Just washed a cell phone

[fasteddie]

It's usually best to keep it off for a day or two after letting it dry, as there still can be some water in there.

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The first thing to do when a cell phone falls into the water is to turn it off immediately and remove the battery. Take the battery off as soon as possible.

If you manage to get it out of the water soon enough it the cell phone might dry out by itself. Try turning it back on after a few hours. If it still does not work, the repair will be more tricky.

The "warranty void if removed" sticker will first need to be removed, voiding the warranty. Only do this if you don't mind voiding the warranty.

Remove the typically four or six screws holding the phone together. Often these screws will actually be battery contacts or other such features. Use your ingenuity to remove these screws.

Separate the two parts of the phone, and remove the PCB from the housing. You'll probably notice some greyish dried crud on the PCB. This crud will be minerals that came from the water, and the crud is what will prevent the cell phone from working.

Use some isopropyl alcohol to wash away the crud, and use compressed air to blow out any alcohol from underneath the electronic components. Finally, take a heat gun, set at around 150 to 300 degrees (F), to evaporate any remaining alcohol.

Finally, reassemble your phone in the reverse order and try it out. It worked for me!

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=682416
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For replacement phones, you may want to consider eBay, as you can find phones there (new or used) cheaper than what Cingular will sell you.

[Nikki+2]

Wow that was fabulous information! I'm going to show it to my husband. Thanks a bunch!

[yougetthesmiles]

this is a touchy subject for me. I have 3 daughters, 16, 11, and 9, neither one of them have cell phones, I just think there way to young. I see so many people with cell phones, and some kids live on the dang things, they drive with them in there ear and it just makes me so mad. I seen a show the other day about people addicted to cell phones. It's pretty sad.

Sorry she had her's washed, but IMO, 12 is just to young. Maybe go with a prepaid phone.

[LunasMomma]

Yipes, been there quite a few times I've washed my hubby's phone twice and both times took it apart to dry and it was fine. It's really bad when it's salt water, then just kiss it goodbye cuz the salt pretty much corrodes the insides almost instantly.

Hopefully it'll work okay after you leave it for a day or two to completely dry

[Nikki+2]

Originally Posted by yougetthesmiles

this is a touchy subject for me. I have 3 daughters, 16, 11, and 9, neither one of them have cell phones, I just think there way to young. I see so many people with cell phones, and some kids live on the dang things, they drive with them in there ear and it just makes me so mad. I seen a show the other day about people addicted to cell phones. It's pretty sad.

Sorry she had her's washed, but IMO, 12 is just to young. Maybe go with a prepaid phone.

I understand what you mean but the main reason she got the phone was for my own piece of mind. I want to be able to reach her when I want to reach her. A cell phone is the only way when she's scootering with friends or at the park or at an after school event or whatever. She definitely does not heave it glued to her ear. She is allowed to use it to make or receive calls from us, period except on weekends when the minutes are free. Then she can go nuts.

So far today it is still saying insert SIM card. It hasn't been 24 hrs though so who knows. I put my SIM card into her phone to see if it was just the card but it still said the same thing. It looks almost back to normal though.

[Jenn218]

Originally Posted by fasteddie

It's usually best to keep it off for a day or two after letting it dry, as there still can be some water in there.

---
The first thing to do when a cell phone falls into the water is to turn it off immediately and remove the battery. Take the battery off as soon as possible.

If you manage to get it out of the water soon enough it the cell phone might dry out by itself. Try turning it back on after a few hours. If it still does not work, the repair will be more tricky.

The "warranty void if removed" sticker will first need to be removed, voiding the warranty. Only do this if you don't mind voiding the warranty.

Remove the typically four or six screws holding the phone together. Often these screws will actually be battery contacts or other such features. Use your ingenuity to remove these screws.

Separate the two parts of the phone, and remove the PCB from the housing. You'll probably notice some greyish dried crud on the PCB. This crud will be minerals that came from the water, and the crud is what will prevent the cell phone from working.

Use some isopropyl alcohol to wash away the crud, and use compressed air to blow out any alcohol from underneath the electronic components. Finally, take a heat gun, set at around 150 to 300 degrees (F), to evaporate any remaining alcohol.

Finally, reassemble your phone in the reverse order and try it out. It worked for me!

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=682416
---

For replacement phones, you may want to consider eBay, as you can find phones there (new or used) cheaper than what Cingular will sell you.

Thanks for posting this! That is a good post! I am forwarding this on! Thanks!

[Jenn218]

Originally Posted by Nikki+2

I understand what you mean but the main reason she got the phone was for my own piece of mind. I want to be able to reach her when I want to reach her. A cell phone is the only way when she's scootering with friends or at the park or at an after school event or whatever. She definitely does not heave it glued to her ear. She is allowed to use it to make or receive calls from us, period except on weekends when the minutes are free. Then she can go nuts.

