 2007 at 3:27 pm

hi, i went swiming with my phone yesterday, and it ddint go so well i took the battery out ( i was in the pool for about 2 minz be4 i found out that it was in my pocket) i put it infront of the ac for like 30 minz and it was off and put it on my side table the next day i jus stuck it in my fan, should i turn it on yet or not? it has chlorine in it idk if that would do anything 2 it? please reply back

Rebecca says on July 2nd, 2007 at 3:30 pm

i washed my phone in the washer. after my load was done washing i remembered i washed it. took it apart and tried blow drying it and now it will only turn on and off. the screen then turns black. any suggestions??

Dan says on July 3rd, 2007 at 10:14 pm

As has been said – remove the battery, rinse with distilled water if needed, and a good bake in the oven at the LOWEST SETTING (usually 150degF), again without the battery. To those concerned about the heat, keep in mind that this temp is about on par with the inside of your car on a sunny summer day. Your phone doesn’t melt there, it won’t melt in your oven.

Fiz says on July 7th, 2007 at 12:56 pm

be4 my screen turned on and now my screen dont even turn on idk what happend any suggestions?

Kelly says on July 10th, 2007 at 12:18 am

I dropped my phone in the toilet as well, dove in after it, and appeared to dry it off. It is a Sanyo Katana, and everything seemed to be working fine. They keyboard started to freeze up, and the color went to a silver and orange, but I have it all working now. However, two of my arrow buttons and my “1 2 3″ on my key pad are not working at all. I do not have insurance, is there anyway to get a new button or anything?! I can’t afford a new phone. I am wondering if Sprint can repair it for me for an amount. Thanks!!!

Doug says on July 10th, 2007 at 9:39 pm

I jumped in the pool with my Samsung SYNC like two days ago and i am filled with sceptiszm. The battery is not an issue because i have a new battery that did not get wet. I followed most of the rules on this website to save it, except i used 70% rubbing alchohol. I tried putting the battery back in and the front says download, and the main screen is blotchy red. Will the phone eventually dry to its normal state, or should i consider buying a new one

ashley says on July 21st, 2007 at 10:17 am

okayy yesterday i dropped my grandma’s pink Razr in the pool. & i gave it to mycousin who wiped it off but couldnt get the battery out and tried to turn it on. then i took the battery out and wiped then shook it. when we go to the hotel i shook and wiped and tried turning it on several times. then i took the battery out again and wiped, put the battery in and the screen lights up without me turning it on. So i tried turing it on AGAIN sevral times and when i got home i came 2 this website and everyone said take the battery and sim card out and let it sit and dry. i was being impateint so like 20 mins later i tried turning it on still the screen lighten up when i put the battery in so i left it over night and when i woke up i tried it AGAIN! still the screen lightens up when i put the battery in. i now got it apart (battery,sim card, and phone) in front of the fan can i still save the phone?

BMSS says on July 22nd, 2007 at 11:11 am

Hi, please help me
Just 20 minutes ago my cell phone (a Nokia 6600) slipped into the toilet while i was peeing (embarrassing) and I imediately got it from the bottom (GROSS). The problem is… I cleaned it with a towel and tried to turn it on…

At first Id idn’t realise it, but the battery (I think it was the batery, not sure) was making a strange noise.

So I put my cell under the hair drier for about 2 minutes ( =( ) and I tried to turn it on several times.

When I inserted the battery, the screen would light up automatically, but now it doesn’t work anymore, neither when i put the battery in the cell nor when i press the On/Off button…

15 minutes later I was reading this site which tells me that I should have remover the battery straight away…

Can I still reverse this situation?

Julie says on July 22nd, 2007 at 11:42 pm

ok i dropped my lg chocolate phone in a pool today and wen i took it out and dryed it off and then my frnd also has a chocolate and he put my battery in his and it worked so my battery works its just lke my fone doesnt and it was having lke going physco wenever i turned it on and ikd wat to do with it soya

Julie says on July 22nd, 2007 at 11:45 pm

sorry ppl i typed really bad there ill explain it better:
i dropped my lg chocolate phone in a pool today and when i took it out i dryed it off and everything and i took my battery and put it into someonelses fone to tell if it was the battery that didnt work or not but the battery is fine. its just the phone..it goes lke physco wenever i turn it on and idk wat to do so ya

michele says on July 25th, 2007 at 11:05 pm

I put my phone in the washing machine today. I took the battery out and let it dry for a little bit then i tried to turn it on and it did. It was working fine and then two hours later the screen didnt work anymore. help!

