Dry Out A Wet Cellphone

Tragedy! Your phone got wet and now it won’t turn on! What to do, what to do?! Well, there’s actually several things you can do to draw out the moisture and rescue your phone from a watery grave:

You can put your phone in:

  • a ziplock bag of uncooked rice and let it sit for a few hours
  • a bag with some silica packets
  • a hearing aid dryer for a few hours
  • Place it in an oven with just the oven light on for a few days
  • A bag of clay-based absorbent
  • The sun

If your phone falls in salt water, you will want to bathe it first in distilled/deionized water first to remove the salt. Reader Ryan adds, “Actually a deionized/distilled water wash is useful even if the offending liquid isn’t salt water. The minerals/ions in tap water are conductive and will remain after the water dries, potentially causing a short circuit later on. Most liquids have ions.”

Certainly cheaper than buying a new phone.

Have you ever rescued a wet phone? What technique did you use? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

What to do if your iPhone gets wet [Cnet] (Thanks to Barbara!)

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