I wanted to throw this out there in case someone else can benefit from it.
Yesterday I dropped my S2 E4GT in the toilet. I'll save you the details, but yes, it was "clean" water. Luckily I think it hit the basin before the water which caused the battery cover to fall off and the battery to fall out prior to being submerged.
Completely dejected, I did the following (what could it hurt?):
I took the phone to my air compressor in the garage and blew compressed air through every nook and cranny.
Placed the phone in a Pyrex bowl.
Covered the phone in white rice.
Placed the bowl with the phone in the oven at 170 degrees F (the lowest setting).
Forgot about the phone while troubleshooting a car issue.
Came back in after an hour and twenty minutes to my wife telling me she removed my phone from the oven because it smelled like burning plastic.
The phone looked normal, so I shook the rice out of it, and figured with nothing to lose, put a different battery (Anker) in the phone and it booted up like normal(!)
So far the phone is working like it always had. A few things that saved me: I had removed the external SD card prior to the "incident", I had a charged up spare battery on hand, and I think the fact that the battery popped out before it hit the water probably saved the day.
Not sure what the optimum cook time is at 170 degrees, but after 80 minutes or so, even though it smelled like hot plastic parts, there is no noticeable deformities or defects.
Give it a shot, your mileage may vary.
I think the only thing you can really hurt in an oven like that is the LCD screen. Usually, everything else is good to about 100 degrees C (~200 degrees F) if it's off. If you're patient, the rice will remove most of the water overnight. Just shake it off before you throw it in the rice. The biggest problem is getting water spots under the screen.
A big no no with electronics is using an air compressor to clean or dry it. It can blast off small components like smd caps. Also air compressors have small amounts of oil in them that can carry tiny bits of metal with it as it is being pushed out of the hose with the air. Than can provide a decent conductive bridge. Also with air rushing through a device with metal and plastic in it, static electricity will build up. You got very lucky.
I personally take the entire device apart and bake only the motherboard in rice at about 180 for an hour and let the digitizer and screen assembly dry while wrapped in a towel over night.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
graydiggy said:
A big no no with electronics is using an air compressor to clean or dry it. It can blast off small components like smd caps. Also air compressors have small amounts of oil in them that can carry tiny bits of metal with it as it is being pushed out of the hose with the air. Than can provide a decent conductive bridge. Also with air rushing through a device with metal and plastic in it, static electricity will build up. You got very lucky.
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Click to collapse
I hate to say it, but my grandparents have an old i386 system that would disagree with you. (As well as several impact guns that disagree with your claim about oil being in the air.) Plus, I've used an air compressor on modern systems plenty of times. The trick is to not be stupid. Make sure you are using an air dryer, turn off the oil (most people don't even have this anyway), and don't shove the blow nozzle into the board, and you'll be fine.
Also, you're a lot more likely to screw something up when removing the board and digitizer than just letting the entire thing sit in rice, or even bake at a low temperature. A hair dryer is a much better option than an oven or air compressor IMO.
graydiggy said:
A big no no with electronics is using an air compressor to clean or dry it. It can blast off small components like smd caps. Also air compressors have small amounts of oil in them that can carry tiny bits of metal with it as it is being pushed out of the hose with the air. Than can provide a decent conductive bridge. Also with air rushing through a device with metal and plastic in it, static electricity will build up. You got very lucky.
I personally take the entire device apart and bake only the motherboard in rice at about 180 for an hour and let the digitizer and screen assembly dry while wrapped in a towel over night.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
No doubt I got lucky. That is a good point on compressed air. My system has a filter and a dryer attached, so water and oil should not have been an issue for me, but it's something to think about if you have an out of the box air compressor.
I've had bad luck taking electronics apart, particularly with the snap fit assemblies that so many electronics incorporate.
I figured my phone was done; anything I could try would be an experiment and if it worked out, great.