Michele says on July 27th, 2007 at 8:31 am

my phone works now all i did was put it under a lamp for 24 hours and it works perfectly except the camera

max says on August 15th, 2007 at 5:02 pm

do i put my phone in alcohol or what?

DONALD says on August 25th, 2007 at 10:33 pm

WELL…….MY SISTA WASHED MY PHONE IN THE WASHER A FEW DAYS AGO AND YES I TRYIN THE OVEN TRICK RITE NOW DO U THINK ILL HAVE ANY LUCK…….I HOPE SO!!

CNap says on September 6th, 2007 at 5:55 pm

phone went into the pool with my husband – dried it out – works fine except it won’t stop vibrating. Any solutions?

Lue says on September 14th, 2007 at 6:54 am

I accidently drowned my N-gage to the water for nearly a second. I took it out, rub it with tissues. I thought it was okay. Everthing seemed fine. Then, suddenly I lost my signals, which rarely happens in my area. Plus, the phone didn’t even say that it couldn’t register my SIM card. What’s worst, the power button didn’t work, no matter how many times or how strong I pressed it. So, I took out the battery. I removed everything, the battery, case, SIM card, mem. card and I used hairdryer to try to dry the phone. AND. What’s weird, as I inserted my battery, the phone turned on by itself. Yet, the power button wasnt still working and so as the SIM card. I removed everything again, but this time I inserted a SIM card from another country which wouldn’t work here. This time, the phone said that it couldn’t register the SIM card. I inserted my original SIM card to another phone and it worked well.

So what’s wrong with my phone??! I really don’t know what to do. Please help! I beg you.

Joe says on September 26th, 2007 at 11:44 am

I just dropped my cell phone in the toilet. I took out the battery and sim card immediately and shook it and dried it off with a towel. I let it dry for about 5 min then i tried to put the battery in. It turned on but the screen went blue. Does this mean i short circuited the battery, the phone, or both? Can i save the phone?

Pepper says on October 15th, 2007 at 2:06 pm

lol. i love reading all these morbid cell phone death stories. OVER THE WEEKEND, i had a horrifying experience with water damage and my cell phone. i had a lot to drink that night, cell phone was in my back pocket. i passed out in the passenger side of my car, where i proceeded to piss in my pants. so, my poor phone died :( i just got it barely a month ago! at first, it just continually vibrated when i turned it back on. then slowly the buttons started to work, and the keypad back light. the only thing that doesn’t want to work is the LCD screen! so it’s monday, and it still hasn’t fully recovered. i can still see liquid inside the screen when i mash down (GROSS I KNOW!). i have been using you’se guys techniques of alcohol (not the kind you drink :)) and drying by fan thus far. i am too scared to bake it though, so i’ll be doing the hair dryer thingy later. HOPE IT WORKS. in the mean time, drink responsibly!

Lucy says on October 15th, 2007 at 4:45 pm

so today i was washing the dishes and talking on the phone as usual. my phone slipped off my shoulder and fell into the water. so i took it out and saw i lost my call. so i took out the battery and dryed it off with a towel. then i used compressed air to push out any access water from inside. then took a blowdrier to it for about 15 mins and it works fine. ive already made some phone calls on it.

Pepper says on October 18th, 2007 at 12:50 am

py phone works again!!! thanks to everyone with their good advice. i cleansed it with alcohol, blow dried it and sat it by a fan to dry completely. it was giving me some problems, the keypad wouldn’t work correctly. after the 3rd day, i just let it charge completely overnight, and miraculously worked 100% the next morning!!! it feels like christmas :)

Gwen says on October 29th, 2007 at 3:28 am

so my phone fell into the toilet, with urine, and im wondering about this rubbing alcohol trick… do i use a q tip or do i completely dip it in alcohol? thanks!

Angela says on October 29th, 2007 at 11:16 pm

My Nokia 8800 Sirroco fell into toilet bowl. Was submerged for a good period of time because the pipe was too long to reach the phone. Good thing it was protected in the leather casing that came with it and had an additional drawstring pouch so was able to fish it out with an improvised clothes hanger.
Got it out, immediately dismantled the battery and rinsed it under tap water.
Wanted to leave it on the car dashboard for it to bake under the sun but friend advised me against it saying that once the moisture dries the circuit board will be spoilt.
The phone’s battery contact point is kind of blackish and i assume that was caused by the battery short circuiting during the ‘dip’.
Wrapped it with tissue paper and kept it in a ziploc bag. Has been 4 days now. Will drying it help anymore or should I just send it for repairs?

