Anoop Verma
WHAT if your smartphone slipped out of your hand and landed in a roadside puddle, in a bucket of water! Such accidents can happen with anyone. What must you do in such cases? How do you protect your precious phone from being sucked into a premature watery death? The good thing is that the modern smartphone is a hardy breed; if it has not been submerged in water for a long time, it can be revived.
Water and electricity don’t mix
The first thing that you need to do after taking your smartphone out of the water is switch it off. Majority of the smartphones get spoiled because of the fact that the water leads to short-circuit. You should immediately flip open the back cover and take out the battery. This will further minimise the risk of damage due to short-circuiting.
After that you must take out the SIM. Water can easily spoil a SIM, which is the repository of important contacts related data.
Now that you have removed all the crucial parts, you should not think of switching on your phone for another day, till you are sure that the device is fully dry. The circuit inside the phone is so fragile that even a drop or two of residual water can damage it permanently.
Wash your phone
If you happen to drop your phone in muddy water, or in the washing machine full of soapy water, then you might have to pour even more water on your smartphone. Of course, the pouring of more water can only be done after you have removed the battery and the SIM. The residual salts, dust or soap can be damaging for the smartphone, so it needs to be washed out.
Normally you should avoid using tap water for washing your smartphone. You can try distilled water. As long as the phone is switched off and its battery and SIM have been removed, a little bit of distilled water cannot cause it any harm.
Avoid hair dryers or shaking
Hair dryers might be good for drying the hair, but they are not designed for a smartphone. If you turn a hair dryer on at full blast, you risk damaging the fragile circuits of the smartphone. The high-pressure air jet from a hair dryer can also have the impact of pushing few droplets of water deeper into the smartphone and thus causing even more damage.
Generally you should avoid using a standard vacuum, as it can lead to the generation of static electricity and result in short circuit. The shaking of the phone to remove water droplets should also be avoided. Any shaking of the phone will only result in the water droplets travelling to the dry parts of the phone. A fan or a mild blower might have a better effect on your phone.
The uncooked rice cure
Uncooked dry rice has strong powers of absorbing moisture. You can take a bowl of rice and stick your wet smartphone in the middle of it. The rice will slowly absorb all the moisture from your smartphone; however, the process is fairly slow. You might have to leave your smartphone buried in the rice for up to 24 hours for best results. This system can only be used when there is very small amount of water left inside your smartphone. If there is a large amount of water involved then you will need a faster method, like a fan, for getting the device dry.
Don’t even think of putting your smartphone inside the microwave, which will surely fry the device. Sun might be a better option, but you have to do it properly. You should not place the exposed device under the harsh glare of the sun for too long or you risk damaging its circuits. Also while giving the wet device a sunbath, you should place it on a thick towel, which can absorb the heat from the ground.
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