What to do if your phone falls into the toilet? How to clean and dry your phone

In the life of any person, a situation may arise when you urgently need to figure out what to do if your phone has fallen into the toilet. To many, such an incident seems critical. Firstly, because a gadget that accidentally “dives” into such an inappropriate place for it can be unusually expensive. Secondly, because even in a modest phone a person can store very important information. Therefore, it is important to know what needs to be done immediately with the gadget in order to save it.

A modern person simply cannot do without a phone, so he does not part with it even in the toilet. The most common way a gadget gets into the toilet is when it slips out of your back pants pocket. It happens that a smartphone falls due to other carelessness. You can get your phone wet in another place. For example, some people forget to take it out of the pockets of things being washed, they drop it into the sink, bathtub, or spill various liquids on it. It is not always possible to save your phone. Much depends on what brand it is, how tight it is, how long it has been in the water.

Unfortunately, people don't always find the information they need, and the device's lifespan expires. Of course, it is better to buy a waterproof phone. The price of such gadgets varies from 20,000 to 75,000 rubles, which depends on their brand and functions. However, many people do not want to say goodbye to their favorite phone that accidentally fell into the water. Let's figure out how to save him.

Get your device!

What to do if your phone falls into the toilet and gets wet? How to act in such a situation? Are there any differences in the methods of “rescue” of a fallen touchscreen and push-button telephone? For devices of different models, there are the same rescue methods.

First, let's look at how to get the phone out of the toilet. This needs to be done very quickly. You may need to put a glove on your hand first. The faster the phone is removed, the less moisture will penetrate to important parts. If you can’t find a glove, quickly put your hand in the toilet and take out your phone, thinking at the same time how dear it is to you.

Why is moisture dangerous?

Since your phone is an electrically powered device, water can cause irreparable damage to it. The following may fail:

• Contacts on the board inside the device. Due to moisture they oxidize.
• Phone parts, such as the camera or antenna, can also be damaged by water.
• The touch screen also doesn't react well to liquids. It may display images worse, stripes may appear on the display, or it may fail completely.
• On push-button phones, the keys will probably stop working, or they will not function correctly.

What not to do if you want your phone to work after falling into the toilet

You cannot do the following:

1. Never turn on a wet phone to check whether it works or not, as a short circuit will “kill” it completely and irrevocably.
2. There is no need to shake your phone to remove water from it. From these actions, the liquid will penetrate even more into the device and be evenly distributed throughout all its insides.
3. Do not dry your phone with hot air (for example, a hairdryer) or place it on any heater. Because this can cause sensitive parts to melt. Some people try to dry their phone in the microwave. This is strictly prohibited, as there is a chance of damaging not only the phone, but also the microwave.
4. Sorbents are capable of absorbing moisture. You can try using them. In such cases, rice or silica gel is used. But salt or sugar cannot be used for this. They absorb moisture well, but these ingredients are not suitable for a phone. Even if it happens that your gadget is old and you don’t want to use it anymore, you need to remove the phone from the toilet. The fact is that it can get stuck in the pipe. Then you will have to experience additional inconvenience and spend money on calling a locksmith.

Your first actions

First of all, get ready for quick decisive action. If you manage to grab the device from the water in the first seconds, it is likely that the electronics will not even notice the extreme situation and will work as usual. Therefore, forget about disgust, do not run in search of gloves, but simply grab the device and take it out of the water. If a person drops the device into water, there is no need to try to press anything or check if the calls are working: such actions are the best way to permanently destroy the device.

If your mobile phone survives and even continues to work, turn it off immediately. Remove the battery, all memory cards and SIM cards. Now the most important thing is to find out how to dry your phone! Toilet paper is at hand - tear off a piece and wipe all removed parts from moisture and dirt. You don’t have to worry about them: when the plug-in devices dry well, they will be ready for use. Now dry as much as possible: blot away any visible drops, try to push the folded paper into all the cracks so that it absorbs as much liquid as possible. Only after this proceed to hand washing and other sanitary and hygienic procedures.

We recommend: How to remove the SIM card from the iPhone

Important!

Do not try to push absorbent material into small holes using pins or toothpicks, but be very careful.

