Cell phones, mp3 players, GPS units, gaming handhelds…we often travel with these invaluable digital companions wherever we go. The trade-off is you've always got something to worry about. How many of us have found ourselves losing our beloved cell phone? Or worse, dropped and broken a handheld device. Possibly the worst "Oh #$@&!" moment is dropping something into water, as this seems to practically guarantee you're buying a replacement. But if you're quick enough, you may be able to throw one last Hail Mary and revive your digital device from the brink of death.
What You Need
Equipment
1 small deep depth bowl
1-2 cups of rice
Rubbing alcohol
Anti-static cleaning cloth (1 of our 8 essentials)
Instructions
1. First thing you want to do is remove/disassemble any removable parts, most significantly the battery unit. Taking your device apart will allow you for easier and quicker drying, since the first thing you want to do is remove any surface moisture. Use an anti-static cleaning cloth like the ones used by photographers, which not only prevents any electrical damage, but won't leave any residue.
2. Fill a deep cereal or soup bowl with rice. Any rice will do, but white rice will probably work the best since the hull has been removed, which allows for better moisture sucking powers (we're a brown-rice household, so we had to make due). Place your device, off/disassembled inside the bowl, with all parts covered and leave overnight.
3. By morning, your device should be mostly dry inside and out. But to really make sure you've removed all moisture, you're going to do something seemingly crazy: you're going to soak your device in rubbing alcohol. This will help expedite the removal any lingering moisture within your device.
4. Leave device 1-3 days to completely dry in a moderate temperature, low humidity environment. If you're lucky, after this dry out time, you'll be able to power up your device and invest in a waterproof case and an extended warranty.
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(Images: Gregory Han)
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Saved an iphone that went through a washer and dryer by using the expensive silica gel only cat litter. Wifi was busted.
Once you get all the water out of the phone, the electronics inside are going to corrode. You're screwed no matter what once it's been in water. That's what happened to my old iPhone.
i dropped my instinct s30 when it was 2 days old while giving my baby a bath. (i was trying to take cute bubble bath pics)
someone told me a hot car dashboard works wonders, so i went for a 30 minute drive with my phone face down on a handtowel on the dash. just left it alone, didnt try to turn it on for the full 30 minutes. it was really warm outside, and the dash was really hot....
when i got home, i took my hairdryer and pulsed warm air all around any opening for another 10 mins, and the phone worked like new.
My dad uses my Mom's warming drawer; he sets it to 150* and leaves his expensive whatever-just-got-washed in it overnight. He's washed and salvaged his blackberry a number of times with this method.
I washed my Fiance's iPhone last summer, and we just left it turned off and in the sun for a few days; it works just fine now.
I dropped my phone in the toilet the night before I left for vacation (out of the country....on a holiday). I tried the rice thing while I was abroad. It never dried out properly and AT&T refused to ship me a new phone until I was back stateside. Ugh!
Back when I had a pager (yeah, like a LONG time ago, and no, I wasn't a drug dealer), I jumped into a friend's pool totally forgetting I had it in a pocket.
Oddly enough, the pager must have had an "Idiot Owner Jumps In Pool Safety Mechanism."
As soon as I realized this, I got out of the pool, put it on a table, turned it on, and it just started vibrating for about 3 straight minutes. During this time, I toweled it down, and then let it vibrate on top of the towel.
Who knew, I guess the constant vibration just expelled all the excess water out of the various holes in the pager. Worked fine later.
I once dropped my iPhone in a glass of water next to my bed, and it sat it in overnight (it was late and dark and I didnt notice!).
I put the phone in a cake pan on a bed of rice, turned my oven on warm, and let it bake for about 6 hours - checking on it often to make sure it wasnt too hot.
It works as good as new!
My spouse has worked in telecommunications for years. Step 1 should be "DO NOT TRY TO TURN ON YOUR PHONE!" He says that's the biggest mistake. As soon as you pull it out of the water, take out the battery and drop it in the rice. Do NOT hit the power button to see if it'll still turn on.
