How To Fix a Wet Cell Phone

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It should come as no surprise that water and electronics don't mix. But don't panic—your cell phone can be saved.
Added December 10, 2007

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You Will Need

A plastic container with a lid
A blow-dryer
A towel
And two silica gel packs

Step 1.
Remove battery

Remove your phone’s battery. Many circuits inside the phone will survive if they are not attached to a power source when wet.
Step 2.
Remove sim card

Consult the manual to remove your phone’s Sim card, which stores the phone’s data and allows it to connect to your service provider. Sim cards can survive water damage.
Step 3.
Dab w/ towel

Dab the phone, battery, and Sim card with a towel, then set the last two items aside.
Step 4.
Dry with blow-dryer

With your blow-dryer set on low (or the cool air blast), dry your phone, getting as much water out of the unit as possible.
Step 5.
Seal with silica gel packs

Place your phone, battery, and Sim card in the plastic container with the silica gel packs. These absorb moisture and can be found in packaging, craft stores, or online. Allow the container to sit sealed for three days.
If you don’t have access to silica gel, place your phone in front of the air conditioner—the cool air can help dry out moisture.
Step 6.
Test battery

If your phone does not work after three days, plug it into its charger without the battery. If this works, you will need a new battery.
Step 7.
Call everyone

Call up everyone to explain why you haven’t returned calls in three days.
The first cell phone, introduced in 1984, weighed two pounds, offered a half-hour of talk time per charging, and retailed for nearly $4,000.

Comments View all (9)...

Very useful. Never new about the silica gel packs.

Reply about 1 year ago by mhm1339

There is a better wat if you live somewhere it gets over say 75-80 degrees. You do all this said but then you put the cell phone in a car and roll all windows up and oark it in the sun. I have LITERALLY done this a dozen times and it works.

Reply about 1 year ago by dwnsth123

Thats how I saved my current phone, as well as the phone I was using before it. Good job spreading the word, to clumsy people such as myself.

Reply about 1 year ago by Cory

I didn't even know you could dry out a phone. very helpful, Love the hot tub.

Reply about 1 year ago by barbdwar

i wish i had seen this earlier...

Reply 6 months ago by Zafarali_Ahmed

That rocks! A word of heed, however...using a microwave to speed up the drying process isn't as helpful as you might initially think...

Reply about 1 year ago by gigafide

after removing the sim-card and the battery It's actually very good to dip the phone into distiled water. this helps remove any minerals and salts found in plain water or any other liquid you dropped your phone into. if the phone was just blowdried the salts could later ruin the electronics by disolving in humidity from the air and eating out the tiny SMD solder connections.

Reply about 1 year ago by svinjaric