I had a glass of water sitting on an end table next to my cell phone (an old-a** razr v3)... you can probably guess what's coming. Anyway, I figure my girlfriend is getting off work soon, and she'll be calling my cell soon, so I should probably go grab it so I don't have to track it down when she calls. Well, sure enough, I walk into the living room, and the glass of water has been spilled all over the table (guess the f**kin cat was thirsty). I don't know how long the phone sat in the puddle, but I do know it was long enough that the phone stopped working all by itself. I took everythign I can apart (the battery cover, the battery, the SIM card (yeah, I have AT&T) and dried everything out... the phone will turn on long enough to load everything, but then the screen goes black, and the backlight for the buttons goes crazy.... anybody think there's any hope for this phone once it dries out? Or am I completely f**ked? It just kinda sucks that my girlfriend's going to be p**sed at me for not answering my phone when there's nothing I can do about it.

Also, anybody know... is the phone's number stored in the SIM card or in the phone itself? Would I be able to throw my SIM in my mom's cell phone and have it work when my girlfriend calls my cell phone?

Also, anybody have any tips for drying out a waterlogged cell phone in.. oh, say about 19 minutes?


Also, please do not pm me trying to sell me an old cell phone... my contract is probably up by now, which means I could go to AT&T, renew my contract, and buy a newer razr for about $20 after rebate if worst comes to worst.

 

i dont know about drying out the phone but definitly put the sim in your moms phone. anything on the sim will transfer over as well as make that phone have your phone number and what not

 

a couple summers ago i jumped into a pool twice and both times had my razr in my pocket. what i did was take it apart as in battery out and let it air dry. i didnt try turning it on until it was completely dry cuz i didnt wanna fry the circuits. mine was bad enough that i could see water in the screen. whenever i could i put it in the sun to help it along. after it was dry it worked no problem.

ps - i have heard some ppl say to soak the phone in alcohol. as teh phone fills with alcohol and pushes the water out alcohol evaporates much quicker than water. i wouldnt try that unless i was in a real hurry though and there was water in the screen. good luck

 

Put the phone in a bowl of rice. I think this will remove the moisture. Don't turn it on until you are sure all the water is out. Did you have the protection plan on the phone?

 

Funny, my girlfriend asked about a protection plan, too (called her cell on my house phone to let her know that I probably wouldn't be answering my cell phone)... anyway, my phone is 3 years old... any protection plan it might have had has long since expired.

Anyway, I got the phone to start working again... sort of. It turns on and recieves calls (I used my house phone to call myself), but sometimes it tries to do a voice recording over and over again (the buttons are effed up), and I have to turn it back off. Also, none of the buttons (save the end call button) seem to do anything... which renders my phone useless as anything other than a phone. Anyway, I took what I could apart and used a hair dryer to dry it out (I'm old-school, y0!), which is the only reason it works in the first place.

Anybody know anything that might make the buttons work again? I'm pretty broke right now (I have enough money for the gas I need to get tomorrow, and that's about it), so getting a new phone isn't exactly what I'd like to do (I avoid the bank of mom whenever possible)... at least until I get my next paycheck (two fridays from now).

*correction: the phone won't stay on for more than 30 seconds or so now. The problem isn't that it got wet, the problem is it was probably sitting in that puddle of water for well over an hour.

 

my Razr gives me the option to save either in SIM or Phone. SIM is just the basic name and number, but saving to Phone lets you give custom picture, ringtone, address, etc.

 

there's no reason for her to get pissed at you for not answering. If you drive, why can't she. Sure she'll be upset if you pick her up and you can't answer, but I'm sure she can help herself out aswell.

 

I washed my phone in a washing machine. let it air dry for 4 days, and it would turn on a bit,but the buttons never orked the same (tmobile mda) I ended up having to pay for a replacement

 

The sim card will work in any phone that takes sim cards. The phone is probably a loss since you turned it on while it was wet. Get a new phone anyway, razrs suck. :B

Protection plans stay good for as long as you pay for them (you usualy pay a monthly fee for them so if it's not on your bill you probably don't have one).

 

Cell phones are very small and fairly complex electronic circuits. They have ALOT of little parts on the circuit board. If you burn out/short one of the pieces on the main board most likely you won't be able to fix it. I would see if anyone has an old phone from when they got a new contract that you can have/borrow. If you've had your phone for 3 years, you're do for a new contract (and a new phone) anyway so just buy some old, cheap phone to hold you over. BTW, the protection plan I was referring to is offered by the carrier. Like I have a protection plan on my BlackBerry. Anything happens to it, Sprint will send me a new phone. If I lose the phone or it is stolen, that is covered as well.