Also, as an FYI for phones (and in case you didn't already know), there are indicators on the inside of the phone that let the phone provider know if it has any water damage at all. So, don't there is no point trying to lie to the guys at the phone store. :)
I have used rice on tow different occasions to dry out my cell phone and it worked like a charm. Here's my trick:
-Turn the phone off
-Fill a large gym sock about 1/3 to 1/2 full of rice
-Heat it up for 20-30 seconds in the microwave
-Take the sock out of the microwave and put the cell phone inside the sock with the rice
-Tie a knot at the end of the sock
-Leave it overnight
-In the morning your cell phone will be good as new!
The trick is the heat. When hot, the rice will suck the water out of the phone.
I dropped our ipod in my saltwater fishtank...sadly the saltwater corroded the inside & I couldnt even take it apart. Tried every trick, but the thing was just dead. Also there's an indictator in the earphone plug hole that shows when the ipod has been exposed to water (turns red), so it's void on the warranty at that point
All I could think of when I read this post: you can also revive drowned bugs by covering them with salt. Creepy, gross, but true.
Anyway, I have a feeling this rice trick will come in handy: my brother and boyfriend both have a knack for murdering electronics. Between the two of them there's a body count of 7 cell phones.
i...laundered my boyfriend's cell. full wash cycle. right into the dryer...which i stopped and searched after hearing a suspicious banging...and then restarted. yup. it was the phone.
of course we didn't really need rice. it was fairly dry by the time we realized it. and it actually still works.
Last month, both my roommate and I coincidentally dropped our phones in the toilet while we were out at a bar (what are the chances?!). We were both freaking out and someone suggested we go to the deli next door and buy a bag of white rice.
At that point, neither of our phones were working (I have a Blackberry Curve and my roomie has an iphone), and the iphone had a water stain on the screen. We put our phones in the bag of rice for about 4 hours and then we were told that when we got home to leave it overnight on top of the refrigerator (taken apart in pieces). Both of our phones were like new the next morning and we haven't had a single problem since. Wahoo!
My cousin swears by placing any water-exposed electronics on a dark-colored car hood parked in the sun. So far its also worked w/ both my mom's and uncle's phones. Good to know about the rice option though, in case the day is overcast! Passing this along.
Also, @shockthebourgeois: that is an awesome tip!! I have a weird soft-spot for insects (I have actually towel-dried a fly that had fallen into my soda can and then set him out to dry in the sun... it worked) Now I'll have an extra trick up my sleeve if it seems a papertowel isn't reviving a soaked bug! :)
(And, yes, my friends think I'm crazy.)
I gotta say the rice works! I recently had a friend drop her iphone in her morning cup of coffee. The phone appeared dead. She then put it in a plastic baggy filled with rice and sealed it shut. It took about 2 days for the phone to come back to life but it did! The screen looks a little funky - kind like it's snowing in one corner - much better than putting out $300 bucks for a new one! So yes to rice! Thanks AT.
Thinking that rice has some moisture sucking powers has no scientific background. If rice sucked moisture, we didn't have to cook it in water for 30 minutes, all we needed to do is to pour water on it. You are better off with cat litter, rice does not suck moisture. And yes, you don't need to put rice in your salt-shaker for the same reason. Unless of course you like some rice dust along with salt on your food.
rice didn't dry your phone. time dried your phone. it would've been more scientifically correct to tell your readers to soak it in a bottle of rubbing alcohol then shake and repeat.
If rice doesn't soak up water, then how does it absorb the water in the pot when you're cooking it? Rice does absorb water.
-1st disassemble your electronic via take out battery & take off backing (this IS the most important step the water messes up electronics because it conducts electricity so do NOT give it something to conduct).
-2nd remove any surface moisture you can and if you are going to apply rubbing alcohol or finger nail polish remover (which contains alcohol) do it at this stage
-3rd get your plastic baggy fill it with enough rice to submerge your electronics and its parts in the rice then if you wish heat the rice (you don't have to but it may help)
-4th put the electronics in the rice bag and leave it in the rice bag for 24-72 hours
Oh and I did get my phone wet and did this in a sealed plastic bag and it worked (water can't evaporate through plastic), so I believe in the rice.
Ouch, I worked for an engineering company where we made I set one of the machines to 40c and left my Zoom MP3 player in one of the larger chambers where we checked the smaller machines for consistency. It did dry out the mp3 player but as mentioned earlier it corrodes the insides anyway
consider a to dry out products at low temperatures.