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Step 4Rinse
Rinse your phone with water (distilled if possible) (or Isopropyl alcohol, but it has a very high risk of eating rubber seals**) or put it in a Tupperware container with water and gently shake it.
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"But I thought we were trying to dry it?"
Yup, sounds pretty counter-intuitive doesn't it?
When you dropped your PDA in the neighborhood pond , you might have forgotten about how nasty that pond really is (there's a reason even your dog won't drink that water). All that algae, mud, and whatever else smells fishy is in your phone. If it's still there when you turn it back on, it'll interfere with the conductivity of the circuits, so you wanna get it all out. Even if it you put it through the wash, there's still a good chance that it'll be "dirty" (Chlorine, Laundry Detergent Bleach, Iron in the water, etc.) and I'd recommend it. Distilled is best, but cold water works pretty well too.
Besides, it's not like it isn't already wet, right?
**Some people swear by Isopropyl/Rubbing alcohol in this step. The benefit of using this, is usually argued that it evaporates faster than water, gets it cleaner, and so on. I personally use water, because I don't like the idea of using chemicals if I don't have to (and again, possible buildup of residue/contaminants), but I'm sure that's an argument for someone who knows more about electronics and rubbing alcohol than I do. You also run the risk of damaging labels, ESPECIALLY plastic/rubber keypads, etc.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"But I thought we were trying to dry it?"
Yup, sounds pretty counter-intuitive doesn't it?
When you dropped your PDA in the neighborhood pond , you might have forgotten about how nasty that pond really is (there's a reason even your dog won't drink that water). All that algae, mud, and whatever else smells fishy is in your phone. If it's still there when you turn it back on, it'll interfere with the conductivity of the circuits, so you wanna get it all out. Even if it you put it through the wash, there's still a good chance that it'll be "dirty" (Chlorine, Laundry Detergent Bleach, Iron in the water, etc.) and I'd recommend it. Distilled is best, but cold water works pretty well too.
Besides, it's not like it isn't already wet, right?
**Some people swear by Isopropyl/Rubbing alcohol in this step. The benefit of using this, is usually argued that it evaporates faster than water, gets it cleaner, and so on. I personally use water, because I don't like the idea of using chemicals if I don't have to (and again, possible buildup of residue/contaminants), but I'm sure that's an argument for someone who knows more about electronics and rubbing alcohol than I do. You also run the risk of damaging labels, ESPECIALLY plastic/rubber keypads, etc.
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I dried it out, but didn't rinse it - but got it to work. It has problems now though. It makes peoples voice sound crackely and it turns itself off when I slide it open or closed. I never thought of rinsing it out.
Do you think a rinse of some sort would be prudent at this time?
If you can take your phone fully apart, soak the circuit board briefly in alcohol, then remove and put in front of a fan. The idea is to displace any water with alcohol, and then dry it quickly.
As long as you don't leave the rubber seals in the alcohol for an extended period of time, it should not do that much damage to them. You can always use a coat of light oil to preserve the seals if you are really concerned.
Note: Never put the screen in alcohol, if your screen has water in it, you should just buy a new one.