Related
my friends phone got waterlogged, unfortunately the water got into display itself... everything was perfectly dried and works fine with exception of display... it got occassionally lines on it (it was unreadable for about an hour after reassembly) and while underlighted it is still full of water (the display consists of many layers) anyone has some cheap way of getting the water safely out? (it might not be even clean water, it was a tap water which may contain various minerals)
I have always used a meat dehydrator.you know ,the things that make beef jerky. 48 hours in that will dry it out as safe as you can get. (mine dose not heat up much past 40c.) You don't want it too warm or too much forced air flow.
okay, will silica gel + heat from radiator (not much, just to force the water into steam form) do the job too? also, do you think that cleaning the display with distilled water is good idea? afaik distilled water is non-conductive when properly distilled and it might clean the minerals (if any present) from tap water...
okay, after one day letting it dry on its own while used (friend doesnt have any working spare phone and so i - so i put it together, hoping it will not corrode because of increased humidity) in phone the display is about 50% dried out and the dried space is like new one, no dirty stains at all, so i'm not gonna open it again those flex cables doesn't look robust enough for daily manipulation anyway thanks for your help
Don't forget to use the thanks button to thank the ones who helped you
If it ever happens again, or if someone else stumbles on this, just throw the phone in a tub if uncooked rice. Open or closed, it'll do the same thing.
Sent from my HTC_A510c
One of the best way to dry phone after flooding is to put it into the glass of rectified spirit. Alcohol mixes with water and leaches minerals (clears electronic parts). Alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature, making drying easier.
sky_86 said:
One of the best way to dry phone after flooding is to put it into the glass of rectified spirit. Alcohol mixes with water and leaches minerals (clears electronic parts). Alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature, making drying easier.
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True. And once it's dry, then you'd better hope it didn't short-circuit because of the water... Then you would just be left with a waterlog... I heard Apple has a great deal of experience with water damage xD
Hey people. I have a situation here. I dropped my phone getting out of my truck yesterday and it was pouring rain, just my luck!in Vegas pouring rain. Anyway, I had no idea my phone was on the ground until about 20 or so minutes my girlfriend found it and told me about it. I immediately took it apart and put it in a bowl of rice. This morning I turned it on to see of it worked, it booted up fine. When it got to the lockscreen I couldn't unlock it. Only the right third of the screen worked .I could pull the notification drawer down but that's really it. So it put it back in rice. Now my question is, should I leave it in another day ,2 or more? Am I just screwed or can I still rescue it? Its so sad. On a serious note though, how can I go about to at least back up my stuff or can I not do that. If there is really anything I can do, please help me. The screen has no water damage, and I was under the impression that the whole screen has to stop functioning, not just a part of it. Thanks in advance, and I will check this thread later tonight since I don't have a phone and wont be home until tonight. Thanks in advance for any help/advice. Extra info, phone is rooted running CNA the black theme version by daxmax. I have a backup of aokp, I don't know if that is relevant or not.
Had that problem with an old Android when I dropped it in water. One side wouldnt work for a few hours so I tossed it back in rice. The screen eventually started working again so I assume it was still wet and needed to dry some more.
Put it back into the rice and don't touch it, the more you turn it on, the more damage it does, let it dry first, and open up your phone to wipe dry any water you see if you are comfortable with it.
Beamed from my Grouper
That's bad. My gio had a water damage before, now my screen has some water spot and my volume button is completely broken. After 6 months now my vibration doesn't work anymore. I suggest u to sell it if u found no error, because they maybe will have some problems in the future. Just my suggestion
Sent from my GT-S5660 using xda app-developers app
I must express a word of caution before trying my method of cleaning PCBs. As I do not know how sensitive the components are on the GNex board, some research/googling of certain components may be required. This is a general cleaning practice for water damaged PCBs.
You can try cleaning the motherboard with isopropyl alcohol. 70% or higher. Get an old toothbrush, clean that first, the get a shallow tray and submerge the board. Gently brush the board all over and pull it out. Next, get a hair dryer with a cold setting and blow cold air on it for a few minutes until the alcohol has evaporated. This helps clean out any water spots and corrosion that the water may have caused. Just make sure all the alcohol has evaporated. This will also help with getting any water that may be hiding and reeking havoc in small spaces.
Assemble and see if it helps.
Lastly, you attempt this at your own risk, I am in no way responsible for any damage or further damage caused by this method.
warglock said:
I must express a word of caution before trying my method of cleaning PCBs. As I do not know how sensitive the components are on the GNex board, some research/googling of certain components may be required. This is a general cleaning practice for water damaged PCBs.
