What to do if you drop your E71 in a torrent
I had a small lunch time adventure today: I accidentally dropped my Nokia E71 into a raging torrent (the watery kind, not the bit kind). Aside from a chance for some quick sympathy or laughter, depending on your disposition, I thought it might be a good opportunity to refresh some of the actions you can take if this happens to you. I would also be pleased to hear your stories and recommendations for follow up action!
I managed to trip over a fence, face plant onto a bridge and then turn my head just in time to witness the E71 going 'plop'. Unfortunately there has had quite a lot of rain in the last week and as a result the stream was rather full and was also very very cold. After wading around in waist deep water for about 10 minutes I did manage to locate the E71.
Not good: deep stream with lots of water after heavy rain. Noooo!
So, what to do next?
Warranty policies and insurance generally do not cover water damage so you are largely on your own. You need to be realistic, there is a good chance the phone will never work again. A lot does depend on the circumstances (what you dropped it in and for how long). It is also likely that the phone will never be quite the same again (for example camera modules are especially sensitive to water damage, and there's a higher chance of subsequent failure due to corrosion and or later damage).
However there are a number of steps you can take to ensure the best possible chance for a positive outcome.
Here are a set of instructions to follow if your phone is immersed in water:
- Get it out of the water as soon as possible.
- Take the battery out as soon as possible.
- Take out the SIM card, memory card and take off any other detachable components.
- Dry the phone off as best as you can.
- Place the phone in a warm dry place (an airing cupboard is ideal) and leave it their for at least 3 days.
- Hope for the best!
Getting the battery out as quickly as you can is important because it is a short circuit that is most likely to damage your phone. It may be worthwhile disassembling the phone in order to allow it to dry out more easily. How this is not always an easy thing to do and often requires specialist tools. It is a good idea to place the phone in a container surrounded by rice or a similar water absorbing material while it is drying. This helps the dry process and can draw out water from the inner workings.
If you dropped the phone into salty water or a drink of some kind it may be a good idea to rinse the phone in fresh water once you have removed the battery. Generally further rinsing will not damage the phone further, but may help to remove minerals and materials that can cause short circuits. You can also do the same thing with an alcohol solution, although the chance are you will not have this to hand.
As for my E71 - it's now sitting drying out (and I'm still feeling a bit frozen). I'll report back in a few days with a status update... It doesn't look too good though as prolonged exposure the silt laden water has a good chance of being terminal.
Please do share your stories and tips in the comment thread.
Published by Rafe Blandford at 15:51 UTC, November 12th
Categories: Hardware, Editorial Thoughts
Platforms: General, S60 3rd Edition
News Discussion
If it doesn't work, maybe you could do a follow-up on using spare parts from ebay? :-)
unfortunately i can't give you or other readers with similar problems any tips, except maybe the obvious, that is to backup reguarly. For sometimes losing ones data can be even worse than losing the hardware itself. But I'm sure you already did that ;)
I'm annoyed about the hardware as the E71 has been my main phone since June (a long period for me). I've onviously had other phones in for review, but the E71 has been a loyal messaging companion (I tend to carry an Nseries around too for camera / multimedia etc.)
The N70 died almost imediately - it was only in 1 cm of juice so not even soaked.
the N95 battled on for a few days but then the screen went - it otherwise worked
both were replaced on insurance. there was a £25 excess.
You took your E51 jet-skiing - wow - lucky phone :)
I did do a complete re-install of the firmware and all apps and things the next day, so I would add that that is something that should always be done if the phone shows any sign of live after being dried out.
I hope that the E71 shows some sign of continuing it's life soon. And with the winter weather coming in fast I am sure that I shall unfortunately need to share this article around at some point in the next few months.
1-remove battery
2- saturate electronics & connectors with WD-40 (The WD in WD-40 stands for water displacement)
3- wipe off
4- let dry for min 6 hours
5- Suggest getting a new battery...if battery had a leak and water got into it it can explode while charging (or give it a good soaking in WD-40)
Worked perfectly after that
Hope it turns out o.k.
-EJ
I admire your determination. I'm afraid I would have let the phone go. Did you jump in in your trousers
I put an SD card through the wash once. Turns out they're pretty much indestructable!!
Good luck with your E71. Let us know if it survives!!
I did think before jumping in - went and got a swimming costume. But it was cold so it was definetely above and beyond the call of duty.
Good idea on the Silica Gel. I'm sure I have some of those tucked away.
1-remove battery
2- saturate electronics & connectors with WD-40 (The WD in WD-40 stands for water displacement)
3- wipe off
4- let dry for min 6 hours
5- Suggest getting a new battery...if battery had a leak and water got into it it can explode while charging (or give it a good soaking in WD-40)
Worked perfectly after that
Hope it turns out o.k.
-EJ[/quote]
That's because Series 80 phones are still the DBs when it come to reliability ;)
My beloved E90 went into the swimming pool with me this summer. Our two dogs were rampaging around the decking and caught me off balance. As I live in Arizona, it was around 105F so I did not really mind the ducking, until the thought streaked across my mind that my phone was still in my pocket! I dug into my pocket and retrieved the E90 in time to see the front display go dark.
I managed to get out of the water and remove the battery cover and battery fairly quickly. The moisture monitor was already turning light-red (it remains so to this day), and water continued to drip from various openings in the case. I removed the SD and SIM cards and opened the cover then gave everything a good shake. I blew canned air into every port and opening over the next ten minutes or so. I then placed it half-opened on the connector-end on a cupboard shelf atop several thicknesses of paper towels and left it to dry. That seemed the best bet, as our relative humidity runs about 15-20% in summer.
The SD card was fine, and the SIM brought up my trusty 9300 as a backup, but I was near frantic to find out the status of my E90. I managed to wait a total of 25 hours. I had read on the web that it might be a good idea to rinse any electrical device that has gone into saline or chlorinated water, but I could not bring myself to immerse the phone again, so I merely popped-in a backup battery, and fired the phone up.
Everything worked! The displays were funky for another 48 hours, but both of them cleared up as well. The only lasting damage appeared to be the camera, which only worked intermittently for several months. I had concluded that the camera was a small price to pay for getting the rest of the phone back, when I applied the latest firmware update (v300) and now it is just as reliable as before going for a swim. Love that phone.
Just out of interest, what are you referring to?
Little round white sticker, usually under battery
When it gets wet it turns red
Even then, it's about 80-90% reliability. Any other method I have seen or tried is totally hit and miss. Success is anecdotal.
And I have seen so much evil from WD-40 that I will not use it for anything. Yipes.
The two bottles of wine clunked together breaking one of them and completely imersing both devices in red wine. I took the N810's battery relatively quickly, but i cant say the same for the ipod. I couldnt even turn the bloody thing off! I think if i could have it might have had a chance.
I cleaned my N810 first with fresh water then soaked it in isopropyl alcohol. With the exception of the camera it still works to this day... but i did end up replacing the LCD because it had an annoying amount of red wine stuck in it.
When it gets wet it turns red[/quote]
This is a bit embarassing, but I have never ever heard of these moisture monitor stickers. :-)
Are they things you add to a phone yourself, or do they come as standard with some devices? I couldn't find one on any of the phones I currently have.
As for water, my Blackberry Curve had an unfortunate accident in my dog's water bowl when I bent down to feed him. I took it out immediately and wrapped it in paper towels. It still works to this day.
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