How To Save Your Phone From Water Damage

If you've never had a water damaged phone, you're probably not familiar with the deep heartbreak of watching your Samsung Galaxy swimming in water. Consider yourself lucky, because trust me, it's not pleasant.

Did you just get pushed into a pool with your phone in your pocket? Maybe it slipped from in between your shoulder and your head, right into the toilet.  Regardless of how the phone was exposed to water, if you follow these steps there is still hope for you to save your phone from water damage.

 

So how do you save your phone from water damage?

 

 

1. Get it out of the water fast!

 

The longer your phone sits in the water, the more liquid is filtered throughout your phone, making it harder to be saved. Hopefully the water you've dropped it in is clean, otherwise, a sacrifice needs to be made.

 

2. Shut it off

 

You don't want your phone to short circuit while water is permeating into the phone. Turning it off can save it from being destroyed.

 

3. Take apart as much of the phone as possible

 

If you can, remove the battery right away. Although iPhone's aren't very easy to take apart, you can remove the battery from Android phones.

 

4. Remove SIM card

 

Your SIM card carries important data that is convenient to keep - like contacts, text messages, and call history. If you can fish out the SIM card, you can save yourself the annoying task of collecting numbers again.

 

5. Wipe it down

 

Take a soft towel and dry out as much water as you can, watching out for any orifice on the phone. Don't shake your phone as this will just spread the water deeper throughout your phone, making it more likely that you won't be able to save your phone from water damage.

 

6. Vacuum out remaining water

 

Contrary to what most people say, using a blow dryer does not dry the phone but actually pushes the liquid further into the phone. Instead, use a vacuum cleaner to suck up as much of the water you can. Try this for about 15 minutes. If you have your phone taken apart, use the vacuum on different spots of the phone to increase the chance of getting water out.

 

7. Immerse in silica gel or rice

 

Just because your phone has been sucked dry from the vacuum cleaner, doesn't mean all the water has been removed. At this point you'll want to immerse the phone in a heavy amount of silica gel or cooking rice. This is to absorb any remaining water left within the phone. Make sure to use a large amount of rice or silica gel, as the entire phone needs to be covered. This step can be tricky with phones as pieces of rice could get stuck in the audio input. However, as long as you carefully place the phone in the rice and set in on a steady, even surface, you should be fine. Leave your phone in the bag overnight.

 

8. Wait 24-48 hours before you turn it back on

 

After the phone has been removed from the absorbing agent, take it out and place it on a dry surface. Even though it is tempting, do not turn on your phone right away! Remove the phone and its parts from the rice and let it sit for about a day or two (if you can make it that long). Once it has been 24-48 hours, make sure there are not any wet spots anywhere on the phone.

 

9. Test out to see if it's working

 

The moment of truth. Plug the phone into the charger, power it on, and observe what happens next. With any luck, your phone will turn back on and work like normal. Depending on how long your phone was in the water and where the water reached will all determine whether or not your phone can be saved.

 

Still not working?

 

Try taking it to your authorized carrier and see if there is anything that can inspect to fix it. In some cases, having the battery replaced can save the phone. Don't bother trying to be sneaky about your phone being exposed to water, there are internal indicators that can easily determine of your phone has been soaked or not.

Good luck, and let us know if these steps have helped save your phone from water damage.

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