Washed And Working – How We Saved Our Cell Phone

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Update: Sadly, despite all our efforts, and despite the fact that the phone initially turned on and seemed ok, it slowly failed. First it would randomly power off and not turn back on without being plugged into a wall outlet (not a USB charge, but a wall one only); then it stopped making audible ring tones, and finally, callers could hear you speak but you could not hear them. I’m leaving the info and our steps up just in case for those who might wish to try. Hopefully, you’ll have better luck.

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Thankfully, looks like we managed to save Love’s laundered Samsung Caliber cell phone!! The poor phone went through the entire wash cycle in the washing machine. Fill, agitate, rinse, spin – the whole works including of course, liquid detergent! (Tide Free and Clear in case anyone wonders.) He found it when taking the clothes out of the washer and putting them in the dryer. He has no idea how it got in there as he checked all the pants pockets, but somehow it did.

We Googled “save a cell phone submerged in water” and followed the advice. Here’s the steps we took. Maybe it will help someone else.

First, the phone powered itself off at some point in the wash so that was already done.

Second, we took the back case off and removed the battery. Dried the contacts and put aside. We also removed the microSD card. (This phone has no SIM card but you’d want to remove that too if you have one.)

Third, we unscrewed all the little tiny screws holding the phone together.

Fourth was the hardest part. Once the screws were off, we had to pry the two halves of the phone apart. It did not want to open. It “snaps” together and it took the most time to separate them. We used a tiny flat-head screwdriver to wedge into the seam and work it slowly open. The corners were the easiest to get open and we started there and worked our way up on both sides until we were able to get it open. It did scuff the silver around the edge up a bit, but nothing too awful. Slow going but worth doing carefully. My only advice would be to just be patient in this stage. It takes forever and can be frustrating.

Fifth, once it was open, I took a blow dryer on low heat and low speed and just very carefully tried to get lukewarm air into all the cracks and openings in the phone. In the headphone port, in the speaker holes, under the battery connection, in the SD card slot, etc. Anywhere there was a place water could have seeped in, I used the blow dryer. Spent about twenty minutes really trying to dry it all out.

Sixth, we took the cell phone – open still – and placed it in a bowl of uncooked rice, so the phone was nestled into the rice. The rice was a tip on a few sites to help draw any remaining moisture out. (An alternative is also silica gel like the packet inserts you get in shoes. I didn’t have any one hand but I did have rice.)

Seven – wait. The second hardest part. Even though we did everything we could to ensure we got as much water out as possible, everyone agrees to wait and make sure it has a chance to air out as much as possible. We left it overnight.

Love took the phone to work with him in the morning and carefully re-assembled it. The amazing news is that it worked! The phone has only three function buttons on the front and the rest of the surface is LCD touchscreen. The LCD has some wavy lines under it that you can see in certain light but doesn’t move and I think is just a side effect of being submerged for so long. It still functions though and some minor distortion in the screen is a small price to pay for not having to replace an entire $250 phone.

For those curious, I’m going to put two images of the guts of a Metro PCS Samsung Caliber behind the cut for anyone wanting to know what one looks like on the inside. One is of the inside coverplate, the other of the processor/board/general guts.

Thanks to the websites that helped us figure out what to do. And for anyone who accidentally submerges, washes, launders or otherwise gets their cell wet, don’t panic, be meticulous and you might be able to save yours as well.

Click either image for larger version.