I dropped my droid in the toilet for about 1 second. I immediately took it apart and dried it off. I let it sit in the sun and I also submerged it in rice overnight. After two days it is Still not working. My question is: did I fry it when I tried to turn it on or plug it in? Is it worth buying a new battery or will that be a waste? Unfortuntaley I do not have insurance and am hoping to not have to switch back to a "regular" phone due to cost ($600).
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wet droid
- Thread starter joneser
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Chroma
Android Enthusiast
You could try the rice method, I've heard tales of miracles using it. My only concern is that you shouldn't have tried turning it on while wet.
DIY – Save a Wet Cell Phone using Rice | Hack N Mod
DIY – Save a Wet Cell Phone using Rice | Hack N Mod
If you tried to turn it on while still wet, it's most likely fried. I don't understand why people try to turn them on, it will just ruin it. I would say there's a 75% chance that if your phone gets wet, and you let it dry out completely for a few days, it will work again.
However, you could try a new battery, or get a friends to try, as the battery is usually the first thing to fry when getting wet.
However, you could try a new battery, or get a friends to try, as the battery is usually the first thing to fry when getting wet.
I don't think it's so much that the battery fries. I think it's that moisture remaining on the protection circuitry inside the battery doesn't allow it to operate properly. I once dropped a phone in a river and it sat there for about 5 minutes until I realized I didn't have my phone in my pocket anymore. Went back and found it, but wasn't able to take it apart until about 40 minutes after the fact.
I took everything apart and dried it as best as I could. After everything was dry, I tried to power back on, but it wouldn't. I took the battery apart and found that there was still quite a bit of moisture inside, so I dried that all up too. Mind you that this was when "battery" meant the entire plastic thing that you'd attach to the back of the phone, not like now where it's just the actual battery itself with protection circuit.
After I dried up the battery completely, I gave it a charge and the phone powered back up like nothing was wrong and has worked ever since. The phone is now about 9 years old!
Moral of the story? I would say to try a new battery that's known to work, if available, to rule out the phone being fried. If you're up to it, you might even remove the labeling around the battery to see if there's any moisture still in it. Also, observe for signs of corrosion as these will most certainly cause problems.
While on the subject of corrosion; not every time there's corrosion will something be dead. I've cleaned corrosion off circuit boards that weren't functioning properly after which they worked fine again. This isn't to say that corrosion won't permanently damage anything, it can and will if left on there long enough, but cleaning it when it's discovered can certainly help out.
Hope this helps someone.
I took everything apart and dried it as best as I could. After everything was dry, I tried to power back on, but it wouldn't. I took the battery apart and found that there was still quite a bit of moisture inside, so I dried that all up too. Mind you that this was when "battery" meant the entire plastic thing that you'd attach to the back of the phone, not like now where it's just the actual battery itself with protection circuit.
After I dried up the battery completely, I gave it a charge and the phone powered back up like nothing was wrong and has worked ever since. The phone is now about 9 years old!
Moral of the story? I would say to try a new battery that's known to work, if available, to rule out the phone being fried. If you're up to it, you might even remove the labeling around the battery to see if there's any moisture still in it. Also, observe for signs of corrosion as these will most certainly cause problems.
While on the subject of corrosion; not every time there's corrosion will something be dead. I've cleaned corrosion off circuit boards that weren't functioning properly after which they worked fine again. This isn't to say that corrosion won't permanently damage anything, it can and will if left on there long enough, but cleaning it when it's discovered can certainly help out.
Hope this helps someone.
Griever
Member
Picked up a tip for other 'wet phone accidents'. Don't use rice, the best way to sort a wet phone is alcohol gel (the stuff used in hosptial for your hands). 90% alcohol or more (you can buy that at a chemist or supermarket), get a resealable bag. Put the alcohol gel in the resealable bag, drop your phone in-minus the battery/sim/memory card and shake it around a bit take-make sure the gel gets everywhere. Bring it out and leave it sitting for a bit.
**Yes... I know what your thinking, why wet an already wet phone... Well the alcohol gel evaporates at room temperature, it also more or less eats away the water in the phone.
As another tip for water damage, get some scotch tape and put it over each moisture indicator when you return your phone-remove it. This may or may not work, however I don't recommend anyone try it, its just a point of conversation!!
**Yes... I know what your thinking, why wet an already wet phone... Well the alcohol gel evaporates at room temperature, it also more or less eats away the water in the phone.
As another tip for water damage, get some scotch tape and put it over each moisture indicator when you return your phone-remove it. This may or may not work, however I don't recommend anyone try it, its just a point of conversation!!