You can try cleaning the motherboard with isopropyl alcohol. 70% or higher. Get an old toothbrush, clean that first, the get a shallow tray and submerge the board. Gently brush the board all over and pull it out. Next, get a hair dryer with a cold setting and blow cold air on it for a few minutes until the alcohol has evaporated. This helps clean out any water spots and corrosion that the water may have caused. Just make sure all the alcohol has evaporated. This will also help with getting any water that may be hiding and reeking havoc in small spaces.
Assemble and see if it helps.
Lastly, you attempt this at your own risk, I am in no way responsible for any damage or further damage caused by this method.
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Click to collapse
Will be better if you use 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, it dries faster and 70% Isopropyl Alcohol usually leave water marks. Just that 91% Isopropyl Alcohol is kinda expensive.
Beamed from my Grouper
Isopropyl alcohol is fairly cheap a couple dollars at your local pharmacy for a 500ml bottle to save a 350+ dollar phone seems pretty worth it to me. That said do not use anything less than 90% if you want to splurge you can also go the route of pure distilled deionized water (this can get rather pricey). I'd suggest disassembling your gnex as far as you feel comfortable and use the methods described by others above. Do not use any heating implement to dry anything as there is a high likelihood of warping or otherwise damaging electronic components (principally the PCB)
Well thank you all for your input, it seems my Nexus survived. I took it out of rice this morning and it was working again like a charm. No water marks, vibration works fine, and smooth sailing so far. I have taken or apart before, but I don't trust myself to clean it and mess with the motherboard. As long is it works I am happy, just ordered a new housing though, since it got a nasty scuff from dropping it. RICE is amazing is all I can say
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
We've all seen the various posts of HELP I HAVE WATER DAMAGE. In fact a global search of XDA will net you with a LOT of posts asking for help.
Everything from I dropped it in the snow, to my kid put it in the toilet, and my personal favorite, I was listening to music while in the shower and it vibrated itself into the toilet. :good:
But in all these cases the poster is asking what to do, their beloved device won't power on and they have something "important" that they forgot to back up and need off of the device.
I've seen such things as put it into a bag of rice (usually about a 25% chance of recovery), and wrap it in paper towels. Even 1 suggested to put it in the microwave.
Lets put some of these myth's do rest shall we. Lets start with the microwave. DUDE WTH are you thinking? Electronics, microwave, BAD IDEA! No ten seconds, no 5 seconds, not even 1 second. You are just begging for BAD to happen, DON'T EVEN THINK OF IT!
Wrap the device in paper towels, while YES paper towels are absorbent, they are NOT going to get the water out from the inside of the device, no matter how "open" you have it.
Putting the device in a bag or jar of flour. AGAIN BAD IDEA! While YES flour is very good at pulling moisture it is just going to cake up and actually cause even MORE damage to the device.
Hair dryer, Ok this does have SOME merit, but again heat to an electronic device is not something that you REALLY want. Especially with many devices being made of plastic now days. This will end up with permanent fogging of the glass and render the device virtually unusable.
Rice Rice Baby....duh nah nuh nuh nah nuh nuh, put it in a bag of white rice baby. Rice is a FOOD, while it does react to water well, it is not a very good idea, but then again it is a FAR CRY better then the ones above. This could work, but I would rather leave the device as open to the air as possible and let it air dry for a week then put an electronic device into a bag of rice.
Silica Jell, Silica Jell WILL pull moisture out of the air, and in fact in an enclosed space such as a zip locking bag, they work VERY WELL at pulling moisture out of electronic devices. Now I've heard of complaints about how expensive these little baggies are to the average consumer, but NO they are not.
You say you can't afford to buy silica jell packs? Well why not? Many of you are married, and have had to take that HORRID trip to the shoe store. Instead of just playing with your phone or what ever, while your wife is off looking at some new pumps or heels that she "needs," go up to a store clerk and ask them if they have any of the little bags of silica sitting around. Tell them what you need it for, and 9 out of 10 times you will walk out of the shoe store with not just new shoes for your wife, but a FREE insurance policy for your beloved electronic devices.
