Even if your waterlogged smartphone seems like it has the totally died off, there’s a good chance you can still resuscitate it. But you’ll need to act fast: The longer the water sits inside, the greater the likelihood it will corrode the metal components inside for good.
This is a DIY moment. While most people are conditioned to send back broken merchandise, your phone’s warranty probably doesn’t cover water damage. And you may not have much luck pulling a fast one on your phone company—most modern phones come with a “water sticker” that permanently changes color if it gets wet.
Immediately cut the power by removing the battery. We know it’s tempting, but resist the urge to power up your phone to see if it works—just turning it on can short out the circuits.
If you have a GSM phone , you’ll want to remove the SIM card as well. Use a pin or a special SIM card removal tool to pop open the SIM tray and remove the small card. Water could have gotten into this tiny opening, and you don’t want to risk having to replace your SIM, too. Even if your phone turns out to be beyond repair, the SIM should retain a lot of its onboard data, like the contacts in your phone book.
Next, dry your phone off. This sounds like the simplest step, but it’s actually where things get tricky.
Don’t even think about taking a hair dryer to your handset. Added heat could cause corrosion if there’s any water on your phone’s hardware. That means no microwave, either. You’re only going to catch your phone on fire, which certainly will make it dry, but not very operational.
While heat will certainly evaporate the moisture, it could also warp components and melt adhesives. Those fragile glues are also why you’ll want to avoid dunking the phone in rubbing alcohol (an oft-prescribed tip on the web). Alcohol is a solvent and can dissolve the internal adhesives.
Instead, start with a soft, microfiber cloth, the kind you use to wipe smudges off of your glasses. If you can remove the back panel of your phone, use a cloth to wipe down the components inside. And if you want some warmth to help coax out whatever water has not yet dissipated, let your phone rest on a windowsill in some sunlight.
Now, here’s the most important part: submerge your phone in a desiccant, or a substance that will induce dryness by absorbing water. That’s just a fancy way of saying grab the rice.
Leave the phone and its disconnected battery submerged in a bowl of rice overnight. According to Gazelle, a company that buys and sells pre-owned consumer electronics, instant rice (like Uncle Ben’s) is a better option than regular uncooked rice (the stuff that takes 15 to 20 minutes to cook).
Silica gel, as the review notes, is the best option if you have some lying around. You’re probably used to seeing silica gel in the form of those little packets stuffed into the pockets of new clothes or shoes. But acting fast is far more important than avoiding a little rice or quinoa dust, so don’t waste time shopping for silica gel packets if you don’t already have a drawer full of them.
One last note: If your phone gets soaked in salt water, you should probably flush the whole thing in fresh water before it dries. When salt water evaporates, it leaves crystals that can damage a phone’s fragile components. Just be sure to remove the battery before flooding the device.