Yesterday I was at Coronado Beach with my family just relaxing in the sunshine, enjoying the sound of the waves.
My phone, wallet, keys and sandals were all sitting next to me when all of a sudden a huge wave crashed on the beach and the water swallowed our things. I grabbed my phone as fast as I could and went chasing my wallet and sandals.
I looked at the phone… Nothing.
The screen was dead so I quickly took the case off and removed the battery. To my surprise it was dry inside and the water didn’t penetrate through the case, but when I put the battery back in there was nothing but static on the screen.
That was it. I thought it was ruined. I lost my contacts, the Internet, GPS, and all the conveniences of having a smartphone.
When I got home, I looked it up online and found a couple articles suggesting that rice can help absorb the moisture in your phone. I was super skeptical, but when I compared the cost of rice vs. the cost of a new phone I clearly had nothing to lose.
With the battery removed, I put the phone and battery in a plastic bag with enough uncooked rice to surround all visible parts of the phone. I forgot about it for the rest of the night and went to bed.
The next morning I opened the bag of rice, retrieved my phone, installed the battery…. and… TADA!
The display was clear of static and although it took a few minutes to load my preferences and work at full speed, I was amazed that my phone still worked! I’m not sure if this works with all phones, but I heard it also works with the iPhone.
So if you’ve dropped your phone in the water or if the ocean decided it wanted to swallow your smartphone as a mid-day snack, dry it off as fast as you can, take the battery out and put it all in a bag of rice overnight. Hopefully, when you wake up the next morning, it will work like new!
NOTE: The water detection stickers in my phone and on the battery were white after my phone was in the water. If the stickers on your phone are white this trick will probably work, but if they turn red or even a shade of pink then your phone probably has significantly more water damage.
You might need a new phone, but before you stress out try putting it in a bag of rice and see what happens. Remember, rice costs less and could save you money and the hassel of dealing with your wireless service provider.
I hope this awesome trick works for you too! Good luck.
– Josiah Jones
P.S. If you like this or know someone who could use the information, share it! Leave a comment below, tell me your own phone/water horror stories or share a method you’ve used to save your smartphone from water damage. Cheers!