Mobile phone in the wash

VicS

VicS

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Mobile phone in the washing machine

The wife's cousin has put her mobile phone in the washing machine .... again!
(Best place for them IMHO ;) but she is disabled so would not want to go out far without one)
Whats the best course of action.
Open it up take out the battery and sit it in the sun/ airing cupboard to dry it out then charge and try.?

Am I right in thinking that the SIM card will be OK and that even if the phone isn't she should be able to put the SIM card in a new one and retain her number, her credit and phone numbers.
 
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The sim should be ok and if the numbers were all stored on that then you should be up and running quickly.

For the phone take it apart as much as possible and then dry it as you thought for as long as you can.

You can buy these bags which you put the phone in for a couple of days which is supposed to remove the moisture - Never had to do that yet but a day or two in the airing cupboard has worked for me.

P.S my Mrs dropped her's in a glass of water... i got it working again.
 
I don't think it will ever dry out unless you get the back off it. If it is a smart phone you need a special tool to do that. They only cost a few pence, cheaper than a new screen after you crack it with a knife (don't ask!)
 
As already mentioned... her phone number and credit are linked to the SIM and should all be good.

When saving contacts they could either have been saved to the SIM, to the phone.. or a mixture.. depending on the phone settings. I guess you will find out soon enough.

Regarding the phone.. Was it a modern all singing all dancing valuable phone or just a run of the mill phone, one of which could probably be obtained from anyone here (for free) who has recently upgraded a phone and is about to bin their old one...

Interesting thing about the modern phones - they have water detectors built in.. One in the charging socket, one in the headphone socket and one internally in the new iPhone for example.. They know if it's been dunked ;)
 
When I washed my mobile phone in the harbour last month I rinsed it in fresh water as soon as I got back to my boat and dried it out over night but still did not work but my sim card we OK. I now have a nice new phone.

Good luck with yours.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I pass on the suggestions

AFAIK its just a plain simple phone. ... a modern smart phone would not be so dumb as to allow itself to be put in the washing machine surely. ;)

We have an old Nokia we can let her have if her SIM card is Ok. It'll need a new battery. Original was a NiMH and it was on its last legs when we last used it. New batteries are Li ones and about a tenner. ... I know who will foot the bill. :(
 
You might find some old [ used / 2nd hand ] phones are locked to a particular network e.g. Orange, Vodafone, O2 etc.. Shop bought personal ones tend to be locked.. business bought ones on contract tend not to be locked to a single provider... (Locked means only SIMs from a nominated netork supplier will work in that phone. Unlocking is possible but bears a small charge.

Try to find a phone that has been either been used on the same network provider first of all or is an unlocked one.

VicS - Is this really you? You're normally in the 'answering' seat.
 
Phones in water

The real killer in the phone is the battery This provides current for electrolysis of copper tracks on the board and other components. It is therefor a lot worse in salt water than fresh. I don't know about soapy water probably quite alkaline so nearly as bad. Speed in removing battery is the key. Then wash out and hope.....
olewill
 
See if she can still get hold of a Samsung B2100, it's waterproof (1m for 30 mins). I've had one for about 18 months now and shortly after I got it a friend asked me to prove it was waterproof. I dropped it in his beer (not mine of course ;)) and he then phoned it. It was strange watching it vibrate in a full glass of beer!

Another time I was crewing on a luxury catamaran charter in the Ionian for a friend (she owns the boat and the company) and she had me dinghy the clients ashore for a beach BBQ. I misjudged the water depth close to shore and stepped out of the dinghy into about a metre of water. I fell flat on my ar$e and was almost completely submerged before staggering to shore with that "I meant to do that" look on my face. The husband of the client family said I'd need a new mobile phone now. Wrong, it was (and still is) working perfectly.

[Smug Grin]
 
Hi Vic. I dropped mine in the bilge of my boat last weekend and it was completely dead.

I think if you drop it in salty (or wee'ey) water the only chance for it is if it was not powered up at the time.

If it was fresh water then drying it out will usually sort it.

It if was salty water and it was not powered up, then a thorough washing in fresh water followed by a thorough drying will probably sort it.

Mine that died was a Sony. I've now borrowed a Nokia. My contacts were definitely all on the SIM but I guess because the makes are different and store things in a different format, I cannot now seem to find any way to access my SIM contacts on the new phone. Only thing I can think of is to put my SIM in someone else's Sony, and write them out manually on a piece of paper, then enter them manually onto the Nokia.
 
I washed my Siemens phone in my Siemens washing machine.
You'd think they'd be compatible, but sadly no.
 
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