When you live in a houseboat and have water around you on all sides, it's easy to lose something in the lake. Sometimes a neighbour might send a message on Facebook like "We've lost a bike and have ordered divers. Anyone else want to pick up something else at the same time?" But no, it wasn't actually in the lake that I dropped my mobile phone ...
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ShareAn accident happens easily
Dropping your mobile phone in the toilet is apparently a classic mistake. And this is what I managed to do last night! I didn't quite know whether to laugh or cry, and Peter almost had trouble believing me: "What did you say you did, you said...?" We wiped the mobile phone, took out the SIM card and remembered that we had heard that you should put it in rice to dry, so we did that....
A few years ago I spilled white wine on my computer, and it didn't like bathing either. We took it to a repairman, and when I got it back, almost everything worked except for a few keys and commands. It took a few more months, and then everything worked as usual again!
What happened to the phone?
When I took my mobile phone out of the rice bath this morning, it actually worked! Whether it was because of the rice or if I was just lucky, I don't know. According to an article in SvD the uncooked rice treatment may work on some models.
Removing the SIM card and battery can be a good first aid measure. However, you should definitely not put your mobile phone in the freezer or oven to dry it ... Of course, I'm glad the phone is working again and I hope that no problems will arise afterwards. Have you ever managed to do something equally clumsy?
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Ninni, Henrik and the Knasen motorhome says:
Hello hope! Both yes and no - a few years ago I bought an LG phone that I never really got along with, didn't like it but couldn't afford to buy another one. Several times I said and wished that it would break so I would be "forced" to buy a new one ... but then realised that I will probably have to reconcile myself with the phone and be allowed to start liking it 🙂 When that day came ... I was going shopping, got out of the car and held my wallet, phone and car keys and was going to lock the car whereby I obviously lose the phone and poff in the asphalt with a little gravel on with the screen down - and it obviously went into a thousand pieces. THEN all of a sudden I get so mad at myself and sad that the phone is broken so I ignore shopping and go home and cry a little instead 😉 so it can also go ...
The daughter had an old samsung several years ago that she brought to the swimming pool for training and suddenly it also had to swim - luckily it had a "sim card" 😉 well she took it apart and put it on an element to dry overnight and then it worked for a year again.
28 March 2016 - 8:50
Ama de casa says:
I thought giving someone a spanking was an outdated punishment nowadays. But if the mobile phone is so stupid that it jumps into the toilet, it has earned a little spanking, I think! 😉
I accidentally spilled some water on a keyboard at work once. All the keys worked after that mishap - except the space bar. You have no idea how hard it is to programme without spaces. I had to come clean and admit it... 😀.
28 March 2016 - 9:07
admin says:
Ninni, Henrik and the motorhome Knasen, it is so easy for something to happen at some point. You have that mobile phone with you everywhere, so it might be strange otherwise. But of course it's hard when it happens! Laughed when I read that with sim cards, haha 😉 😉
Ama de casa, incredible that life can be so tricky without a little key, but that's how it is! In any case, I think water is better than wine, they're real teetotalers those techies 😉.
28 March 2016 - 9:07
Ann-Sofie says:
Hope that either you haven't had time to use the toilet yet or that you've had time to flush. ?
The absolute worst thing for a phone is saliva. A mate at work let his baby
"play" with the phone and it became full of saliva. Could not be saved in any way. Apparently saliva conducts electricity better than water or leaves deposits.
28 March 2016 - 9:10
admin says:
Ann-Sofie, haha, luckily I hadn't had time to use the toilet 😉 Saliva!? Oops! Best to hold the phone when there are babies in the neighbourhood then 😉.
28 March 2016 - 9:45
Ditte says:
I'm glad it worked out. Rice is useful for many things and I know others have tried this.
In the case of a computer hard drive, it can be left in the freezer to recover. We have tried this a couple of times with an old computer and then all the content on it could be saved and a new hard drive inserted.
Let's hope it stays in check.
And maybe it shouldn't go to the toilet next time....
28 March 2016 - 10:16
nils-åke hansson says:
Are you in such a hurry that it has to go to the toilet, BUT good that it worked out.
28 March 2016 - 10:28
admin says:
Ditte, so good that your method worked on the hard drive! All ways are good except the bad ones, they say 😉.
Nils-Åke, I made that classic mistake of putting it in my back pocket, and then ... plums.
