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Ina Fried of CNET faced one of the worst situations for a BlackBerry owner — short of dropping it off a 12-story high rise, that is. She did what 885,000 Britons do every year and dropped her phone in the toilet. It was a BlackBerry Curve, so you can imagine our concern. It’s like witnessing a particularly gruesome sports injury. No, it didn’t happen to me, but the empathetic pain borders on physical. She Googled “what to do if your cell phone gets wet,” which is a shame, because if she Googled what to do if your BlackBerry gets wet she would have found our article on BBGeeks. Unfortunately, Fried didn’t follow much of the advice. So did her BlackBerry survive the dunk in the tank?
While we put in nice, bolded letters, wait 48 hours before re-inserting your battery, Fried got a bit impatient.
Pull out the battery. Check. Make sure everything is as dry as possible. Some suggest paper towels or those silica gel packs to absorb moisture, while others recommend a bowl of uncooked rice.
The next piece of advice is to leave it be for a day or two. Don’t test it. Just let it dry out.
That’s was the hard part. It just goes against human nature–or at least my nature–to just let it sit there.
I must admit, I did test it several times yesterday.
I saw signs of life, but it was clearly not working properly. Sometimes the power light would go on and nothing else. Other times it would show the rotating hourglass, but the screen was not back-lit.
Thankfully, this story did not end in disaster. However, this doesn’t mean that all wet BlackBerry devices will work like Fried’s. There’s just as good a chance that it never works again. She does point out that it is her nature, and is probably the nature of many of us, to keep trying, despite warnings not to.
Here’s the question heading into Memorial Day weekend: Do you think you could hold off on testing your BlackBerry during the drying process? I know with my last consumer phone I tested it before a full 48 hours, and the screen was never the same again. I can’t imagine the same fate for my BlackBerry. So perhaps experience has taught me to live with the lack of a BlackBerry. But what about the readers? Do you have the willpower to leave the Berry alone for two full days?
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I’ve known I should wait, but the several times I or the wife BB ot wet I have not been able to wait.
I should know better too since I dropped my first Storm in a cup of coffee with cream and sugar. Talk about screen lag! ;)
i wouldnt want to wait because it is so hard to live without the BB but if it meant living without for 2 days oppose to something potentially longer; I’d force myself to be patient!
We have an entire department in our company dedicated to fixing our many, many BBs. While I haven’t had the misfortune of dropping it in the toilet (what are the logistics of that, anyway…you’re using your BB in the bathroom?) I have come dangerously close to spilling Gatorade, grape soda, and any other number of sticky substances (vanilla milkshake, anyone?) on my dear BB Bold. Now, inadvertently flinging it across the room (think jumpy train rides everyday), that is a regular occurance!
My Curve took a dunk in the toilet a few months ago. I ripped the battery out within 5 seconds. I left the back cover off and let it dry out for 2 whole days. It was tough as I had to use my junky Sony Ericsson W600. BUT my Curve works fine today. No screen problems, no processor problems.
BE PATIENT. It works.
The advice isn’t really all that great, and is the same re-hash of a millon other sites.
You need to pull the device apart to get ALL the water out from inside it, and clean some of the sensitive areas with a cue-tip, and even with a cleaning solvent that is safe for electronics. Sunlight on the outer surface is not going to guarantee it is dry on the inside completely. And worse still, corrosion can occur in spots that were not properly swabbed clean.
There are many tutorials on how to safely disassemble a blackberry, including full videos. The devices are remarkably modular and a full tear-down can be done by anyone in a matter of minutes. The bottom anteanna assembly is the only super-sensitive area you need to be careful of. The rest is plug-and-play.
Additionally, it is wise to invest in some spare / backup parts for the blackberry. Many online stores offer them. Any of the major components can be bought as spare parts except for the mainboard. And these are for very reasonable prices. If you do a tear-down of the Blackberry and make sure the mainboard gets clean, you can replace any other part of the device that is fried and restore to brand new condition.
And finally, I would not recommend re-using the battery. Get a new one, they are cheap. It is not worth your own safety to attempt to reuse it. You cannot guarantee that it is perfectly sealed and that water did not seep into the battery. Paranoid? Maybe. But you don’t want one of those things blowing up on you, that’s for sure.
i think iphones have the sameprob, too. you can’t take them with you even to the gym. :(
Summer
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The Brown Mestizo
I just dropped my Bold into a 1500 gallon water tank on the job site. I could not get it out right away so I just left it in there till I had time to make up a tool and retrieve it. One hour later I fished my Blackberry from the tank. I took the battery out and left it alone till that night. I know this was not long enough but the Bold came back to life. When I got it out the screen was lit up but totally white. I can’t believe that the phone still works. The clock was wrong for like a day but now is correct. I still cannot believe it is working fine.
i wouldnt want to wait because it is so hard to live without the BB but if it meant living without for 2 days oppose to something potentially longer; I’d force myself to be patient!
i just got my BB storm not even a month ago and I was at work and spilled water over me at work while doing dishes, i had a plastic cover on and i could get it off. i didnt take the battery out right away and i put it back in and i blow dried it.. but i did but it in rice and i have to wait two daysss =[ lets see what happenssss
I have went through 2 bb pearls in as many months.its frustraiting.now I’m getting a 3rd because the media player won’t play mp3,vids,or my pics.they seem to be very problematic and expensive
My BB Bold went through the wash cycle yesterday. It was only a few hours before I couldn’t stand it and had to test it. No response at all. I sure hope time heals it.
@Shannon You should have that Bold in a bucket of rice – fight the urge to turn it on until you are sure it is completely dried out
Place it in Silica Gel to begin with, but find a supply of Silica Gel. Silica Gel is the most absorbent products commercially available. It will dry out anything, including your phone. They use this stuff to pull moisture out of flowers to preserve them and you find this stuff in everything you buy from beef jerky to any piece of electronics. They use Silica Gel because it is the most absorbent product on the market and will keep their products dry.
I just got the original iPhone (don’t laugh at me) and got it wet, I only found out while trying to return under warranty they included a moisture sensor and I was screwed. I just covered the phone with Silica Gel and waited 2-3 days and it seemed to work perfectly and the moisture from screen was gone.
Just Google for Silica Gel Packets and you will find plenty of suppliers. I used http://www.SilicaGelPackets.com as they offer expedited shipping options and I got it promptly.
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