Hit up several shoe stores, get yourself a bag full of them. Get them home and hide them away. I prefer to put them into a vacuum seal jar and vacuum seal the jar closed. This does a couple things. It keeps the silica jell from absorbing any free moisture in the air, and often makes it so that little hands won't mess with them. All in all you want about 200 of the little baggies. WHY. Because I told you to, no really the reason is, that some will already be full, and others will not, you just never know for certain.
When that inevitable moment comes that you need to recover from your arse hole brother in law pushing you into the pool with your new device, open that jar up, grab a zip locking type bag, drop your device in it, then cover that sucker with all you can fit. Leave your device in the bag for AT LEAST 3 days with the battery out and all in the bag. let those little insurance policies do their job for you. There is of course a level of failure in this but it is by far more effective then any of the above posted "methods."
I did a personal test over the last 2 weeks with an old HTC Tilt. That dad burned thing has been sitting in my desk for a couple years now BEGGING to have something done to it. Well now it did.
I filled a mixing bowl with water and turned the phone on, and waited for it to get done booting up. Once it was done I dropped it into the bowl and waited 5 seconds. Reached in, grabbed it out and yanked the back off and took the battery out. Put the phone, battery, back and all into a zip locking type bag, and removed the sim card and sd card. Opened up my handy dandy jar of silica jell packs and poured them into the bag.
I zipped it closed and left the phone in there for 5 days. Pulled it out, and looked over the phone. YES the water indicator had been tripped I put the battery back in, put the back on, put in the sim card, and pressed the power button. Then out of no where I heard my phone come to life, and the screen was just fine. The phone has been sitting plugged into a wall socket and left on for 5 days now. So far no issues, not even a speaker issue.
After I pulled the Tilt out of the bag, I decided WHY NOT, and dropped my old Tilt 2 into a bowl of water and did the same thing. And now, it too is sitting plugged in to a wall socket and left on for a couple days. Only issue with it so far is that it OCCASIONALLY has a bit of "static" with certain alert tones.
So here I sit with a 100% success rate for 2 devices intentionally put into what would normally be the end of life for an electronic device.
So do yourself a favor, and get a bunch of those little baggies and save them up for when you need them. I would however recommend replacing the ENTIRE LOT of them every few months, even if you have them vacuum sealed. Why, because i told you to. No, really, it is because everything has some sort of expiration. Better to keep them refreshed then to find out that you didn't change them out 2 years ago and they absorbed all the moisture out of the air in the bathroom where you hid them.
Rice is hygroscopic and works just fine as a drying agent since you're not drying your phone for a month. better than open air.
gel, not jell
I got a cracked up screen, i'm really hoping I don't have to fight water damage... (i know how to replace the glass and I plan on doing it sometime sorta soon)
I think I'd prefer cracked screen to water damage if I had to pick.
Way back when I had a little iPod nano that went into the wash with and old Samsung flip phone the phone died but the iPod survived. I had put them in front of a wall heater, basically equivalent to a hair dryer i guess.
just be smart don't get your phone wet
OH any thoughts on Liquipel? http://www.liquipel.com/
sounds like they use a vacuum to coat everything inside.
I'd be interested to try some of NeverWet's product with my vacuum pump
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7is6r6zXFDc
http://www.neverwet.com/index.php
But it sounds like they aren't in production yet.
Ok. My wife dropped her two week old GS3 in the toilet and few weeks back. She claims it started making weird noises and the screen was flashing. She turned it off and let it dry out in the sun. A couple of hours later she returned home and I turned it on. There was a green hue to the screen.The touch screen was unresponsive. I turned it off and took out the battery, sd card and sim card. I shook the phone and felt some water come out. We put the phone in a zip lock bag filled with rice and a handful of those little descicant packets. Her idea. We let the phone sit there for around 36 hours. We then turned it back on and everything did and still does work fine.
