It is true that smartphones are increasingly resistant to shocks, dust or water. However, they are not indestructible and you have to take care of them to avoid unpleasantness. One of the most feared accidents is that our phone falls into the water, an undesirable situation, without a doubt. However, there are ways to "save" a wet phone with a non-removable battery.
Obviously, the ideal is never to have to deal with this type of problem: better safe than sorry. But we can't always avoid things like spilling a glass of water on our mobile or getting it wet on the beach or in the pool. Is there any way to get it back or do we simply have to resign ourselves to losing our phone forever?
There are countless web pages with all kinds of tips and remedies for these cases, but you have to be careful, because not all of them work. Furthermore, many of them are simply myths without any real basis. In this article we are going to focus on those that will help us.
Am I covered under the phone's warranty?
Quick answer: no. When water has entered our mobile phone and it has stopped working or is not working properly, the first thing that comes to mind is to check if the Warranty (if any) covers us for repair or replacement.
It's not worth wasting time on this. no warranty covers water damage. Not even in the supposedly resistant mobile models. At this point, we only have two options left: Buy a new mobile or spend money on a repair.
You can try to hide that the mobile has stopped working because of the water so that the guarantee acts as if it were another type of fault. East trick it does not work, since almost all devices have a warning mechanism, a special sticker that changes color when it comes into contact with water. That supposes the automatic cancellation of the guarantee.
It's times like these that you often regret not having taken out insurance on your phone the day you bought it. But it's too late.
When is it worth trying to save the mobile
In all honesty, it is not always possible to get a mobile phone with a non-removable battery wet. Not even the devices that are sold with the "submersible" or "water resistant" label They offer a total degree of tightness, as their sealing deteriorates over time. That is why it is not worth risking and keeping our mobile phones always away from water.
Water is a natural enemy of any electrical system. We can only save our mobile if the water seepage has been minimal and no short circuit has occurred. Otherwise, an internal corrosion process will take place before which little can be done.
One factor to consider is what type of water has entered the device: sea ​​water is infinitely more harmful than fresh water. In any case, to minimize the impact of corrosion, it is important to immediately turn off the mobile once it has come into contact with water.
Home solutions
There are some methods that can help us to fix a mobile with a wet non-removable battery. They may not all work all the time, will depend on the extent of the water damage and the characteristics of the model. In any case, they are worth trying before giving up and going to the store to buy a new phone.
The rice trick
As amazing as it sounds, this trick has proven to be really useful, as long as the amount of water that has entered the phone has been minimal. That is to say, that the corrosion process has not advanced too much (in this aspect it is also important to act quickly to "dry" the mobile).
Al submerge the mobile in a container full of rice, what we get is that it absorbs moisture. It will be more effective if we disassemble the casing first. You have to be patient: bury the phone in rice and leave it there for a day or two. If the amount of water that has entered is not excessive, the phone has a good chance of surviving.
For this method, other equally valid alternatives to rice are oatmeal, silica, or kitty litter.
alcohol bath
It is a system that can be shocking, but it is also effective in many cases. As long as the mobile is turned off, alcohol will be absolutely harmless to our mobile phones once it evaporates. The interesting thing is that, before doing it, it will drag the water with it.
The method consists of submerge the mobile in alcohol and wait a few minutes. Then you have to let it dry completely: when the smell of alcohol has disappeared, we will know that it has dried completely.
For the idea to work you have to use pure alcohol, 70º or more, which we can find in the home medicine cabinet. Of course, it is a system that has its risks, because sometimes alcohol can damage the phone battery. So it is better to only resort to it when there is already little to lose.
a last resort
If the previous methods have not worked, we can always try one last trick: put the mobile in an airtight bag with a few anti-humidity balls, those that are included in some new clothes. It doesn't always work, but it is a less aggressive method than alcohol.
What not to do
Lastly, just as important as knowing what to do is knowing what should not be done. Many people mistakenly think that in order to "dry" the mobile phone, you have to apply heat to the phone: use a hand dryer, place it next to the stove or heater, or even put it in the oven… Neither of these is a good idea, as the heat will damage the metal and plastic components of the phone, rendering most of its components useless.