What to do if our mobile falls into the water?|The Basque newspaper

Óscar Sánchez

Mobile phones are one of the great inventions of history, but although these devices are able to do great things, most are not water resistant.Thousands of people have gone through the bad drink of seeing how their mobile immerses themselves in the pool, in the sea or even in a pond, knowing that it could not be saved.Imagining that he would have to return to that phone for ten years ago he kept at home for emergencies.

Many myths and legends are known about how to resurrect a mobile that has been underwater like putting it in rice or as the new Tik Tok fashion, using a sound composed of hum.However, to maximize the possibilities of surviving in these cases, there are a series of steps that are recommended to follow.

Turn off the phone

Most times, when you get the mobile from the water the screen is black so it is taken for granted that is off.Instinctively try to turn it on to know if he has survived the dip or if we must take it dead and start looking for a second hand to get out of the step.This is one of the gestures that causes internal circuits of the device to be founded and make it completely unusable.

If when you take it out, you have to leave it like that and avoid the temptation to give the ignition button.In the event that the screen remains illuminated and the phone works apparently well, you have to turn it off immediately to avoid short circuits.

Extract

You have to extract each cover, lid, housing or similar that the device has.The mobiles ceased to be "removable" mostly and today the only thing that can be extracted are the SIM cards and the SD or also known as memory cards.You have to take them out and dry them separately using a rag or paper towel.Avoid using heat or a hair dryer since we can damage them.

Removable battery phones are advisable.In addition, these removable batteries have a small white area that when wet changes color, usually to a pinkish tone.So we can see how the battery is damaged and how many chances are there to continue working.

Dry it carefully

Performing the drying is carefully one of the most important steps of the whole process and can become unverse if it is not done well.To prevent the water from which it affects more areas, you have to dry the sides of the mobile with a cloth, a towel or a piece of absorbent paper and move it and turn it slowly.Do not make use of a hair dryer or any device that gives off to dry the phone since the remedy can be worse than the disease.

In the event that the water was salty and not sweet, you have to try to dry it as soon as possible to prevent the salt from affecting connectors and different chips of the device.Some experts point out that it is even recommended that if the mobile falls into the sea, the first thing to do is wash it with fresh water and then proceed to dry.

Put it in rice, cat or silicon gelic

The first thing that listens to someone who has just seen how his mobile posed at the bottom of the pool is: "Put it in rice".And it is that this myth has its really part and it really works, but it is neither the only one nor the best.Cat sand or oat flakes are also good mechanisms to absorb the remaining liquid, as well as products such as waterter.All you have to do is put the material we want to use in a Tupper or a container that can close and stay in the void, immerse the phone and wait at least 48 hours.

Once the two days of waiting, dig up the mobile of the absorbent material that we choose and turn it slightly, check if a drop of water comes out for the openings.If so, repeat the process and keep the mobile another two days inside the tupper.

They also recommend that once let's see that it has dried completely, remove it from the container and leave it on a napkin or a paper towel.Thus, as long as we monitor it so that it does not overhell, we help the last moisture cracks evaporate.

Light it again

With the certainty that it is completely dry, you have to try your luck and give the ignition button.If the mobile responds and the screen illuminates, everything indicates that it has survived.Anyway, there are applications that verify whether there is something damaged or not.It is possible that there is something damaged, such as speakers or the camera.In that case, taking it to repair will be enough.

If the mobile does not respond and does not make any kind of gesture to turn on, it is time to look for a substitute since water damage rare.