Courtney says on December 12th, 2007 at 4:58 pm

I DROPPED MY FONE IN A TOILET WITH PEE IN IT!!!!!!

after fishing it out (ew ew ew) i took paper towels nd wipped it dry b.c …since i was in school when this happened… i wanted to stop touching my pee. (: .

so after it was somewhat “discontaminated”–>dry …. i took out the battery && dried that too. My friend who was in there when this happened said that if there was any water damage, the battery would have a red spot on it

it didnt

thank God.

so i wrapped it up in a paper towel and put it in my locker seperate from my battery and sim card.
When i got home, my friend had told me to put it in the freezer… so i did.

nothing really happened so i came on this site (thank you thank you thank you!)
i then discontaminated it with soap and clean water WITH OUT the BATTERY AND SIM CARD. then i put it in the oven at 100* for 12 min nd then read that someone who put theres in at 150*’s melted so i took it out

i then blew dried it for 10 or so min. on cold (the battery and fone seperate with out the sim card in the phone)

now its sitting under a lamp which i will keep there for 24 hours. then ill put it back together and see if it works.

ILL KEEP YOU POSTED!

pablo says on December 13th, 2007 at 10:26 pm

ok so i droppped my phone in the toilet. i got scared as hell. i pulled the thingout and stupid me i tryed turning it on after a halkf hour and then 3 times that night, boy was the stupid, because i found this sight and it said not to turn it on for a while/dammm. lets see what happens tomoorw?

Stef says on December 29th, 2007 at 5:28 pm

i work with electronics and the trick they teach us is submerge it in rice. dry uncooked rice. the rice soaks up the moisture left in the parts and allows for them to dry. it works immediately

marino says on January 6th, 2008 at 2:15 pm

my moto razr went through the wash, i took it out and blow dried it alot. that was 3 days ago, it stil ldont owrk. wtf do i do!?

maria says on January 14th, 2008 at 7:43 pm

hey yall, i dropped my phone in the toliet and removed the battery and put my phone under a hand blow dryer for about 2min the tried to put the battery in to c if it worked but it didit lighted up and started dialing numbers so i took the battery out for about 2hrs than put it back in and my phone started vibratin n vibratin lol…….. so i took the battery out …………n its been drying for about a wk n wont turn on but i put my battery in some one who have the same phone and it worked…. do yall have an suggestions on how to get my phone to work again>??????????????????

Sara says on February 12th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

Haha, I dropped my phone in a bowl of cereal. First, I got the frosted flakes out. Then, I just kept talking. lol
The next morning it started vibrating. I turned it off for about a month thinking it was too late to save my phone. Turned it on today and it works. ;D
However, I need a new phone anyway; The dog chewed on it. D:

jennie says on February 24th, 2008 at 11:32 am

i dropped my brand new samsung SCH-U740 in the toilet! =[ it was my second one of this phone and my fathers face immediately popped in to my head so i didn’t think twice about submerging my hand in the water and getting it. i dried it off with a towel and turned it on but the screen was blank. so i took it apart and blow-dryed the peices, it turned on and immediately turned off claiming there was low battery. i was just happy to have the screen working, i’m going to let it sit like someone suggested, but i hope after i charge it tomorrow it works! wish me luck!

geekay says on March 7th, 2008 at 5:01 pm

hi, I was in a party last month and the waitress dropped champagn on me and my sony ericsson 750i. I removed the battery then I cleaned it(wiped with clean cloth).Next day I connected it asked pin nr. I presses nothing happing but some lower keyes were working. To day I cleaned with some alcohol but sill
the SOME numbers AND * AND C – - not working.
The phone is taken apart. What should I do ?

joef says on May 17th, 2008 at 2:22 pm

Accidently washed an LG in pants pocket, ran through rinse cycle and found it at the bottom of the machine. Removed the battery and dried the phone overnight on top of the hot air heater vent. Took it apart and dried the screen well and it works fine.