If someone drops a smartphone in the sea, a bowl of syrup or other solution, carefully wash it under running water. It is better to expose the electronic device to additional moisture than to allow crystals to form. Dried sugar can tightly stick the buttons together, and you will not be able to press them. Salt is a more insidious enemy. The phone will work normally for some time, but at this time the caustic grains will begin to destroy contacts and microcircuits, after which the device will not be able to be brought back to life in any workshop.

Try to carefully disassemble the phone. Unscrew the screws, separate the parts that can be removed. To be able to reassemble the gadget, place the parts on the table in the order in which they were removed. Remember where everything was attached, and if you can draw quickly, make sketches for memory. If you can’t figure it out, turn the phone with the buttons facing down and press them. Press until moisture comes out. When disassembling, wipe the exposed areas very carefully. After this, put the phone to dry in a warm, but not hot place for a day.

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Drying aids you can use:

• Set the hair dryer so that a stream of warm air blows on the phone from a distance of about 10 cm. Set the power to minimum and dry for about an hour and a half.
• Wrap the phone parts in light cloth or gauze and place it in substances that absorb moisture well: cat litter, uncooked rice, hydrogel.

Selica gel will help

What is silica gel? Not everyone knows its name, although you might have seen it on sale. Silica gel is a dried gel. It is capable of absorbing a lot of moisture, so it is used as a dehumidifier. You may have seen it in bags that are often placed in shoe boxes. This substance can also be purchased separately in stores. If you come across a bag like this, don’t hesitate to throw it away. Perhaps you will really need it someday, for example, to save your broken phone.

What should you do first to save your device?

It is worth noting that not in all cases the tips listed in this article will help bring your phone back to life. But if you do everything quickly, then there are chances. You should also remember that if your phone falls into water, its lifespan will be reduced. Minor malfunctions may also occur. So what to do with the device?

If you see your phone in water, immediately take it out, wipe it with paper napkins and turn it off immediately. Next you need to remove the battery, SIM card and memory card. Remember that the battery must be removed immediately. Do not delay, try to turn it on or dry it immediately. If the phone is turned off, some chips still receive power. You need to remember this. If your smartphone is of a model in which the battery cannot be removed, you should immediately take it to a service center.

When to contact specialists

It is worth contacting specialists in the following cases:

• After falling into the toilet, the phone stopped turning on;
• Stripes or any other deformations appear on the phone screen;
• The device stopped charging after drying;
• The phone screen does not respond to touches;
• The body of the device is swollen.

If any of the above happened to your phone, you won’t be able to fix it yourself. At a service center, an experienced technician will be able to repair your phone very quickly, but the cost of repairs can be very high.

Disassembling a phone at home

Try to remove and unscrew everything you can. The more room there is for air, the faster the phone will dry. This will give a better chance of its further functioning. To unscrew everything, take small clock screwdrivers and a straight shaped screwdriver. These tools should always be in the house as they can come in handy in different situations. Remember, you need to disassemble the phone carefully, not forgetting that you unscrewed it. You can sketch out a diagram on a piece of paper or take a photo so that you can do everything correctly when assembling.

Cleaning the device

How to clean the inside of your phone? If there is moisture, wipe it with a dry cloth. This applies to all microcircuits, cables, contacts, if you were able to get to them. They need to be wiped with a cotton swab, after moistening it in alcohol. This magical liquid will not only cleanse them, but will also help the moisture evaporate faster. Water itself does not pose a big threat to the phone. What is harmful is what it contains: salts, alkalis, minerals and other elements. They can cause corrosion, rust and oxidize phone parts. It is also worth noting that special cans of liquid are sold that can quickly dry the contacts.

The refrigerator will evaporate moisture well. But only the one equipped with the modern No frost system. It has a fan and an evaporator that will easily help get rid of moisture inside the phone. After treating the phone with alcohol, you can place it in the refrigerator for half an hour. After this time has elapsed, wipe the device again with alcohol.

How to clean your phone yourself

To clean your phone, prepare a cleaning area and the necessary tools. You will need:

• Phone disassembly kit.
• Isopropyl alcohol for cleaning.
• Lint-free wipes.
• Brush or thin brush.
• A mat or rag for drying components.
• Plastic tweezers.
• Container for washing, a plastic container that closes tightly is suitable.

