How To Save A Wet Cell Phone Or Tablet

Dropping your mobile phone in a sink, toilet, bath or puddle of water is going to leave it damaged irreparably. The same rule goes for the tablet computers. The biggest mistake that everyone does is to turn the device on in panic just to check if it is still working or not. Switching it off is the best solution right away.

But there is still some hope that you can again use your mobile phone or tablet, play games, surf the web, receive and make calls from it and what not. There are various ways with which you can save your tablet or mobile phone after it gets wet or completely soaked in water.

Effect of the Water Damage

The important thing is that you act fact when the tablet or phone gets wet. Electricity and water simply do not get along, so the device could give you a shock or even short out. As best, the water would condense on the processor or hot circuit and cause severe damage to your screen, while the water can find the way into slots, under its screen, bezels and finally in the battery cavity.

Letting your tablet or phone get wet basically is a very bad idea and it requires you to take an appropriate action as soon as possible.

Turn it off- First Things First

If your cell phone or tablet has been in contact with enough water that makes you concerned, you should immediately turn it off. If you can, then remove the phone battery as it is better than turning your device off. But there are a few models that do not allow you to take the battery out. In that case, you can directly just turn the device off. Whatever you do, do not waste time to check if it is working or not as this would only make the scene worse.

You might be in the office or at home when your phone gets wet. Either way, you would need to find any dry, flat surface that you could use for all the following steps. Quick action is highly recommended otherwise it would be too late to save your mobile phone or tablet.

Disassemble Whatever You Can

Fortunately, tablets and phones do not come apart that easily. If they ever did, they would probably fragment every time they slipped from the hand. However along with phone battery, there are 2 other items at most that should be disassembled. The first thing to remove is your SIM card which should be retrieved as quickly as possible, dried and kept somewhere safe.

The second step is to remove a micro SD card or a removable SD if the device has one and it should also be dried. The reason for removing them is that the water gets everywhere very quickly. By removing them, you can dry all the wet slots with the help of a tissue paper and let it soak the water as much as it can.

Drying the Phone Inner Workings

Inside any tablet computer or smartphone, you would find circuit boards, processors and button rockets. These are all places where the water can easily enter and cause damage. You would be in a much stronger position for saving the device with your waterlogged phone switched off and Micro SD and SIM card removed. You need to just dry the processors, wires and bare circuit board inside. There are many ways with which you can do this like:

• Oven: Placing the tablet or phone in an empty box on the tray and setting your oven to the lowest setting is a way with which you can dry internal components of the device. The lowest temperate should not cause any kind of damage to the device. Keep the temperature between 110F- 120F.
• Hairdryer: Hold your hairdryer far enough away and keep it on low setting. Use the air and dry the phone or tablet focusing on the Micro SD/SIM card slots and battery. Be careful while you warm the screen as you do not want to cause any kind of damage to your touch-screen interface.
• Bowl of Rice: You might need to visit your nearest local convenient store for buying uncooked rice. Take a bowl of the dry, uncooked rice big enough to store the phone or tablet inside it and put a layer of rice beneath and on top of it so that it completely gets covered. This is perhaps one of the most successful options for the water damage to tablet or phone. The uncooked rice would soak up all the moisture overnight and would leave you with a working device.
• Silica Gel: If you are a tech addict, chances are you have collected enough supply of the silica gel sachets. Pack your tablet or phone into a silica gel sachets filled box for covering your device from all sides and then leave it overnight.

Keep in mind that they are just a few suggestions that have proved to be helpful for a lot of people but no tip is guaranteed to show the same results. If your phone or tablet does not get dried up or the device does not start working then it is better to show it to a mobile phone repairer. Over all, it is very important to keep your tablet or device in a secure and safe place where the chances of getting exposed to water are less.