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Soaked Gadgets? You Can Save Them

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Keeping your devices going after getting soaked.

How many times have you dropped your phone in the toilet? How about letting that tablet fall into the pool? Do you know what steps to take to rescue your electronics from these watery graves? If not, you might be in for heartbreak you don’t need. It’s true–you can save gadgets that you’ve soaked.

Saving drowned technology

The tech Web site Gizmodo recently provided a good tutorial of what individuals can do to save the gadgets that they have unintentionally dropped into bodies of water.

First, and most important, you need to immediately shut off the device’s power. As Gizmodo explains, it isn’t the water that ruins your electronic toys– it’s the electrical shorts the water causes. So if your device has a battery, quickly remove it. If it doesn’t, make sure to turn the power off and keep it off. Don’t be tempted to check to see if your device still works.

Other steps

Next, remove all of the pieces that you can from your device. This can include SIM cards, SD cards, back covers and headphone port coverings. The goal here is to supply air more chance to flow through the device. Additionally, you need to vacuum out as much moisture as you possibly can from your device. If you have a vacuum with a thin nozzle, you’re in luck. Gizmodo says that this is the most effective way to quickly remove moisture from your electronics. Finally, you need to dry out your device. This can be accomplished by placing it in a bowl of dry white rice or, as Gizmodo says, a bowl of dry Rice Krispies cereal. Just be sure not to add any milk. After A couple of days, you’ll be able to turn the power back on. Hopefully, your device will spring back to life.

Keeping it dry

Of course, much better than rescuing a gadget from water is keeping it dry to begin with. There are several options for this. The New York Times just ran an excellent feature ranking the different waterproof cases available.

Such options as the LifeProof, Joy Factory Rain Ballet and Liquipel cases can come in handy when you are hanging by the pool with your favorite eReader. Our advice, though, is simpler: Keep your electronics away from the water. It might be tempting to take your phone to the edge of the swimming pool. But such a move might prove very expensive.