Precautionary measures

For safety reasons, cleaning should be carried out wearing thin gloves, a mask and safety glasses. Since alcohol vapors are toxic, and drops of alcohol that get on the skin or mucous membrane lead to burns and other undesirable consequences.

It is advisable to carry out cleaning in a well-ventilated area. After each drying, it is important to ventilate the room to remove accumulated alcohol vapors.

It is unacceptable to clean near working electrical appliances, heaters, sockets or working gas burners.

After cleaning or if necessary, thoroughly rinse areas on your body that came into contact with alcohol. Do not rinse your eyes until you have thoroughly washed your hands with soap.

At the first sign of dizziness or weakness, stop brushing and provide free access to fresh air. If you feel worse, consult a doctor immediately.

Instructions

Disassemble the phone to access internal components.

Remove all possible components for flushing.

Disconnect cameras and cables. It is not advisable to wash the cameras and screen, as there is a risk of damage to the components. The exception is the connection points on the cables.

Soak a lint-free cloth in alcohol and slowly walk over exposed areas to remove oxides.

Wipe off thermal paste, if any.

Use a brush or brush to clean hard-to-reach places.

Since some components are hidden behind a metal casing, it is necessary to place the board in a container of alcohol and rinse it. Place the motherboard in a container and pour enough alcohol to cover the entire board. Shake the container with the cleaning board.

Place the washed components on a mat or rag to dry.

Inspect the dried parts for the presence of oxides.

Typically, 2-3 washes in an alcohol bath are required to completely remove oxides.

After removing the oxides and drying, reassemble the phone.

It is necessary to reapply thermal paste to the heat sink elements in the case.

Double-sided tape to secure the battery.

Connecting and fixing the battery inside the case.

Securing the housing cover.

Turn on the device and check its functionality. It is advisable to conduct several load tests in a benchmark and/or CPU Throttling Test application.

It is recommended to inspect the motherboard after 1-2 weeks or a month. If oxides are detected, it is necessary to re-clean. It is advisable to carry out an audit every 3-6 months.

Vacuum cleaner and hair dryer with cold air

Many people know one old way to dry your phone from water. You can use a vacuum cleaner for this if it has a narrow attachment. You need to direct the air flow into each hole and blow for at least five minutes. There is also a way to dry with a hairdryer, but you can only use cold air. You need to keep the hairdryer at a distance of 10-15 cm from the phone. You cannot blow hot air, as it can do more harm than good, because hot air can melt important parts.

If you have a special moisture absorber at home, you should place the phone in a dry bag and place it in a bowl with this substance. It will quickly absorb moisture. Another product is cat litter. It also absorbs moisture well, so it will dry your phone quickly. In addition, you can leave your smartphone in the sun to dry, but not in direct sunlight. Another method is to immerse the phone in a bag of rice.

As users note in reviews, the best option is to use a moisture absorber or dry the gadget with a stream of cold air.

Is water a source of life or a mortal enemy?

Before examining in detail the process of rescuing electronic devices that have fallen into the toilet bowl, you need to understand why contact of a mobile phone with the liquid in which life on planet Earth originated is so dangerous.

It must be said right away that the water circulating in the water supply is one of the most dangerous enemies for electronics. Moreover, we are talking not so much about it as such, but about its chemical composition.

Water is good for humans, but causes irreparable harm to technology

A lot of different components are dissolved in liquids used for drinking and household needs: salts, alkalis, minerals, and so on. Moreover, this does not depend on whether you buy mineral water in a bottle, draw it from a tap or scoop it up in a river (in the latter case, the water is enriched with a large number of microorganisms, not all of which are useful for the human body).

Note! It is easy to verify what has been said. You can easily notice mineral deposits from water on window glass after rain or on the walls of clear glasses that have been washed but not wiped with a towel.

Substances dissolved in water are useful and necessary for humans. Salts and other minerals entering the body participate in chemical reactions occurring inside, without which the functioning of certain organs and systems is impossible.

Be careful when using your phone in the toilet

The situation is completely different with electronic components. Chemical reactions occurring inside the phone render microcircuits, boards, contacts and much more unusable. If measures are not taken in time to save the drowned phone, it is unlikely to be brought back to life.