28 March 2016 - 10:37
Marie says:
Ooops, but I'm glad it was saved! I have sent my mobile phone by post by mistake once. I used to work in e-commerce and one time my mobile phone slipped into a parcel that was going to a customer. I was absolutely sure that it was stolen, especially when the Find my iphone service showed that it was in Stuvsta, about 1 kilometre from our home. When I went after the signal, it turned out that it was at the Post Office's sorting centre...
28 March 2016 - 10:44
joy says:
Yes, Jacob has had his mobile phone in the toilet and luckily, before he did anything. It was dried with a hairdryer and then worked.
Haha how I laughed at Marie's mobile phone going to the post office.
Hugs
28 March 2016 - 11:23
admin says:
Marie, oh accidentally sending it by post was a completely new variant that I have not heard of before!!!! Haha, absolutely incredible! So good that you could track it down! 😉
JoY, nice that Jacob's mobile phone could also be saved after the involuntary toilet dip! 😉
28 March 2016 - 11:32
Lennart says:
What luck, I hope it works!
The worst thing is what you have stored!
28 March 2016 - 11:49
Maggan and Ingemar says:
We haven't dropped a phone in the water, but I accidentally spilled a small glass of liqueur near the computer. It came, I thought, only a little on the computer. But enough that the keys, with å, ä, ö became very sluggish. I had to resort to swabs and water, and lift them to clean, not just once but several times. Imagine what a little sweet can do 🙂 I rarely carry the phone on me and if I do, it is in a pocket on the jacket. On the other hand, I have managed to lose both it and the camera in the hill..... but so far both work.
28 March 2016 - 15:06
Elisabeth says:
Many of us have had our phones in our back pockets, but we have also learnt little from it!
28 March 2016 - 15:40
Ether says:
I have washed a mobile phone. Hadn't had it for long but only got £124 from the insurance company. A pedometer ended up in the toilet once...
28 March 2016 - 16:08
Ika's USA says:
My husband did the same thing and unfortunately the rice trick did not work that time... I think it took too long before we got to the rice! Wonderful that you got it started, you have your whole life on your mobile phone, it feels like!
28 March 2016 - 16:26
admin says:
Lennart, no problems so far, so I hope it continues!
Maggan and Ingemar, sugar is certainly not good, so I can understand that liqueur was inappropriate even if it was just a little... My last camera I dropped from horseback, and it was destroyed when the horse stepped on it...
Elisabeth, I really hope I have learnt now! 😉
Ezter, 124 SEK from the insurance company was not much to cheer about...! I used to run a research project where the participants wore pedometers. Several of them disappeared in toilets...
Ika's USA, sorry you weren't as lucky! Ristricket only helps if it is on time and if the damage is not too great I guess....
28 March 2016 - 16:41
Matts Torebring says:
Dropping the iPhone on a stone floor is my contribution. The glass cracked, but it works.
28 March 2016 - 16:42
Britt says:
Thank you for your comment. That doesn't sound too good. I'm thinking of buying a new one, maybe I should lose the old one first, so it will happen. / Britt
28 March 2016 - 16:47
Goatfish says:
I haven't lost or made a mistake with my mobile phone, camera or laptop.
However, I have poured a glass of beer over my husband's second best laptop once, when we were camping in the caravan.
It failed at first, but when it dried, it worked without fail!
My mobile phone is so important to me, my only phone, like...
Kram, Gerd
28 March 2016 - 17:10
Deciree says:
Sure, it's annoying that the mobile phone always wants to take a bath;-) I would turn on some more water in the bathtub and suddenly, my mobile phone jumped into the bathtub in the water, of course....oh well;-).
28 March 2016 - 19:09
AuntieGlad says:
Don't think mobiles are so fond of bathing haha.
Enjoy!
Stuff.
28 March 2016 - 19:39
Role o Carina says:
Pepper pepper pepper, I have managed all Mobiles for bathing!
I hope it continues like that in the future too 🙂
28 March 2016 - 20:27
admin says:
Matts, oh no sad, but easy to happen I can think... It is not uncommon to see mobile phones with broken glass...
Britt, haha that's one way, then it has to happen 😉.
Geddfish, it's hard to spill over someone else's computer... luckily it went well! Maybe it's better with beer than wine 😉.
Deciree, no, is that true? Did it survive?
Tantglad, no it doesn't seem so... 😉 .
