Cell phone + washer = D:

TwistedJester

The title pretty much says it all. I did my wash yesterday, and while putting my clothes into the dryer, I noticed I had left my cell phone in the pocket of a pair of shorts. At first I wasn't terribly worried, as this wasn't the first time it has been submerged in water (it fell into a toilet for a few seconds when I was getting ready to take a shower at a hotel and after a day of it acting wonky, it was back to normal). That doesn't quite seem to be the case now.

After letting it dry for 6+ hours, I plugged it into the charger. The screens were all screwy but after a while they went back to being normal aside from a few minor distortions. I can still send and receive calls, as well as texts. The only thing that really seems borked was the camera, which just displays green. My main concern though is that it only works when plugged into the charger. It acts as if it's charging, but when I pull the plug from it, it just shuts off and won't turn on even if it says it is fully charged.

What I want to know is if this has happened to anyone else and if this issue is simply due to the battery being screwed up, since the phone works almost as well as it did before.

downer

I think it pretty much goes without saying that water+electrionics = bad. I sold cell phones for awhile, and I saw a lot of water damaged phones, but never one that had extended exposure to water and still worked well. The fact that it only works when it's on the charger is a bad sign.

Even if you did buy a new battery for the phone, you would probably still run into issues with it not keeping a charge.

Do you have insurance on the phone? Are you due for an upgrade?

TwistedJester

I didn't have any insurance on it, and my plan doesn't expire for another year.

How much of a risk would I be running if I bought a phone on eBay? I've heard they're sometimes stolen and thus their ESN's are blacklisted by Sprint.

Jaded

Thats exactly the thing you may face. Here in Manitoba I've been told by MTS that you can not activate any phone that they have not sold in the past through their retails. Makes it tricky to buy phones online.

You best bet is to call your provider, explani your situation and find out if they can activate a used phone should you purchase one. If they say yes, find out if there are any restrictions.

... and for the record ...

I did the exact same thing when our neighbours Boxer Puppy pissed all over my jeans while I was outside talking to him.

<sadfayse>

DiscoZombie

I dropped my phone in rancid dishwater once. I pulled it out and removed the battery immediately. They say that's the most important thing to do. Then I shook it out, took a hair dryer to it, and let it dry at least overnight. It was good as new the next day, though it still smelled like rank dishwater.

anyway, I guess none of this helps you now. the idea is that water completes circuits inside the phone that normally shouldn't be crossed, and this is what fries the thing, which is why the power source must be removed ASAP. anyway, can't really offer much advice... you could try a new battery, but if it didn't work and you had to buy a new phone anyway, you'd be out a chunk of change for the new useless battery... maybe the people at the phone store could test it for you? the battery, phone, or both? then again, probably not, since it would be in their best interests to say you need a new phone -_-

Demerdar

I dropped my phone into the river. Well, actually, I fell into the river with my cell phone in my jeans. I just took the whole phone apart and let it dry over night. Good as new.

mts

i would ot worry about the phone just yet.

the last time my phone went in the river (leaky drybox that wasn't shut all the way) i had the same thing happen to me, it would turn on, but give an error message about a non compatable battery than shut off.

it just means it is not completly dry. take the battery out of the phone, and put both in a container of uncooked rice. ( or beans lentils etc) leave it in the sun for a day or so.

that will help draw moisture out. be patient, the last thing you want to do is turn it on at this point.

it should work fine after that