Drowned mobile phone

[bluefin59]

I thought i would post this bit of info up as we fishermen are a clumsy mob ,when i went to hinze dam on friday on my hobie chasing bass i came back to where we launched after a successful adventure i stepped out of the yak thinking it was shallow and low and behold i had my mobile in my top pocket and when i steped out i found the water was shoulder deep ::) . I scurried up the bank and found a totally drowned mobile in my top pocket ,i mean water was running out and no picture on the screen so the first thing i did was pull the battery and sim out but the water came pouring out ,dead so i thought >:( .

Well i got home and the wife said a friend of hers did the same thing and put it in a tupperware container and covered it and the battery with rice and 2 days later pulled it out and it was all good. Being the sceptic of old wifes tales and thinking that cant possibly work i gave it a go to keep the peace and what does a cup of uncooked rice cost ? Well last night i got home from my charter and the wife goes have you tried the phone yet ,i said NO but we will put it back together and try it to prove its just a tale well low and behold the bloody thing is up and running again and seems to be in perfect working order . So i posted this info up and hopefully it may help some of you other blokes ...;D matt

[jimbamb]

good one matt,
anything is worth a try
jim

[Jono_SS]

That's a fantastic story - was the rice ready to eat afterwards.

I left 1 in a bag once which filled with water during a storm. It survived after some time in the sun. I have put one through a load of washing, and it survived. However, I have let 2 "touch" saltwater (1 slipped out the top pocket when I bent over the gunnel - it didn't have time to sink), and they both carked it. Just shows the difference between saltwater and freshwater when it comes to corrosion of electronics.

[bluefin59]

Yeah i think the fact it was in fresh was a big help but i thought it would benifit some of the other blokes here ..matt

[wamjam]

Any missed calls would of had the Indian influence.. ::)

[cuzzamundi]

Good yarn and outcome, mate. Have lost four of the bas%rds over the past few years to fishing/saltwater dunkings. Good thing I only buy the cheapies.

Cuzza

[rabbi]

Hi guys,
Maybe I shoulda done that with my good digital camera wen it went for a swim R.I.P
Cheers.

[004dam]

The rice absorbs moisture ive done this before with a friends phone, The only thing is if you drop it in salt water your pretty much buggered.

[FishHunter]

I walked into the water at the boat ramp with my new $800 smart phone in my shorts pocket. Realised it after the boat was launched and pulled the battery and left it to dry in the sun. 1 insurance claim later I got a new phone. Nothing survives a salt water dip.

[No Fear]

Mate did a similar thing in the pool....heard the way to fix it was to put in in the microwave on low for a short time (15 seconds I think)

Sure enough it was back to normal in no time

[Captain_Zero]

I drowned one wading in to unsnag a lure in shallow water at Nudgee one day. it was no good after that.

[aussiefool]

You lot do know that you are allowed to leave your phone at home or leave it in the tackle box away from water and spray? But then again no one ever rings me on my phone as it is only a tool to be used when I need it not a permanent ear attachment

[aussiefool]

Good tip by the way

[bluefin59]

Seems a fairly common occurance drowned phones ,if i drop one in salt water i am going to give it a wash in fresh and try the rice thing .What is there to loose and some great stories up here boys,not sure i would put one in the microwave though i have seen what happens with just a little tin foil . Thanks matt

[Scalem]

Chief did it recently in the Brisbane river too, he is still trying to talk to the fish by ringing his number;D ;D No offense Chief, somehow you must have a way of getting them to play ball, you always seem to do well in the Brissy;)

I think salt water reacts with the power of the battery and instantly corrodes the circuit board in the phone. I pulled one apart years ago after taking a dip trying to hold onto the boat at the ramp. The soldered pots inside were a mess.

Scalem

[STUIE63]

I used a hair dryer to bring one back to life after it had a swim in the esky . but once again fresh water . I tried the same thing with one that had a 3 second drop into the bilge and it came back to life but with buttons that didn't work so a new one was needed
Stuie

[Defore]

I drowned one in saltwater. Took the battery and sim card out, placed it in a bag of fresh water till I got home. Shook out any water I could. Then dipped it in alcohol to try and remove any remaining water. Lot it dry and it continued to work for over a year, before I replaced it.

Picked this idea up when I had drowned a camera in a home made underwater housing. I placed the camera without the battery in a bag of fresh water and took it to a camera specialist. The guy laughed at me when I showed him the camera in the bag of water. I asked him to call up the service department. When he did he joked to the guy at the other end about a customer having a camera in the bag with goldfish and wanting it to be serviced. His face changed when the service guy told him as long as the camera had been kept in fresh water that he could dry it with alcohol and it would still work. I picked the working camera up a week later and asked the so called "camera specialist" what he had done with my goldfish. ;D

Ian

[TheRealAndy]

Try this.

The first thing you need to do if you phone gets soaked is to get the battery out as quick as possible. Keep the battery out. I cant stress enough how important it is to get the battery out.

In salt water, do as suggested elsewhere and get it into fresh water ASAP. Once you get home a good thorough wash in fresh water will help stop any further corrosion that may have already occurred.

If you can, a 50/50 mix of isopropyl and fresh water (deionised water from the shops is best). You have to be careful with the alcohol, as it can melt plastic if to strong. I think chemists sell denatured alcohol, but check to make sure is only got isopropyl alcohol and water in it. Wash the phone in this.

The alcohol bonds with the water and assists in the evaporation of the water.

Into the rice container is next. You can also use warm air, compressed air whatever you can to help blow the water out.