I doubt the rice or packets actually did anything. I think just giving it time to dry was all that was needed. Just my personal experience.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
jjm3175 said:
I doubt the rice or packets actually did anything. I think just giving it time to dry was all that was needed. Just my personal experience.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
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The rice and silica absolutely did something - its the chemical equivalent of vacuuming the moisture out of every nook and cranny. You'll never air dry it as much.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Silca gel does 999x better then air drying,it even takes the moisture from water spots. Do not air dry please. You will build corrosion from water and oxygen on electronic parts
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Saiboogu said:
The rice and silica absolutely did something - its the chemical equivalent of vacuuming the moisture out of every nook and cranny. You'll never air dry it as much.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
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+1
The air in your home has some moisture/humidity already, making air drying much less effective than silica gel or rice.
I guess I should be thankful for my wife's shoe buying habit since I'm the one who paid for the phone lol.
Good thread.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
My slippery fingers dropped the G4 in water (not salt water). Removed the battery as quick as I could and put the phone, battery into a rice bowl. Booted it up after about an hour and it's just showing me "Firmware Update" without a USB cable plugged in.
I haven't tried flashing it to anything just yet. Is it possible that the water might got somewhere into the USB port and making the phone think it's in download mode? I'm gonna dump it in the rice bowl for a few more hours.
Edit - The liquid contact indicator above the SD card is still white. The LCI on the battery is red thou.
Try replacing battery first
bender_007 said:
Try replacing battery first
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice. Now it's booting fine with both batteries (I had one extra that wasn't water damaged).
I think there's still some water left in the headphone jack since the G4 thinks it's plugged into an audio out device. I've tried cleaning the hole with some very soft cloth but no change. If I blow hard enough into the jack, it'll momentarily come out of that mode just to go back soon as I stop. I guess I just have to wait a few more hours.
Edit - When blowing air into the headphone jack, LG Voice Mate app comes up. Rather weird.
Sadly yes, it´s a known issue, first when they see the headphones they will think the phone was skinny diving
I'd like to take this opportunity to advise people not to put their phones in a bag of rice. You don't put your laundry in a bag of rice to dry it, you hang it up in a warm area with moving air. The rice and bag will keep the water in your phone longer than drying it in the sun. It works eventually, but it isn't as good as putting it on your heating vent or just in a sunny spot. By the way, I don't recommend a clothes dryer.
bender_007 said:
Sadly yes, it´s a known issue, first when they see the headphones they will think the phone was skinny diving
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After a few more hours of rest near in a dry, warm place, the jack is back in service. Hopefully no more crazy jack again.
The battery with red LCI seems to be working fine still. Should I retire it completely?
Robert18 said:
I'd like to take this opportunity to advise people not to put their phones in a bag of rice. You don't put your laundry in a bag of rice to dry it, you hang it up in a warm area with moving air. The rice and bag will keep the water in your phone longer than drying it in the sun. It works eventually, but there's it isn't as good as putting it on your heating vent or just in a sunny spot. By the way, I don't recommend a clothes dryer.
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Click to collapse
Rice always seems to have worked for me. Anyway, I chose a sunny spot later on.
I have heard the opposite about rice - it is better than putting your phone on heater or using hair dryer. The best solution would be to put it in an airtight bag with silica gel (those small, white paper packages that come with your newly purchased bags and shoes).
You and everyone else have heard the same thing, but testing has shown that putting your wet phone in a bag of rice will keep it wet longer than just putting it on a counter (that's not in a locker room). And it makes sense, compare putting a wet sock in a sealed bag of rice (or silica) and another hanging somewhere, like over a heating vent. In one you've sealed the moisture in a bag, in the other you're letting heat evaporate the water and providing air to take the moisture away. It's a myth that a bag of rice is helping you.
Throwing my rice experience in here. It is TRUE. Rice does work and absorbs the moisture. My son took a swim (SWIM!) with his Atrix 4G in the DEEP END of the pool. He immediately disassembled it as I've told him to. We got rice and a bag, completely submerged in the rice and put ALL pieces (except the back) in it for 5 days in the window of our house that got sunlight. After 5 days, the Atrix booted up as good as before the swim. The trick is to disassemble right away AND DO NOT TRY TO POWER IT ON FOR MINIMUM 3 DAYS! We also shook it out until no more water was coming out of any holes. So to those skeptics, you're wrong, it does work if you have patience.
