# Need cell phone technical help/ advice



## Cypher (Apr 15, 2006)

Hey all...

Just wondering if there's anyone here who's familiar with cell phones in the technical/ electronic aspects...

So I did something really, really stupid. I fell asleep with my cell phone in bed. This past month I've been painting with watercolors next to my bed so I have this bucket of water (to rinse brushes) next to my bed as well. Guess what happened? 

Sometime yesterday morning I must have kicked or flung my cell phone into that bucket. Couldn't find the phone all day and couldn't call it either - go figure. So anyways I just found it 30 minutes ago and am currently attempting to dry it. Took the battery out, took the memory card and SIM card out. Dried them on a towel. Shaking the b-gebus out of it, trying to get the last drop of water out of my phone. Dunno if it makes any difference but the bucket was full of new tap water from me cleaning it out 2 nights ago. 

My phone is a Nokia 5230.

My question is this -when/ if everything is dry. Is there ANY way the cell phone might work again? Should I even bother to try charging the cell battery once everything is dried? Or is it all pretty much toast?

Thanks regardless.

~:^P
~feeling fizzled~


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

I would wait at least 24hours to ensure all water has evaporated then try turning it on, what do you have to lose? I did know someone who had his cell phone go through the washing machine twice and still worked at the end.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

There is still a chance it might work again. However, you need to make sure it dries thoroughly, which is guaranteed only if you take it apart and dry all parts. It will take a lot more than 24 hours to dry all parts inside the phone if not taken apart.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Chances of it being fully functional are slim. You still might have a chance to get it working as a basic phone to make calls but that's also slim.

Nokias are built Ford Tough though so give it a shot


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## ryno1974 (Dec 6, 2009)

Take all the parts apart, and put it in a bowl if dry rice. It will act as a desicant and pull the moisture out. You need to bury it in there for a few days though - I would leave it for a week. 

Good luck. 

Sent from my X10a using Tapatalk


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*wet phone*

my kid did the same not once but twice grrrrrrrrrrr the first time i dried it good and it worked , the second time not so lucky 
if u have a car , and u want turn the heat on real high set it on defrost and let the car heater dry it as u drive , it worked for me the heater in the car is real hot i think hotter than a hair dryer 
good luck 
tom


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Do you have a dehumidifier? put the dehumidifier and phone in a box together. You'll want to get all moisture out of the phone, not just loose droplets.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Cypher said:


> Hey all...
> 
> Just wondering if there's anyone here who's familiar with cell phones in the technical/ electronic aspects...
> 
> ...


I have been through something similar to this once before. Tho my case was more extreme. I normally baby my gear and take care of my kit but one time about 5 yrs ago I needed to go out to buy some stuff for my folks as I was leaving my place I got a fleece sweater which has a chest pocket. Being as I was going for a quick down the street to the store I just left with phone and keys. I normally don't put my phone in my chest pocket.

Well when I got the stuff and dropped it off to my folks I did my laundry and put that fleece sweater into the washer. >_<;; I forgot it was there as the sweater had a velcro pocket >_<; Long story short the phone was on and it went through a detergent wash, fabric softener (auto loader) rinse, and lastly a full dry cycle in the dryer on high. I did not know the phone was there till I was folding the clothes and was in shock over that.

I got online and checked all over on what to do. I mean I was meaning to clean the dust out of the rubber case but did not expect that extreme a cleaning. I was worrying the same thing that it shorted as the phone was on when it went into the wash and came out off.

What I did and what worked for me (knock on wood, it worked!),

Model: Sanyo 4920
Case: Supplied rubber bumper case

1. Remove bumper case
2. Remove battery

3. Shake & wipe any water from the phone/battery (get a pair of clean socks, put each item in, make sure you got enough swinging room, flail it for like 10-15seconds)

4. Put the phone and battery on top of my CRT monitor for a week. (was suggested 72hrs min)

5. A few days passed and it seemed condensation was on the inside of the screen trapped. Use an exacto or very thin knife to lift the screen to vent the trapped moisture out.

6. A week later I put the battery in and powered it up. Thank goddess it worked. No data loss. No stuck buttons. But the LCD had a slight tint shading to it. I later saw it becoming less and less so I attributed it to remaining moisture which went away after approx. a week and a bit.

Well that is what did. You could wait 72hrs with your phone on a warm surface (ie. top of monitor worked good for me (did not know the temp as I did nto have a temp gun then. I would probably say it was ~50C) then do a power up but I opted for a week just to be sure and try to minimize any shorting on power up if it did. I was lucky it came back alive.

Just checked your Nokia model. You phone is similar to mine. Not sure if your camera shutter/camera would still work but only one way to find out. 

Hope that helps. The rice idea works as well and I remember it being suggested back then in combo with the warm surface after about 72hrs airing it out then if need bury in rice for removing any extra moisture.


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## Cypher (Apr 15, 2006)

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! Have the phone in a ziplock bag with rice, battery's on top of my old crt monitor (2nd screen), just waiting for things to dry out.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Cypher said:


> Thanks for all the suggestions guys! Have the phone in a ziplock bag with rice, battery's on top of my old crt monitor (2nd screen), just waiting for things to dry out.


Inside ziplock bag won't be good, as moisture would be trapped there as well, even with rice.

The suggestion with rice is
- take it apart completely (use proper disassembly technique, tools)
- put all parts in a bowl of rice (not sealed ziplock bag)


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## Cypher (Apr 15, 2006)

arg, crap. Have to find/ buy a small enough allen wrench to take out inside panel of the phone .


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Cypher said:


> arg, crap. Have to find/ buy a small enough allen wrench to take out inside panel of the phone .


You might also need those tiny screw drivers, once you get past the case. Check out the toolkit they sell in canadacomputers.com stores, or the "Source" (Radio Shack). Hardware stores usually don't carry those.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Rice won't do much for dessication. Get yourself those silica dryer bead packages from packages of cookies and other goods. 

Heating the phone in a sealed container may do more harm than good if you can't remove all of the humidity from within the container - I would "dry" it out in an open container, unless you can hook a container up with a dehumidifier.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

conix67 said:


> Inside ziplock bag won't be good, as moisture would be trapped there as well, even with rice.
> 
> The suggestion with rice is
> - take it apart completely (use proper disassembly technique, tools)
> - put all parts in a bowl of rice (not sealed ziplock bag)


Just to clarify I did not do a full disassembly on my phone. It was just the battery removed and phone laid out. I should note when I was drying the phone out I placed it a black BBQ chicken tray (like the ones you find at Loblaws/etc) and the battery contacts/phone LCD face up.

It was not in a bag as reasoning was I wanted as much air and heat to evaporate the moisture in the phone. I was most shocked the li-ion battery did not expode in the dryer and thinking afterwards perhaps I lost 1/2 the battery life. Nope, if I did lose any capacity it would have to be measured from a charger battery analyzer as I was still able to have about 4 days of battery under light calling. 

On the rice thing it was suggested to me to put it in a tub (ie. tupperware WITHOUT LID) and pour the rice on top of it and keep it over the heat. It's up to you if you want to wait out a week or try it on after 72hrs. I just took the week to be safe as I'm not sure if it would come back alive if it shorted at 72hrs but that was just my thinking then. Hope things turn out well for you.


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

Put it on top of the refrigerator, near the back- leave it there for at least 3-4 days. It's warm and dry up there and will work like a dehumidifier


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