Rolle and Carina, great! Keep up the good work! 🙂
28 March 2016 - 21:11
BP says:
Forgive me for laughing here. I mean, dropping your mobile phone in the lake is quite "normal" if you live on a houseboat, but dropping it in the toilet... Do you usually talk on the phone when you do.... Oh, forget it, or I'll start laughing again.
Oh, that thing about putting your mobile phone in rice is a great tip if I ever decide to take my mobile phone to the bathroom;-)
The only thing I had dropped in the lake - not the toilet - was a camera. The husband dived and fished it out. I wrapped it in kitchen paper and put the packet in the microwave on the lowest heat. It worked perfectly after an hour or so. Oh yes, the husband has actually dropped his shaver in water too. Same here - the microwave!
28 March 2016 - 21:13
petra says:
Never dropped it in the water but dropped it on the stone floor when I was shopping. The glass shattered and had to replace the glass. What was less fun was that I had only had the phone for 5 days before it fell ...
🙂
28 March 2016 - 22:18
admin says:
Petra, oh no, it feels soooo bad when that happens, but you just have to bite the bullet ...
28 March 2016 - 22:21
Helena says:
When I was in Borneo, we went down to the beach to do some snorkelling, even though the weather was like that. After a while, I don't really know if it's about half an hour or an hour, it started to look darker and darker in the sky. The others chose to go back to our accommodation but I wanted to stay a while longer anyway. I moved my bags to under a fallen palm tree, thinking that they are safe there. The camera and all electronics were in a dry bag so it wasn't that unbelievable anyway. But then suddenly I remember that my phone is in the regular bag! I hurry up to the beach, grab my bags and head back. Once in the room, I take out my mobile phone and hope for the best, but no, it is soaking wet and refuses to start! Completely dead. Unfortunately, I had no rice and we were on an island without a shop or anything. Picked out the battery and everything and let it lie on the bed and dry. The next day I try to start it and it works! Absolutely overjoyed! Until I realise that it's not accepting a charge. A few days later, I realise that I need to buy a new mobile phone and when we are in Kota Kinabalu, I check out the selection. But deep down, I don't want to spend any money on a new mobile phone, so I procrastinate until my last night there. Then I think I'll try one last time and borrow a charger from a friend. And quite miraculously, it accepts charging! There was no new phone that time, thank goodness.
28 March 2016 - 23:09
admin says:
Helena, oh how lucky you were that it worked out after all! Sometimes it can probably take time before all components have dried properly and want to work. I'm also not in the mood to spend money on a new mobile phone now, so I'm very happy that mine also started working again 🙂 .
29 March 2016 - 8:07
Inga Magnusson says:
I can imagine that it is easy to drop your mobile phone in the water when you live on a houseboat! Although now it was in the toilet, but still. Funny with neighbourly cooperation if someone ordered a diver to fish out possessions that have fallen down. I wonder why rice should serve as a dryer? It seems spontaneously as if it would be more effective with a hair dryer or placement on a radiator. I remember that we used those methods when necessary, but I don't remember why or how it happened. So it doesn't happen very often. Have a good day!
31 March 2016 - 6:13
admin says:
Inga M, yes haha, it becomes a little different neighbourly cooperation when you live on a boat 😉 Rice has an ability to absorb water, so I guess that's why. The article in SvD said that the hair dryer can work on some models but that others cannot tolerate it, so they did not dare to recommend it ...
31 March 2016 - 7:50
Dryden - Traveller's Edition says:
I recently bought an S7 Edge. IP68 rated so hopefully it can handle a drop in the loo. If it doesn't crack the porcelain that is. 😉
31 March 2016 - 9:31
admin says:
Dryden, maybe you should have a mobile phone that is both waterproof and rubberised 😉.
01 April 2016 - 8:04
Cat - Bucketlife.se says:
Haha, I have actually (so far) never dropped a mobile phone in the toilet, but I have dropped it on the ground a few times.
However, my computer has tasted coffee a few times, which it strangely did not like. But even there it is important to switch off/unplug the cord asap.
But one question - how have you managed to take the battery out of an iphone?
01 April 2016 - 22:55
admin says:
Katta, we never removed the battery but only the sim card. What I wrote about it being good to remove the battery was a general advice from the SvD article I linked to...
02 April 2016 - 6:53
Discovering The Planet says:
Will there be a list of everything people dropped in the Marina 😀 ?
03 April 2016 - 21:23