I don't doubt that a phone which has been wet, then put into a bag of rice, will eventually dry. My point is that it would have dried much faster if you had done something else. Just because your phone worked after putting it in rice, doesn't mean the rice helped you, it just means it didn't hurt enough to keep the phone from recovering. Again, try wetting 2 socks, then put one in a bag of rice, and one on a clothes line. The one on the clothes line will dry faster, but maybe the one in the rice will eventually dry also. Most people don't want to wait 5 days for their laundry, so we've found better ways of getting water out of objects.
Water will hurt your electronics in a few ways, one is that it is the universal solvent and may dissolve something (like a glue or flux) if left there too long. But most likely the biggest issue is that it conducts electricity if it has enough minerals in it. If the phone is on when it gets wet and the water has high mineral content, it's possible that some parts will just short circuit and burn out some. If most of the electronics are off, then the biggest problem is the left over residual minerals that will stick to phone parts and conduct electricity where it shouldn't, but that depends on how hard your water is. In some cases, you'd be better off washing the phone in deionized water which doesn't conduct electricity and is used in cleaning electronics.
Hello, proper panicking put my phone down in some water. What should i do?
Help please...!
Sent from my SGP521 using Tapatalk
put it in a bag with uncooked rice. forget you own a phone for at least 24 hours.
Ok the rice wont damage it any more will it.
It wasnt in it for long. And it was a very small puddle....[emoji35] [emoji35] [emoji35]
Sent from my SGP521 using Tapatalk
Uncooked rice, the more the better, will absorb the moisture. Leave it in long enough, and you should be good to go
Did the phone rest any longer in the water? If yes you should use rice and cotton pad if it wasnt all that long you don't need tovworry about it cause it's splash proof
Do not try to turn it on until the rice absorb the moisture.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
nathlynn22 said:
Hello, proper panicking put my phone down in some water. What should i do?
Help please...!
Sent from my SGP521 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't be that worried buddy, watch this vid. The rice for a day is like a guarantee just to be safe. Chances are its fine though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzh6ypmNwSg
I just put it in the airing cup oars seems good. Thanks.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
I accidently dropped my phone in water yesterday although I took it out almost immediately it's just totally died on me and won't start up at all, totally gutted how an expenisive phone like this can't even withstand a little bit of water.
sam-man said:
I accidently dropped my phone in water yesterday although I took it out almost immediately it's just totally died on me and won't start up at all, totally gutted how an expenisive phone like this can't even withstand a little bit of water.
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Click to collapse
Damn. If mine broke I'd claim on house insurance. But mine seems OK.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
sam-man said:
I accidently dropped my phone in water yesterday although I took it out almost immediately it's just totally died on me and won't start up at all, totally gutted how an expenisive phone like this can't even withstand a little bit of water.
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That's weird, someone on YouTube dunked their 10 in a bowl of water for like a some amount of minutes and it worked fine afterwards. Not sure if sound was working though.
Ndaoud360 said:
That's weird, someone on YouTube dunked their 10 in a bowl of water for like a some amount of minutes and it worked fine afterwards. Not sure if sound was working though.
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Click to collapse
Mine's just gone dead, nothing at all, it heats up if I put it on charge.
I'll call HTC tomorrow to see if I can do a deal of some sort with them.
The rice won't do anything since the water you want it to absorb is inside the phone, where the rice won't reach anyway. The best thing you can do is open the phone up and dry it up with a blow dryer or heat gun. If this is something you can't do or are uncomfortable with doing, putting it in the oven at around 120°f (50°c) is the next best thing.
#killthericemyth
mekanismen said:
The rice won't do anything since the water you want it to absorb is inside the phone, where the rice won't reach anyway. The best thing you can do is open the phone up and dry it up with a blow dryer or heat gun. If this is something you can't do or are uncomfortable with doing, putting it in the oven at around 120°f (50°c) is the next best thing.
#killthericemyth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This Popular Mechanics article contradicts all of your claims:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/how-to/a3419/dry-out-your-cell-phone/
Quoted:
With the battery safely set aside, you now have one goal--dry your phone, and dry it fast. If you let the moisture evaporate naturally, the chance of corrosion damaging the phone's innards increases. Instead, blow or suck the water out. But don't use a hair dryer--its heat can fry your phone's insides. Instead, opt for a can of compressed air, an air compressor set to a low psi or a vacuum cleaner (a wet/dry Shop-Vac would be perfect). The idea is to use air to push or pull moisture out through the same channels it entered.
