What & What not to do when your smartphone drops in water
Any smart phone user or owner out there would agree that one of the most dreaded place(s) to hold and operate a smartphone anywhere in the world is that place with large volume of water; particularly if you don’t own a waterproof or water-resistant device.
Surely, an average smartphone user would have, one way or the other, had their smartphone drop in water. Could be swimming pools, drainage system, the kitchen sink, the toilet water closet, in the shower, on the beach, or could even be rain. There are really numerous routes via which your phone can get wet.
Thanks to the emergence and upsurge of waterproof and water-resistant devices (yes, there really is a difference) like the Homtom HT20, Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, Ulefone Armor 2, LG G6, Samsung Galaxy S7, Homtom HT20 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Xcover 4 etc., people have had to worry less about being overly careful when handling their devices near water bodies as they can just dip their hands into the water, remove their device, wipe it dry and they’re good to go.
However, for individuals without a waterproof device, you can do the following below to revive your smart phone back to life after the drowning experience.
WHAT TO DO
- Firstly, whenever your smartphone drops in water, you must “quickly” remove the device out of whatever water it falls into, be it toilet water filled with urine. The faster you remove the device out of the water body, the higher its chances of survival. Reverse will be the case when you stand still, staring at your smartphone (or soon-to-be former smartphone) in awe before finally deciding to remove it after 5 minutes.
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If the phone has a removable battery, the next best bet is to remove the battery.
If your device’s battery is non-removable, make sure you switch the device off as soon as it is out of water.
- Afterwards, remove all other components that are removable. E.g SIM cards, SD card, back cover.
If you happen to know your way around disassembling a smartphone, you can go ahead and rip out every single part of the device carefully as this will hasten the drying up process. But if you aren’t tech savvy and do not have the tools or know-how to disassemble your device, skip this step and proceed to step 5.
Remove water on the surface with a dry cloth or preferably a towel. While doing this, be sure not to press any button or shake the device. This is to avoid the water from moving deeper into the phone.
Next step is to leave the smartphone to dry out for a relatively long period of time. Basically, the idea here is to put the device in an environment that will support its drying off.
A common practice is to dip the smartphone in a bag full of rice for 2-5 days. Rice is an effective moisture absorber, so it dries out the water in the smartphone quicker than leaving it on the shelves to dry.
WHAT NOT TO DO
When you have a smartphone drop in water, do not do the following as you could permanently damage your device.
- Do not turn on the device immediately after removing it from water.
Do not, for any reason, plug the device to a power source.
Do not push any keys or button. You risk pushing water further into your device
Do not shake or blow air into the device. This also could push water into your device.
5. Do not apply any heat to the phone as excessive heat can do further damage to the phone.
