Cell Phone in the Drink

H

Hukilau

New Member
Dec 18, 2008
5
Knoxville, TN
Boat Info
230 Sundancer
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4.3 Alpha 1
We took my in-laws out for their first ride on the boat yesterday. Everything went really well even though the weather was not that great. It was a little cold and rainy. When we got back to the dock the admiral was getting off the boat and her cell phone fell out of her purse and right into the water. It was only about 5 feet of water but the water was still pretty cold. She started talking about getting in and getting it because even if it never worked again maybe the cell phone company could get her contacts out of it. I couldn't let her do it so after unsuccessfully trying to fish it out with everything we had I got in. I used my feet for about 10 minutes (took a couple of breaks because it was too cold) and finally got it out. Not fun but now we have the phone back. Has anyone ever gotten a phone to work again after it was on the bottom for over 15 minutes?
 
That's what I like about T-mobile. There is a chip in each phone which has all contacts-email info etc. If you get a new phone, you just put in the chip and it is all on the new phone. Hair dryer? Good luck.
 
I keep a copy of my contacts on an additional chip. If the phone goes to the bottom or salt takes out the chip, i'm set.
 
remove the battery from the phone and dry it as best you can then put the phone and the battery in a bag of white rice for a day or so. It may come back to life I have seen this work a few times. Good luck
 
StressAweigh said:
remove the battery from the phone and dry it as best you can then put the phone and the battery in a bag of white rice for a day or so. It may come back to life I have seen this work a few times. Good luck
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I did just that last weekend when my son's phone went through the wash. It didn't work for us :smt009 Then to add insult to injury when I called Verizon this morning they want another $150 to replace a $20 flip phone :smt013
 
That's way I pay $5.00 a month for insurance on my phone lost two last year and had them replaced the next day only had to pay $25.00
 
I've lost many phones to the water. You don't say if it's salt water or not. If it's salt water, it's dead. If it's fresh water, it's probably still dead. Green stuff will start oozing out of it in a few days.
 
HMM 15 mins is a long time and the type of water will affect whether you can save it or not. The phone type will too.

I would follow the advice of dry dry dry it. DON'T try to turn it back on, you get one shot to re-power it so make it count. I would take it apart, go to Sears and get the T-10 torx driver or a set to get it open. Then let that thing dry out!!

You did not mention your carrier, if you are with one that has a SIM card (ATT, TMOBILE) then I would go buy the cheapest pay as you go phone from your carrier and give that phone to your wife to use while the old one dries out. I am with ATT so I went on line and have a nice collection of $9.95 go phones that will work with my SIM. If you are with Verizon you are stuck as I don't believe Verizon is SIM based and changing phones with them can be a hassle for a short period of time.

If it comes back to life you can copy your contacts to the SIM for back up on most phones and transfer that to a new phone if need be.

Sometimes they come back and act OK for only a few minutes then go flaky... It all depends on the make and model of the phone..
 
While its still wet, try taking it apart and cleaning it with distilled water. Then allow it to dry and see what happens, probably dead though. The SIM card should be OK though.

I took a swim in the creek behind my house a few weeks ago while playing with my kids, Iphone 3g took a dunk and cracked the screen. There is even a piece of glass missing out of the screen. I soaked it a few minutes in distilled water, dried it in a bag of rice, and it has worked fine since. The touch screen doesn't work where the glass is missing but even though the rest is shattered, it works like it should.
 
Alegria said:
. If you are with Verizon you are stuck as I don't believe Verizon is SIM based and changing phones with them can be a hassle for a short period of time.
Click to expand...

Not true.
Most Verizon smartphones have "Backup Assistant" (which is free if you're registered with My Verizon) which automatically uploads your contacts to Verizon daily (if you choose). You can even go online and print out a list...
 
I dipped a phone for 5 minutes or so. Let it dry without the battery in it for 1 week - it worked for another year.

On a footnote - T Mobile puts a dot in the phone to see if it was ever wet. I had a phone sitting at the helm and it got rained on and - T Mobile replaced it under a warranty exchange - then I got a bill 3 months later - saying it had gotten wet.
 
StressAweigh said:
That's way I pay $5.00 a month for insurance on my phone lost two last year and had them replaced the next day only had to pay $25.00
Click to expand...
Mike.... Kim called them this am & was told the insurance was $25/mo. Looks like I'll be headed to Verizon in the morning.
 
I had two phones soaked and then dried out and both ended up working fine. I dropped my phone accidently off the boat at the marina and after recovering it, dipped it in soapy water to wash out all the sand. After a couple of days drying in the sun and recharging the battery, it worked fine. A couple of weeks ago, my daughter's phone went through the washing machine. Again, we dried it out for a couple of days and it worked fine. I was very surprised both times and my daughter was very relieved since she was on the hook to buy the replacement!!
 
It was on when it went in and it was a fresh water lake. We have the phone in a bag of rice and I used a vacuum to try to suck as much water out as possible. I am going to give it a little more time and keep my fingers crossed. We will probably be headed to verizon tomorrow for a new one but maybe not. It was 3 years old so at least we can get a cheap one with a new contract.
 
Sprint does a cool thing. My phone automatically updated with a sprint every few days by itself. I can access all of the contacts on the website and if I get a new phone I can download them to the new phone via the website
 
use an air compressor to blow it out. remove any covers and or battery, blow out with the air (not from one of those tin cans of air- a real air compressor) but use extreme caution and common sense, do not blow near the speaker or mic. If you hold the phone in a paper towel, you can see the traces of water on it and concentrate on that area. I.ve dunked mine twice and this has worked both times give it a couple of days to dry out. It seems that most functions come back sooner than the lcd screen. You can hear the tones but still have a blank screen. Mine would acxrtually dial out and recieve but I had no screen for a couple days.
 
I have a LG VU and I thought I lost it one day, had no idea where I could have lost/left it at. Well, it was found in the bottom of the washing machine, had gone through a full cycle. Took it apart and let it dry for a week while I used an older phone and to this day it hasn't worked any better.
 
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