raj says on June 17th, 2008 at 5:23 am

don’t do anything…just let it dry under a fan for 1 day..it vil be ok.. wait patiently..

stupid. says on July 21st, 2008 at 4:11 pm

two days ago i put my phone in my bag w/ a box of juice. i forgot bout it and then accidently stepped on it so the juice box exploded and it soaked my phone. i immediately removed the battery, sim card, and memory card and left it to dry on my desk. the next day, i took it apart and then tried to dry everything out but it still doesn’t work. today, i tried the rubbing alcohol and the hairdryer so hopefully it will work by tomorrow |: .

demons are watching me says on July 28th, 2008 at 1:16 am

I threw my cell in the ocean because it was telling me to worship the devil. Now it calls me twice a day and wants to pray to the dark under lord. It says it won’t stop until I tear out my eyes and fry them for supper. Can anyone help me with this?

hay chinga says on August 1st, 2008 at 11:09 am

I have big green boogers

Caitlin says on August 3rd, 2008 at 5:40 am

I have (had) an LG Chocolate since Christmas and unfortunately, left it in my trouser pokcet and [put it in the wash. It had been in for half an hour maybe more. Got it out, removed the battery and sim card then my Dad put the battery back in and turned it on. Didn’t short circuit, just the touch screen lights came on and didn’t go off. So I turned it off, again took the battery out and left it to dry for a day or so. Now I turn it on a white screen appears and air bubbles are in the screen. I har dried it, then soapy stuff comes up but again the noises work, everything works apart from the screen. Any one expirenced the same problem with the same phone?

Caitlin says on August 3rd, 2008 at 5:44 am

Arrgh I red about the red spot thing and it had a red spot on it arrrgh boo hoo
Water damged battery =[[[[[[

David says on September 25th, 2008 at 6:41 pm

Are “Sony Ericsson’s” cursed or something? lol, I just seen a bunch of comments of ppl dropping those ones in particular in the toilet and whatnot, I dropped my cordless phone in the tub about an hour ago, put it in the oven for a bit, now, just letting it dry out normally, we will see what happens, if that don’t work, I’m gonna put drowned it in rubbing alcohol, then put it back in to the oven.

derek says on October 9th, 2008 at 4:44 pm

Remove the battery, put the phone in a dry sock, inside another dry sock, toss it in a load of dry towels and run the dryer on low heat for about a half an hour. You should be able to turn the phone on after and make calls. you may have to run the phone on vibrate since your ringtone speaker will be bunk. Its better than nothing.

jennifer says on October 18th, 2008 at 10:33 pm

i dropped my Motorola RAZR phone in the toilet , i took it out as soon as it fell but i didnt take the battery out the phone was still on for like 2 minutes but than it turn off. what should i do??? i dried it then tried to charge it but nothing would turn it on. Is there anything else I can do??

please answer back =[

Adrianne says on October 28th, 2008 at 12:58 am

My phone was in my back pocket, and it fell in the toilet. I didn’t realize (it was really dark), i flushed the toilet (luckily it didn’t go down) and also, i left it in there for about 10 minutes because i didnt know i had dropped it in there for a while. I have an env2 and its really hard to take it apart :[ but i’ve wiped it with alchohol and placed it in white rice.

hopefully it will work!!

Anastasia says on November 23rd, 2008 at 4:37 pm

hello, this morning i dropped my phone in the toilet while it was flushing!
it’s a samsung sch-u740. i took the phone out as soon as i could, and cleaned it off. it was probably in there for 10-15 seconds, the phone vibrated then shut down.
i turned it back on and it worked, it just didn’t have signal.
after awhile it turned to a blank white screen.
then it worked for about a minute, with signal and everything! then the white screen came back.
after 5-10 minutes i took out the battery.
and dried everything out again.
i kept putting in the battery and seeing if the phone worked, i probably did that 10 times!
i’m very worried. it still has the white screen.
i took out the battery, put a little bit of alcohol in it and put it in a bowl of uncooked rice.

what else should i do? and do you think this will work?

ucmchris says on February 20th, 2009 at 8:55 pm

Dude, the oven works but it is still shorting .. It didnt work at all before that.. I am still going to leave it off all night

Sam Mitchell says on July 2nd, 2009 at 11:26 am

you think by now someone would make an easy way to hack newer phones, an app – one for all kinda thing. just my thoughts, if you get a min take a look at my site, hopefully you’ll like :)