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Dropped my phone into my beer

Will it ever work again?

Toytown Germany > Discussion forum > South Germany > Munich > Oktoberfest
sparty
Apparently last night I wasn't able to type on my phone anymore, so I was pissed off and the phone landed in my beer. Is there any way this phone can function again after it's been drenched, or should I wait a couple of weeks before I tell my boss that it doesn't work anymore?
spacecadet
you could try to take it apart and make sure it's really dry inside, but from personal experience, I found that my phone was dead as a dodo after I dropped it in some beer - had to get a new one and face the embarrassment of telling my boss that my work phone no longer worked...

Good luck
sparty
yes that's why I think it's better that I wait until Oktoberfest is over... I have a spare phone I can use, so I figure I use that one for a bit and then tell it somehow doesn't work anymore.
Timmeh
Yeah, my phone never recovered and I had it drying for a couple of days after too
sparty
QUOTE
...after I dropped it in some beer

Thank god I haven't been the only one who threw his phone in the beer.
Uncle Nick
Did you really need to use your phone at the end of a drinking session?
Ruthie
A phone of mine once fell into a toilet and it worked just fine afterwards -- didn't feel like touching it much after that, though...
eurobabs
I washed mine in 40 degrees for 90 minutes in my jeans pocket once - just let it dry out and next day it worked fine (phone, camera, radio, mp3 - everything) and was clean on top of it wink.gif

Since then - I will never buy anything but a nokia smile.gif
Panama
I drowned mine once in a cooler full with iced water and beer, never saw the light again.
Showem
I think it's not the moisture but rather the stickiness of the beer that's a problem. Since it's dead anyways, try dousing it vigorously into fresh water a couple of times. Then let it dry out for a few days. Can't hurt to try.
thefirelane
Agreed... water in and of itself isn't particularly bad for electronics, it is anything that leaves a resude on exposed circuitry. If you have nothing to loose, wash it in distilled water and let it dry.

edit: Just to be clear, I'll qualify this by saying I'm specifically talking about circuit boards and microcrontrollers. Things like LCD screens can most likely suffer permanent water dammage... but again, unless you have a CFC vat, you have nothing to loose.
luvlein
I don't think so. 100% of cell phones I dumped into fountains were dead as a doornail after the procedure.
wahoo
QUOTE (luvlein @ Oct 1 2007, 11:33 am) *
100% of cell phones I dumped into fountains

Is that a daily thing you do? smile.gif
Sandgroperin
maybe water is the trick

my friend somehow managed to pour a snakebite into her hand bag one night at a walkabout in london, we pulled her phone out and it was completely dead. A week later on the train ride home she threw up into her hand bag and said dead phone was still inside as you can imaging everything in that bag got hosed down rather thoroughly and much to her amazement the phone started working again.

edit: on second thoughts maybe you need to vomit on your phone???
Johnny English
Warm/Hot water. We used to fix keyboards like that with water from the kettle. Gets the sticky icky out that is causing the shorts. Might be terminal already but got nothing to lose.
Hutcho
If you do drop your phone into liquid, remove the battery as quick as possible and don't try to turn it on until you have dried it out completely..
sparty
It's out there...

Lifeisabuffet
to make sure every little corner is dry use a blow dryer.
Showem
Nah, don't bother with the hairdyer, just leave it on a radiator for a week and forget about it.
Lifeisabuffet
alternatively you can put your cell phone in a bowl, add some olive oil, vinegar, green lettuce, tomatoes, some pepper and some salt, feta cheese and eat it for lunch.
Showem
I think you should add a little Dijon mustard to the dressing.
tartan
QUOTE (sparty @ Oct 1 2007, 11:49 am) *
It's out there...

Take the front cover off too otherwise it will not dry (yes in this model the front cover comes off). Wash with deionised water from the gas station then put in sun to dry.
Hutcho
Exactly - you have to take this phone way more apart. Then as Showem says, put it on the radiator for a few days, then give it another shot. Your phone is crap, so there might be a chance it will actually work again afterwards..
Darkknight
You will need to take it apart and clean every part of it completly using Distilled water Once cleaned, let it dry completly before you put it back together.
Distilled water won't leave a residue and is safe to clean electronics. Alcohol and normal water will leave a residue.
Schotte
I tipped a boat once and the other guy had his phone with him and turned on. ( i dont know why). anyway, i think if its been on when it did get dunked which id be surprised if it wasnt then it would be pretty fecked unless you took the battery out pronto. worth a try though.

i guess its like everything though electrical, when you are drunk and tip a pint of water over your laptop for example you should turn upside and fully dry before turning on too... works! smile.gif
rbrower
Don't subject it to anything other than ambient dry air for while, until it works again, which it should when it dries out.
YorkshireLad6
As a generalisation, if the phone was switched on when it was immersed, or if it was off but with battery inserted and it was immersed for a period of time, then it's a goner and probably not savable. Beer residue will not be easy to remove, especially if you plan on claiming on any guarantee. You might try immersing it (without battery) for a day or two in distilled water as DK suggests, in the hope that beer traces will be removed prior to trying to get it fixed, but most repair stations are wise to this type of problem.
Alternative is to find a good friend with Haftpflichtversicherung (liability insurance) and have him claim as if he accidentally knocked it out of your hand into your pint. This is a common, and insurable incident (speaking as someone it has happened to)
MadGolfer
Stick it in the microwave on high, stand well back and switch on full power, ta ta.
Darkknight
Don't immerse in Distilled Water. Take the phone apart, clean the parts in Distilled water, let dry, reassemble and see if it works.
If it doesn't then YL6's above suggestion might work. If the phone is still under garentee your provider might also be able
to replace it.
Juano
Try putting the phone in a bowl of uncooked rice. It can soak up the water more quickly:

http://lifehacker.com/software/macgyver-ti...rice-269427.php

It usually works fine for water-damaged stuff, but it may also help with the beer ...

Good luck
Darkknight
@Juano

And even if it does work, the beer residue will remain and corrode the components..
YorkshireLad6
QUOTE (Darkknight @ Oct 1 2007, 11:11 pm) *
Don't immerse in Distilled Water.

The point of my advice to immerse it was not to effect repair, but to thoroughly get rid of the beer residues prior to finding an alternative repair solution.
sparty
QUOTE
If the phone is still under garentee your provider might also be able to replace it.

Thanks for all the tips. I just have one concern, at that's not about the guarantee. It's a company phone, and when I tell at work that my phone doesn't work anymore for "some strange reason", I would certainly not want them to find out that this phone has been drenched in beer.

I will try the distilled water option, and turn it back in at work at least after Oktoberfest smile.gif
Darkknight
Clean it, drit it out, put it back together.. Don't mention how it broke. People now a days are used to Electronics breaking due to shitty/cheap parts. Its nothing new..
Uncle Nick
QUOTE (Schotte @ Oct 1 2007, 4:08 pm) *
...when you are drunk and tip a pint of water over your laptop...

Is this a hobby of your while under the influence?

Edit: in other words don't take your mobile when out on the piss!
Batman509
I've got thrown in a pool with my phone in my pocket. Got out of the pool, took the phone out of my pocket, started yelling at my friend and he threw me back in again. Phone in hand. He said it was wet anyway so why not.

Anyway, I just popped the battery out and let everything dry for about a week. Worked fine after that. It had an LCD screen too. No camera though. It was a Samsung.
Dotty
I dropped my phone in a glass of orange juice it never worked again.

My partner sent a text from his Nokia with soapy hands as he was washing up and some of the keys stopped working. We took it to phone shop they took it apart and said they could tell there was water damage so not covered by warranty.
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