When I used to repair electronics, I would clean boards down with ajax spray and wipe, then wash in soapy water (special liquid soap), rinse off in water, then final rinse of alcohol and water... The boards were then dried off using dried compressed air and left to sit for a period of time in a dehumidified chamber.

Circuit board manufacturers do the same.

[Steve_Morgan]

It's always worth a try.

Nearly 20 years ago I lost the flash off my Canon camera while photographing a big eye trevally at night in the Nerang - didn't take enough time and in the excitement, missed half of the mount.

It splashed in the water and the flash went off. We were bank-fishing, so I was able to fish it out - totally full of salt water.

I took out the batteries and threw it in the car, assuming it was rooted.

When I got home I busted it apart and washed it out under the tap and then took it to work and left it under the air conditioner outlet for a couple of days.

After that, I glued it back together, put in some fresh batteries and it worked for a decade more!

Cheers,

SM

[AnthonyL]

Putting it in rice has worked for my wife too and if you have an iphone that gets wrecked by water there is a place on the northside thats replaces the guts for $250.

[eugah]

Another trick I have used is to place the phone into a Zip Lock bag along with as many packets of those absorbant crystals as you can get (like those that come with tablets or cameras). Squeeze out as much air as possible.
If its salt water give it another swim in freah first.


Adrian

[Just_chips]

The rice has worked for me before also but another option if rice is not available is tea bags, they work on much the same principle also, drawing any moisture into the dehydrated tea leaves and out of the p electronics.

Kev

[mitchdemeanor]

I dunked my last phone in saltwater when i was pushing my boat out, left it turned on as it was still working throughout the whole trip. By the time i got back the touchscreen had stopped working so when i got home i did the whole take batt/sim card out thing and left it in the sun. The next day the touchscreen came back! only had a few issues that drove me nuts after a while, the batt only lasted a day and the cam didnt work. But all in all even though i didnt do things right straight away it still worked, basically sometimes you get away with it and sometimes you dont

[Mike Delisser]

If you drop a phone in saltwater get the battery out and wash both in fresh. As soon as you can place in a dish and cover with metho for a few hours. Then dry with a hair dryer or place on the dash of the car for a dayor so. I guess it works the same way as alcohol. I've fixed a couple of phones this way.

Cheers

[Whitto]

Yep.....Metho absorbes water.

[FishHunter]

Some good tips here.

[Mike Delisser]

Yep.....Metho absorbes water.

I think it might displace water, ie drive the water out of every nook n cranny, then it evaporates away to nuthing. I think :-?

[oldboot]

I can confirm what andy was saying.....back when we used to refurbish machines we would pull the PCBs out of them a scrub them in a bucket of detergent with a nail brush and rinse with clean water, then the compressed air.

we used scrub up gear that had all sorts of filth on it....even salt and corrosive dust from a furtiliser plant.

As long as there is no power and no particularly vunerable components clean water should not harm most electronics.

But yess get that battery out and fast.

On the matter of metho.....it can be a bit agressive on some plastics....I cleaned the knobs on a mixing console once with metho......it took all the painted lines off the caps......I regularl scrub printed circuit boards with metho...... but its the case parts, & printing you have to worry about.

isopropil is a much safer option....the easiest place to get it is the supermarket in the green bottle branded "Isocol"

If ya want to make the rice work harder......microwave the rice alone till it is nice and warm to touch...it will dry the rice out a bit and the warmth will help the process.

Personaly I put my phone in a zip lock baggie when I go near water..if its not a floip phone you can still answer it.

If ya realy want a cheap and effective wateproof housing......stick it in a condom and tie it up tight.....aparantly it even works with some flip phones.

cheers

[Mad-One]

Tea bag idea is also good for putting in unused fridges or freezers. You can shut them up and the next time you open it it won't stink. Was told this by a removalist so tried it once when I moved and fridge was stored for 5 mths opened it up and no smell. With phone get some epson salts and wrap in cloth and put in a container with phone it will draw out the moisture

Mad

[Bros]

I try to avoid getting in that position in the first place. I buy cheap phones and only the ones with the bit where you can thread a carry strap then put it around your neck and in the top pocket.

[tunaticer]

Careful with metho or any other solvent as the coatings on circuit boards may be disolved or rendered useless to protecting from moisture in the future.

[The-easyrider]

We fried three phones at once while fishing Weipa. we had beached the boat on a sand bar and had to get into the water to get it floating again and we were thinking of other things than phones and all three of had a phone in the shorts pocket. Dropped another in to a live sewer dont know if it suvived that or not

[Dignity]

And in this current crop of wet weather add rice to your salt shaker so that it doesn't get damp and you can enjoy your fish an chips all the more - lot of restaurants do it.

[deckie]

Rice is a good tip but the metho is a bit heavy duty...its just ethanol (pure alcohol) with some methanol (poisonous) thrown in to stop us drinking it. It'll cause some deterioration of the casing/finish. Should work to get rid of any moisure tho. As others mention its isopropyl alcohol that u want and its easy enough to get at any good chemist, camera places sell bottles of lens cleaner which is simply isopropyl. Its handy to have some regardless, great for cleaning jsut about anything.

Have lost 3 phones to being dunked in beers when off my dial being a goose..yes if u do it to others u gotta expect it back one day ;D. Flushed a couple of them later on in fresh but none survived...possibly because it was 12hrs later with a hangover before done. I'm nominating beer worse than saltwater ;D

[TheRealAndy]

both isopropyl and metho can damage the plastics and other parts inside the phone, hence the reason you water it down.