Tip & How-To about Cell Phones
You're leaning over a sink and your cell phone drops into the water or your MP3 player drops into a puddle of water while jogging. What should you do?
The first thing you should do whenever a piece of electronic gear gets wet is to immediately remove all power sources from the unit (the battery in the two cases mentioned above). If the water is fairly clean, you should be able to let it air dry. If not, you'll need to rinse it with distilled water to remove as much dirty water as possible. Distilled water will not conduct electricity and shouldn't harm the electronic circuits beyond any harm that may have already happened. The object here is to keep the unit un-powered while there is the potential for circuits to be shorted due to contaminated water. If you can disassemble the unit, it would be a good idea to do so. You can use a lint free cloth or other absorbent material to remove any excess moisture that you can see. Use compressed air to blow any excess moisture out of places that you cannot see or cannot reach with the absorbant material. Let the unit air dry for at least 24 hours (I would recommend 48 hours) before reassembly. Avoid the temptation to use a hair dryer or an oven to speed the process as you can potential damage the LCD or other components in the unit with excessive heat.
If fate is on your side, you may have been able to save your gear from becoming a paper weight. Repower the unit and you'll be able to determine the outcome then.
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