Finally, use a desiccant to wick away any leftover moisture.*The most convenient choice is uncooked rice.*Just leave the phone (and its disconnected battery) submerged in a bowl of grains overnight. If you're worried about rice dust getting inside your phone, you can instead use the packets of silica gel that often come stuffed in the pockets of new clothes. But acting fast is far more important than avoiding a little dust, so don't waste time shopping if you don't already have a drawer full of silica gel.
The most important thing to remember is to avoid heat. That means no hair dryers, ovens, microwaves or extended periods in direct sunlight. While heat will certainly evaporate the moisture, it could also warp components and melt adhesives.
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Click to collapse
pidzero said:
This Popular Mechanics article contradicts all of your claims:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/how-to/a3419/dry-out-your-cell-phone/
Quoted:
With the battery safely set aside, you now have one goal--dry your phone, and dry it fast. If you let the moisture evaporate naturally, the chance of corrosion damaging the phone's innards increases. Instead, blow or suck the water out. But don't use a hair dryer--its heat can fry your phone's insides. Instead, opt for a can of compressed air, an air compressor set to a low psi or a vacuum cleaner (a wet/dry Shop-Vac would be perfect). The idea is to use air to push or pull moisture out through the same channels it entered.
The key here is, as in so many other cases, common sense. Don't go crazy with a 1200°f heat gun and don't broil your phone.
Finally, use a desiccant to wick away any leftover moisture.*The most convenient choice is uncooked rice.*Just leave the phone (and its disconnected battery) submerged in a bowl of grains overnight. If you're worried about rice dust getting inside your phone, you can instead use the packets of silica gel that often come stuffed in the pockets of new clothes. But acting fast is far more important than avoiding a little dust, so don't waste time shopping if you don't already have a drawer full of silica gel.
The most important thing to remember is to avoid heat. That means no hair dryers, ovens, microwaves or extended periods in direct sunlight. While heat will certainly evaporate the moisture, it could also warp components and melt adhesives.
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Believe what you want; I'm IPC certified and have been doing PCB-repairs for over four years. I'm simply sharing the knowledge you need to best deal with an issue like this.
The only thing that can actually get fried from the heat that a hair dryer produces is the battery. If you for some reason hold the hair dryer ON the battery for an extended period of time. Not that I know why you'd want to do that. Any surface mounted component on the board should be perfectly fine with direct heat up to almost 500°f.
The key here is common sense. Don't go crazy with a 1200°f heat gun and don't broil or microwave your phone.
mekanismen said:
Believe what you want;
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The only thing that can actually get fried from the heat that a hair dryer produces is the battery. If you for some reason hold the hair dryer ON the battery for an extended period of time. Not that I know why you'd want to do that. Any surface mounted component on the board should be perfectly fine with direct heat up to almost 500°f.
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I believe that uncooked rice is a desiccant, and can wick-up proximate moisture.
You can stick your phone (battery removed, of course) in the oven at 500°F.
I decline in spite of your "qualifications" on the grounds that 63/37 has a melting point of 370°F [edit]361°F (pardon)[/edit].
If you told me you never messed up a single component by holding the iron on it too long, I wouldn't believe you.
pidzero said:
I believe that uncooked rice is a desiccant, and can wick-up proximate moisture.
You can stick your phone (battery removed, of course) in the oven at 500�°F.
I decline in spite of your "qualifications" on the grounds that 63/37 has a melting point of 370�°F.
If you told me you never messed up a single component by holding the iron on it too long, I wouldn't believe you.
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Proximate moisture as in moisture it is in fact in contact with. The water the rice is able to absorb isn't water that does any harm to the phone anyway, hence the uselessness. Or are you saying that the rice somehow magically sucks the moisture out through the speaker and microphone grills?
63/37 does indeed melt at 370°f, but applying 500°f using a heat gun for a minute or two from a couple of inches distance will not make the solder reach that kind of temperature. I never recommended anyone to put their phone in an oven at 500°f.