So far today it is still saying insert SIM card. It hasn't been 24 hrs though so who knows. I put my SIM card into her phone to see if it was just the card but it still said the same thing. It looks almost back to normal though.

We didn't buy my daughter her cell phone - my MIL did for Christmas. She is 12 and a cell is the "thing" right now. She wanted the pink razr too.

Only one of her public school friends has a razr, but it wasn't pink. My daughter is homeschooled, so she doesn't really think about or care if she is "in style" that way. She is definitely in style because she has a room full of high tech things (nice laptop, pink iPod nano, white iPod, DS lite, etc) and clothes and such.......just being at home, she understands what is more important and she doesn't care if a friend has something she doesn't have, etc. She just enjoys being friends w/ all the friends she had in school, just w/o feeling the pressure to "keep up w/ the Jones'" if that makes sense - she is all about the latest trends because fashion and such is one of her passions, but you get the picture...........

Anyway, I posted earlier about doing search on the razr phones. My MIL did search for a long time...asking everyone she knew who had one questions, talking to salespeople, etc. She works at our local university too and asked tons of the college kids about phones. Her over all impression on the razr was not that good, so she opted for something else...I am not certain what my daughter even has; is that bad???

Anyway, we do NOT like to be tied to a contract - at all! So the phone my daughter got, is a no contract phone - she just told me it was by Cingular. It is a small (very small) flip phone w/ text, games, music, camera, etc...and MIL had put 500 minutes on it. With this, we do not have to worry about when she can use it (nights, weekends, etc)....and we are not tied to a 1 or 2 year contract, etc.

The razr has pay as you go too, but w/ the bad reviews that my MIL got, she went w/ what was the best "raved about" one. Now, I'm not saying my daughter wasn't disappointed in not getting the razr, but she was ever so happy to have a stylish, super small cell! We have had no problems w/ this phone. We love it.

I am just saying....it might be an option to teach her more responsibilities. I know, they are 12, but a friend of mine was saying that her son constantly left his expensive letterman jacket somewhere or lost it, they went through two of them before she made him start paying to replace it himself and that solved the problem --- from then on, he took better care of everything he had, knowing he would have to replace it himself! This might seem harsh, but dang, that is a great way for our kids today (who have anything and everything) to be more responsible. Even the best of kids make mistakes, but that little nodge can get the ball rolling................

Good luck w/ the phone! I hope it starts working again!

[wnturner]

Originally Posted by Nikki+2

Awesome! I'm feeling better! I didn't even think about ebay!

Be careful I used to work for a major cell phone company some places won't activate if the serial number of the phone is tied to a delinquent account. If you do ebay ask for the serial number call the company and make sure the serial number is in good standing.

As for the current phone. how damaged is it? If it's not banged up too bad. take the battery out lay out all the pieces seperatly on a towel turning it over every few hours and letting it dry out. You can also take it to a local cell phone place and find out how much for them to take it apart and see if they can take care of the water damage.

Also does she have a monthly plan or is it prepaid. Since christmas is over there are a lot of deals out there were the phone is a lot cheaper or even free in some cases.

You also have the option of buying a refurbished phone which simply means someone else was in your shoes got it replaced w/ insurance and the company fixed the original phone and resold it at a cheaper price.

Hope some of this helps. Good Luck.

[Nikki+2]

Originally Posted by Jenn218

We didn't buy my daughter her cell phone - my MIL did for Christmas. She is 12 and a cell is the "thing" right now. She wanted the pink razr too.

Only one of her public school friends has a razr, but it wasn't pink. My daughter is homeschooled, so she doesn't really think about or care if she is "in style" that way. She is definitely in style because she has a room full of high tech things (nice laptop, pink iPod nano, white iPod, DS lite, etc) and clothes and such.......just being at home, she understands what is more important and she doesn't care if a friend has something she doesn't have, etc. She just enjoys being friends w/ all the friends she had in school, just w/o feeling the pressure to "keep up w/ the Jones'" if that makes sense - she is all about the latest trends because fashion and such is one of her passions, but you get the picture...........

Anyway, I posted earlier about doing search on the razr phones. My MIL did search for a long time...asking everyone she knew who had one questions, talking to salespeople, etc. She works at our local university too and asked tons of the college kids about phones. Her over all impression on the razr was not that good, so she opted for something else...I am not certain what my daughter even has; is that bad???

Anyway, we do NOT like to be tied to a contract - at all! So the phone my daughter got, is a no contract phone - she just told me it was by Cingular. It is a small (very small) flip phone w/ text, games, music, camera, etc...and MIL had put 500 minutes on it. With this, we do not have to worry about when she can use it (nights, weekends, etc)....and we are not tied to a 1 or 2 year contract, etc.

