If you happen to drown your cell phone.....
 

.........as I did the other day (forgot it was in my swim shorts' pocket when I hopped in the pool :doh: - I HATE it when that happens!), here's the fix:

- Drain, shake, whatever the excess water from the drowned phone. Don't forget to pop caps/covers off of any ports or jack connections, too.

- Towel dry exterior.

- Pop back of the case off and remove battery, SIM card, etc. - anything that's intended for the user to be able to remove.

- Fill a small ziploc bag nearly full with dry, uncooked rice.

- Insert said gurgling phone into the ziploc bag, seal it up........then wait for a day or two or three.

A friend suggested I do this as it resolved his wife's similar phone issue. I thought, "There's no way in the world this is going to work". I was in the pool floating around for more than just a few minutes when I realized my lapse in memory/stupidity. The displays were messed up from water getting inside them, I couldn't get the phone to come on, etc. But the logic made sense - that's why you'll sometimes see a few grains of rice in some restaurant salt shakers......the rice absorbs moisture very well. Sandy felt it was worth a try so we bought some rice to give it a shot. I figured the phone had to be toast, though!

"Au contraire, mon frere"! Two days of the phone in the "rice bag"......and it's back to normal!! Unbelievable! I would've lost money on the bet.

So if it ever happens to you, give the rice-and-the-ziploc-bag thing a try!

Bill :)

he's right. it works.i've did it twice

The key is to get the battery out as soon as possible and to give the phone a few days to dry out. You do not want to activate the phone with any moisture in it.

I am wondering how long the "cure" will last.
JJ

The real question is this:

Is the rice still edible after using it this way?

My son had his go through the washing machine. We popped the sim card, opened it up and let it sit out for two days till it was dried. Put sim card back in and it's still working today.

use broth instead of water and its great !!!:jester:

I did almost the same thing - jumped right into the spa. NOT MY FAULT! Who in their right mind would put pockets in a swim suit? Anyway, did a similar routine - popped the battery, turned a hair dryer on it for a bit, and found it still didn't work. Reached in the desk drawer and pulled out an old phone, called Verizon and activated it with my cell number. Threw the wet phone in the drawer. After a trip north, came home, opened the drawer, put the battery in the phone and it worked just fine. Reactivated it and it worked perfectly until I got a new phone about 18 months later. I'll try the rice next time - makes sense.

Xavier

Being more than a bit impatient with myself, this was why I pretty much figured I'd fried my phone - I was trying a bunch of stuff immediately to see if there was any life in the phone. I AM the "Village(s) Idiot" at times..... :)

Dunno - I'll package it up and send it to you for a "taste test", Mike...... :1rotfl:

Bill :wave:

Yes, but instead of growling, you stomach will ring.

Ha ha.... One ringy dingy... Two ringy dingy. :loco:

... if you don't want your stomach to ring, you can always save the rice for a wedding. :p

memason/pturner - There's a line in there somewhere about "Talking out of your........" - oh, never mind!! :wave:

Bill :)

Been there, done that Bill exactly the way you described... jumped into the pool with the cell. Too bad I didn't know what you've indicated then. Had fried cell for dinner after a 3 day wait and didn't get another cell until the current contract was up in about a year to two! Guess I couldn't be trusted with one! :wave:

:popcorn:

:clap2: Good one!

Bill :wave:

Years ago, before I had a cell phone, I had a pager and fell in the pool with it. I called the pager company and they told me to just pull the battery out and put it in the refrigerator for a day or two and it would be fine. I did and it was. I don't know if that will work with a cell phone, but it might speed up the process with the rice if you don't seal up the bag. The refrigerator is supposed to suck out the moisture also. I hope I never have to try either of these remedies.

Bill:

A good tip. I have worked in electronics almost all of my life and I never heard of this one. Back then, nothing was small enough to fit into a ziploc bag. :smiley:

If the rice is not edible after using it this way, can we subsitute popcorn? :popcorn: :wave:

HA!!! memason wants to try the leftover rice so that's already spoken for. The popcorn's all yours!! :1rotfl:

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As an update for all: My phone continues working as though nothing ever happened. Probably have been on it for at least an hour or more today - calls both coming in and out with no issues.

Bill :)

Bill:

Love your humor. Glad to hear your phone is in working condition and you didn't have to spend big bucks to replace it. :wave:

Drowned mine two years ago in February and it still work perfectly.