If I said that I never messed up a single component by applying too much heat I'd be lying. I've done it too many times to count.
Anyway people, feel free to put your phone in a bag filled with edible seed of your choice , but don't be surprised if starts acting up a couple of days later.
mekanismen said:
Proximate moisture as in moisture it is in fact in contact with. The water the rice is able to absorb isn't water that does any harm to the phone anyway, hence the uselessness. Or are you saying that the rice somehow magically sucks the moisture out through the speaker and microphone grills?
63/37 does indeed melt at 370°f, but applying 500°f using a heat gun for a minute or two from a couple of inches distance will not make the solder reach that kind of temperature. I never recommended anyone to put their phone in an oven at 500°f.
If I said that I never messed up a single component by applying too much heat I'd be lying. I've done it too many times to count.
Anyway people, feel free to put your phone in a bag filled with edible seed of your choice , but don't be surprised if starts acting up a couple of days later.
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In hindsight of my original reply to the OP, it would have been wise to include instructions on drying the phone by means of draining through the introduction path and using compressed air. The OP would have benefited from the information.
It is unnecessary for a desiccant to have direct contact with water. If desiccants didn't absorb moisture, they wouldn't be in the packaging of everything from shoes to medicine to electronics.
It is important that most water be eliminated by other means first, but the dry rice will absorb, with time, remaining moisture, just like dry air climates reduce drenching sweat from your body on a hot day.
pidzero said:
In hindsight of my original reply to the OP, it would have been wise to include instructions on drying the phone by means of draining through the introduction path and using compressed air. The OP would have benefited from the information.
It is unnecessary for a desiccant to have direct contact with water. If desiccants didn't absorb moisture, they wouldn't be in the packaging of everything from shoes to medicine to electronics.
It is important that most water be eliminated by other means first, but the dry rice will absorb, with time, remaining moisture, just like dry air climates reduce drenching sweat from your body on a hot day.
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Okay so let's say that the rice somehow WILL absorb the moisture. Even in this case it will work way too slow, things start to corrode within hours (or minutes, dependent on what kind of liquid the phone has been dropped in). You don't want a fix that takes days or weeks, you want the moisture out as soon as possible.
mekanismen said:
Okay so let's say that the rice somehow WILL absorb the moisture. Even in this case it will work way too slow, things start to corrode within hours (or minutes, dependent on what kind of liquid the phone has been dropped in). You don't want a fix that takes days or weeks, you want the moisture out as soon as possible.
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I admit, I would like to get to the bottom of this.
After some more research, I agree, it may take more time than ideal.
Cat litter has even more drying power than rice. Its cheap and readily available.
Infact, the article I get that info from http://smartphones.wonderhowto.com/...st-way-save-your-water-damaged-phone-0154799/ places uncooked rice low on their list of drying power:
The Sponge Test
Pre-weighed sponges soaked with water (and then weighed again) were used in this experiment.
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Each sponge was placed on top of wax paper, to prevent direct contact with the drying agents, since in a smartphone, there is normally no direct contact with the drying agent.
Uncooked White Rice Ain't Cutting It
After 24 hours, the sponges were weighed again to see how much weight had been lost. And would you believe it—according to the results, uncooked white rice placed dead last in effectiveness as a drying agent. Here's the list, from best to worst.
Open-air sponge - 7.6 mL lost
Silica gel - 6.1 mL lost
Cat litter - 5.5 mL lost
Instant couscous - 5.0 mL lost
Instant rice - 5.0 mL lost
Instant oatmeal - 5.0 mL lost
Uncooked white rice - 4.0 mL lost
Sealed-container sponge - 0.7 mL lost
Cat litter, instant couscous, instant rice, and instant oatmeal all performed better than uncooked white rice—everyone's favorite damn drying agent.
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I rescind my argument for rice. I give you credit for calling it pretty much useless. There are better desiccant alternatives.
Personally, I'd rather use cat litter than blow-dryer--not because I argue that it works better, but that I have cat litter, and no blow-dryer.
We agree that 500°F in the oven is ill-advised, and I am glad for that.