Today, one of the biggest problems that anyone faces is that their cell phone breaks. And, among the different ways it can break down, one of the most common is that it ends up in the water. Today, we answer that question that you have asked yourself so many times: “What to do if I have wet my phone?”.
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My phone would never get wet
This is the most recurring phrase when someone explains that their phone got wet a few days ago. And, the truth is, with the enormous number of people who, at some point, have gone through this moment, I'm surprised that there are still people who can say it..
Before answering how to solve the problem of a wet phone, let me give a couple of examples so you understand how easy it is to get it wet:
Imagine that you are making food or washing the dishes. At that moment, someone calls you and you, with wet hands, pick up the cell phone... With such bad luck that it slips and will fall directly under the stream of water.
Now put yourself in the situation: You are calmly at a friend's house, sitting on the edge of the pool with your cell phone in your hands and, from behind, so that your friends can't see what you are doing, they push you... And the cell phone ends up at the bottom of the pool!
As you can see, they are everyday situations that can happen to anyone, so it is not something foreign or difficult to happen. That is why everyone You must be prepared to solve the problem of the mobile phone getting wet.
Let's see the steps below:
1. Take it out of the water
Obviously, if you want to save your mobile, The first step is to get it out of the water.. I have few certainties in this world, but one of them is that, if you want to save a cell phone that has gotten wet, the first step is to get it out from under the water.
At this point it is important to note that, in the event that it has been dropped into salt water or some other liquid that is not fresh water, it may be more difficult to recover, due to the additional elements present in the liquid.
2. Remove the battery
Once you have the phone in your hand, the first step is to remove the battery as soon as possible. By far this is the most important step, as the fact that the battery is connected, can cause a short circuit.
If there is a short circuit, you can be absolutely certain that you will never get your phone back, so remove the battery as soon as possible. In the event that it has been turned off, it will be much better. Don't try to turn it on.
3. Disassemble the mobile
At this point, you should try to remove most of the components from the phone. The memory card on one hand, the battery on the other, the case too, the phone card... Try to separate all the parts.
The reason for this step is that, the longer they remain together, the more likely it is that some type of short circuit will occur or that all parts will even be harmed, when in principle it did not have to be that way.
Additionally, the fact that the pieces are separated, will help them dry faster.
4. Dry it
Here comes the second point where many people end up destroying the phone (the first point where this happens is at the time of the battery, already mentioned). What you should keep in mind here is that drying must be manual.
What does “manual” mean? Well, you cannot use dryers, fans, or anything similar. Using them will only contribute to water expands inside the phone and reach areas you won't have access to.
Some people have told me on some occasion they have used the vacuum cleaner to do, precisely, the opposite of what fans do. If the fan expands the water, the vacuum cleaner sucks it up, removing it from inside the phone.
However, I do not recommend using this technique, since the vacuum cleaner can have a lot of power, and I don't know to what extent that can be positive for the chips and the different parts of the phone. Just dry it with a cloth and absorbent paper.
5. Put it in rice
Lastly, we have to resort to the myth of rice. This is a myth that, strangely, works. Basically, rice absorbs moisture, so it will come in handy to permanently recover the phone.
If your phone has gotten wet and you have already completed the previous steps, you only have to put it in rice and leave it on a radiator or in a place where the sun shines. Little by little, the rice will absorb the remaining water, and the heat will help it evaporate.
The time you should leave it in rice is 24 hours. After that time, the phone usually works again. However, if you want to stay healthy, you can leave it for 48 hours, to be safer.
Keep in mind that if you leave it for less time and you think it is completely dry, and you try to turn it on, the short circuit that we mentioned at the beginning may occur, and spoil the phone after having completed all the steps. Therefore, be patient.
What if I dropped it in salt water?
Well, here we are in a somewhat more complicated situation. Salt water can be very harmful to your phone, because Salt can complicate the correct operation of the device.
Now I'm going to give you a solution that will probably seem strange to you: you must immerse it in fresh water. Yes. The problem with the phone falling into salt water is the salt, so the first step, before recovering the phone, is to remove the salt. And, to do this, it is best to dilute it. Put it in freshwater basins and change the water. Repeat this operation ten or twelve times and, later, carry out the steps outlined above.
As you can see, you have several options to avoid spending too much time without a phone, such an important asset nowadays. We hope that, if you have ever wondered “What should I do if my phone gets wet?”, this article has helped you solve your doubts.
Inveterate technophile. I write about technology, science, productivity and general culture.
