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
IF IT CAN'T EAT A WHOLE PILLY I DON'T WANT IT
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.
Ian
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
Confucius says.........."Before man become master fisherman, man must become master baiter".
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
Yep.....Metho absorbes water.
Good Mates....Good Food.....Good Fishing....Priceless
Some good tips here.
I think it might displace water, ie drive the water out of every nook n cranny, then it evaporates away to nuthing. I thinkOriginally Posted by Whitto
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
Its the details, those little details, that make the difference.
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
Grow old disgracefully
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.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