Further steps to save your phone

After all the procedures done, you need to leave the phone in a dry place for several days. Make sure that there is no moisture on the screen and the battery does not oxidize. Only after making sure that the phone is thoroughly dry can you try to turn it on. If you managed to repair your smartphone yourself, try connecting it to a charger. You need to find out whether it will charge, how long it will take to charge, how long the battery can last. If your phone is charging slowly, it means that current is flowing slowly to the battery. Therefore, turn off the device and take it to a specialist. Also see if your gadget accepts SIM cards or a memory card. Next, call it and find out if your interlocutor can hear you.

What should I do if the phone does not work after turning it on? In this case, hurry up and take it to the master for a more accurate assessment of its condition. Ask for your phone to be diagnosed out of turn. This is very important so as not to waste precious time.

How to clean and dry your smartphone

Once the phone is out of danger, you need to follow these steps:

1. Turn off your phone and remove the battery.

You probably know that water and electricity are incompatible things. Liquid can short-circuit active electrical circuits. However, it does not have such a negative effect on de-energized electronics.

Therefore, if the smartphone does not turn off automatically, you need to turn off the device as soon as possible. Then, if possible, remove the back cover and remove the battery. It is also important to remove the SIM card, Micro-SD and disconnect the headphones.

1. Wipe your smartphone with a clean cloth.

Do I need to go to a service center? Things to consider

Is it necessary to go to a service center? Yes, if the phone doesn't work. It is wise to visit a specialist if your device’s warranty has not yet expired. True, you won’t be able to repair your phone for free. Warranty phone repairs will cost money, but you will know exactly what’s wrong with your gadget and how damaged it is. Since the breakdown is your fault, it will not be repaired under warranty. But first, find out how much it costs to repair a phone. There may be no point in fixing it. However, no one will say how much longer he will work. So how much does it cost to repair a phone? For example, replacing a part (without taking into account the cost of the element itself) can cost 1000 rubles. And replacing the display assembly can cost about seven thousand rubles. In this case, it is better to refuse repairs. Then you should buy a new phone right away. You may be disappointed to hear that your broken phone cannot be repaired. This may occur if several vital elements are damaged.

Should I tell the truth?

If your phone falls into the toilet and does not turn on, some parts, screen or battery may be broken. In this case, the technicians will tell you what needs to be replaced. Sometimes it happens that people try to deceive the service center in order to get free repairs under warranty. Rest assured, the repairman will immediately find out the cause of the breakdown, because many gadgets have a tiny indicator that changes color when in contact with water, for example, it was white but now becomes pink. Better tell the truth. Get help right away so you don't waste time.

How to get rid of toilet smell

We have already figured out what to do if the phone falls into the toilet. Let's talk about how to get rid of the unpleasant smell that your phone may emit after an incident. If after resuscitation your gadget works, but the smell of the toilet remains, you should place the device in a bag and put a bag of coffee, soda or activated carbon in it. They remove odors perfectly. The procedure may need to be repeated. There are many different odor absorbers that are sold specifically for refrigerators. If you have these, you can also place them next to your phone or place them in a bag or other container. There are absorbers with activated carbon, an ozonizer, and a mineral-salt absorber. They all do their job very well. Many people make a big mistake - in order to quickly get rid of the unpleasant smell of the toilet, they spray deodorants on the phone. There is no need to do this, it will turn out even worse. The “flavors” will merge. Then it will be even more difficult to remove the smell of the toilet.

How to avoid such unpleasant situations?

Accidents occur only due to carelessness, forgetfulness or inattention. If your phone is dear to you and you don’t want such situations to happen again, then follow a few rules:

• The main reason a device ends up in the toilet is because it falls out of the back pocket of your pants when you take them off. Therefore, do not store or carry your phone in your back pocket.
• Do not place the phone on the edge of the tank. From there it can easily fall, slipping on its own, or from your careless touch.
• Try not to hold the device in your hand over the drain, as it may accidentally slip out of your hands, or you may drop it after reading a shocking message.
• To avoid spilling any liquids on your mobile phone, do not place it on the table next to tea, water or juice.
• When going to the sea or the beach, always leave the device on the shore, or better yet, at home.
• Before putting laundry in the wash, carefully check all pockets. This will be useful to you not only to save your phone, but also money and documents.