The razr has pay as you go too, but w/ the bad reviews that my MIL got, she went w/ what was the best "raved about" one. Now, I'm not saying my daughter wasn't disappointed in not getting the razr, but she was ever so happy to have a stylish, super small cell! We have had no problems w/ this phone. We love it.

I am just saying....it might be an option to teach her more responsibilities. I know, they are 12, but a friend of mine was saying that her son constantly left his expensive letterman jacket somewhere or lost it, they went through two of them before she made him start paying to replace it himself and that solved the problem --- from then on, he took better care of everything he had, knowing he would have to replace it himself! This might seem harsh, but dang, that is a great way for our kids today (who have anything and everything) to be more responsible. Even the best of kids make mistakes, but that little nodge can get the ball rolling................

Good luck w/ the phone! I hope it starts working again!

Yikes! Two Letterman jackets? If we replace this phone we'll get the insurance and she will be responsible for the deductable if anything happens. I really think this was a huge lesson for her though because she spent the day thinking she wasn't going to have a phone at all anymore and trust me, it made an impression! She really is a good girl though so I hate to see her so upset. She actually wanted the Razr because I have one. I'm lucky she's still at the stage where she thinks I'm the best in the world so if I like something, she likes it too. Trust me I'm enjoying every minute of it because I'll bet it'll will be quite a different story when she' 13.

[Nikki+2]

Originally Posted by wnturner

Be careful I used to work for a major cell phone company some places won't activate if the serial number of the phone is tied to a delinquent account. If you do ebay ask for the serial number call the company and make sure the serial number is in good standing.

As for the current phone. how damaged is it? If it's not banged up too bad. take the battery out lay out all the pieces seperatly on a towel turning it over every few hours and letting it dry out. You can also take it to a local cell phone place and find out how much for them to take it apart and see if they can take care of the water damage.

Also does she have a monthly plan or is it prepaid. Since christmas is over there are a lot of deals out there were the phone is a lot cheaper or even free in some cases.

You also have the option of buying a refurbished phone which simply means someone else was in your shoes got it replaced w/ insurance and the company fixed the original phone and resold it at a cheaper price.

Hope some of this helps. Good Luck.

Thanks! I appeciate advice from a cell phone "insider". I'm going to take it up to Cingular tommorrow and have them look at it and discuss how to go about replacing it if I have too with ebay as an option and see what they say.

oops, edit to add, yes we are on a plan so all those great deals wont apply to us but I will definitely ask about refurbished phones. Thanks again!

[FlDebra]

Originally Posted by fasteddie

The first thing to do when a cell phone falls into the water is to turn it off immediately and remove the battery. Take the battery off as soon as possible..........
.

Thanks Fasteddie for that good to remember info!

I think cell phones are great for the parents of active kids. I can get in touch with mine anytime. He can let me know when practice is over, when to pick him up from friends, the community center, school, etc. Sure he could find a phone to use -- but payphones are getting few and far between. I just feel better knowing I can always get to him. This day and age, who knows what will happen in a school or other public place -- I like that he can get to me instantly too. It has really given him more freedom than my older boys had.

We have never had any trouble with minutes -- We share a relatively small Family Plan and roll over minutes every month. We really don't use them for chatting -- just convenience.

We got his when he was 12. He's 15 now and only lost one. I replaced it with a cheapy off ebay. The day after we received it, his other one showed up. So, I guess officially, he hasn't lost any. Sure he's spoiled, but his cell phone is as much for me as it is him.

[BabyFidgette]

I'd be highly surprised if it worked. It wasn't "dropped" into water and then taken out, it was actually submersed in water for a while. Probably 30 mins or so, right? Technically it was her fault for leaving her phone in her robe. It should have been in her purse. I would have her pay some money towards a new phone and let her know that if it's not taken care of again, she can't have one till she's older. Maybe I'm too strict, but that's MHO.

[Marcellacml]

My mom literally washed my razr in the laundry machine and set it out to dry in my jeans pocket LOL but it still works.

[Sadie's Mom]

I'd try to let it dry out and then see what happens. I've never washed a phone, but I have washed a remote control. I washed my sheets one day & when I pulled them out of the washer to put in the dryer, a battery fell out I searched thru them & found the rest of the remote. Thought for sure it was a goner, but after it dried out it worked fine (still does)!!!

[Saleswman]

I have a pink razor.....I have problems with my sim card quite a bit......why dont you dry the phone.....and ask for a new sim....because I bet the phone will still work.....or if you know someone....that has a razor....try to use their sim.....i had an extra...but not sure where it is....

Regarding whether to buy a new phone.....heck I have gone thru 3. Either dropping, cracking the lcd....whatever you can think of beside the washer....that would mean you had to wash clothes......LOL.....

You can buy used on Ebay....you just need a new sim card, and the right razor for your carrier.....

Good luck......