It's not often there's something funny (as in "Hah hah!") in the "COMPUTING Q&A" column of the San Francisco Chronicle, but today there was:
What to do when cell phone falls in the toilet
Q: I accidentally dropped my cell phone into the toilet, and now it doesn't work. Is there any way to salvage it, or am I out of luck?
A: I'd bet on "out of luck," but there are a few things you can try. Two $20 products - the Bheestie Bag (from bheestie.com) and Dry-All (from dry-all.com) - are designed to remove moisture from soaked cell phones and other devices.
They both use a desiccant in the form of moisture-absorbing beads. You place the device (sans battery) into a Bheestie Bag or a sealed container with Dry-All and let the beads do their job overnight. Other, cheaper options include rice and kitty litter. You also could use packets of silica that come with some medicines.
Your chances of salvaging your phone depend on how water resistant it is, how much water seeped into it, and how long it stayed wet before you took action to dry it out. In other words, there are no guarantees. Your best bet is to be very careful when using a phone, MP3 player or other small electronic device around liquids.
Some of the Reader-Comments are humorous and/or useful, too:
- Ziploc and a bunch of the dessicant packets that come with Japanese rice crackers. Leave alone 2-3 days.
If you have a removable battery, take it out of the phone ASAP.
Do not take to carrier as there are moisture detection strips inside the phone they will check and will charge you full price for a replacement phone.
- My son's cell phone went through an entire wash cycle and 55 minutes in the dryer. It was obvious the screen was shot since we could watch water roll about in it. So we went to Target bought a cheap prepaid phone and put his SIM card in it. Works like a charm and who told us to do this, a guy working at a T-Mobole (sic) kiosk in the mall. Saved us yet another two year commitment if we had bought the phone through them.
- you have only one business to do in the toilet, and it "aint" playing with your phone.
- Remind yourself as you are buying a new phone that nothing in this world is so important that it can't wait until you finish pooping...