Keywords: dropped cell phone lake water damage motorola v557 repair drying

My Motorola V557 cell phone pitched off the boat into Lake Hartwell (SC) in about 9 feet of water. One of the more aquatic members of our party dove down and recovered it after about 5 minutes.

I removed the battery and then banged the phone against a towel vigorously so as to remove as much water as I could and set it out in the sun to dry. Significant condensation collected under the LCD window both front and back.

I hit the Internet for advice. One suggested the refrigerator. I tried that overnight and the condensation was still there. So I took another suggestion and put the phone on the dashboard of the car in the sun with the windows rolled up. I left it that way for about 2 and a half hours. All signs of condensation were gone.

I took the phone home, inserted the battery, and the phone booted up as good as new. Bluetooth worked, music worked, the camera worked and the phone made calls.

So, that’s one happy ending to the “I dropped my cell phone in the lake” story.

The moral of the story? Back up your contacts before dropping the cell phone in the water. Also, put your cell phone in the waterproof floating bag before you get on the boat.

About Kevin

Just an old guy with opinions that I like to bounce off other people.
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17 Responses to Keywords: dropped cell phone lake water damage motorola v557 repair drying

  1. You are really lucky. My wife washed mine and only found it when she took it out of the clothes washer. I tried to dry it will a hairdryer, it dried, but the screen was damaged from the hairdryer – I think it dried it out to fast.

  2. Kevin says:

    I think that your problem was corrosion. By just letting it dry, you gave the moisture time to do some damage. I believe that the application of heat quickly is important, to drive all the moisture out completely.

    My dad was a watchmaker, and folks would bring in their watches with with condensation under the crystal. He always put them in a heater first thing before rust could start to form.

  3. M8y says:

    Pulled my pants up after a dump and my cellphone dived into the toilet ! Wiped it, removed battery, let it dry by the window, put it in a bowl of rice for 3 days and voila it booted up fine !!..Unfortunately a few days later it died ! Cant figure out why !

  4. Wallace Fox says:

    You want to hear one even better!?! I dropped my phone in the toilet in between classes at college. I know it’s disgusting but I immediately grabbed it out of the bowl and wrapped it in paper towels. I then took it out to the parking lot and put it on the dash (on the paper towels) and let it dry in the sun. It didn’t work when I left class so I turned the heater on and placed it in one of the vents. (After rubbing it down with the alcohol lotion you can by to sanitize your hands.) When I got home, I turned on a small electric heater and placed it in front of it for a couple hours. It’s working now but it’s a bit dodgy at best.

  5. Kevin says:

    I think one key thing is to get the phone dry as soon as possible, to remove the possibility of corrosion.

  6. Kevin says:

    I had an older Mot V220, and as I answered the telephone having stepped out of the shower, just the moisture on my ear or hair killed the front (smaller) LCD. Bummer. And I would have NEVER expected a 557 to survive that sort of treatment!

    I’ve used a hairdryer, on low, pointed 18″ away from the soaked electronics to dry it out. If you can stand the noise, an hour usually does the trick.

  7. Sunny says:

    I dropped mine in the toilet… :[ I kept the battery in for a bit because i didnt know what to do, I also tried testing it a few times, and even putting the charger on. Once I read an article about wet cell phones I took the battery out and put it in a bowl of rice….but will the testing/charger/everything have ruined the phone?

  8. Devestated** says:

    My contacts were saved on my phone and not my sim and now there all gone!!! My phone wont turn on have a RAZR and dropped it in the toilet also. Any suggestions on getting the contacts?? It was Cincinnati Bell I-wirless and it was alsso Pre-paid!!

  9. mike says:

    lol thanks alot i thought i was done for dropped mine in the toilet dont ask so it has been sitting in my truck windows up the phx az heat seen your page so i thought id give it a try plugged it in and no shit it worked it turnd off for a sec but when all els fails bang on that shit and oh money thanks for the working phone!!!!

  10. Amber says:

    I dropped mine in cup of water that was in the console of my car late at night. I took out the battery IMMEDIATELY. And shook out all the water.. then hit it up with the blow dryer on the cold blast for a little while. I then put it in a tupperware full of rice (I know it sounds weird, but rice supposedly sucks up the condensation). And today, I set it in the sun to dry. It is now working although not back to 100%. I put it back in the sun so all the water can dry up. Hopefully.. this is the cure. Just thought I would pass that along.

  11. Kevin says:

    Last week, I slipped and fell in the creek carrying my walkie talkie, cell phone (same one) and digital camera. The walkie talkie was the only one to be underwater a significant time (slipped off my belt). All survived after the little dashboard treatment.

    Good luck, Matt.

    Kevin

  12. Matt says:

    I was kayaking and did the same thing 2 days ago. I tried using a hair dryer so far and now its sitting on the dash of my car.

  13. Chantal says:

    My friend dropped his cell in the lake when he took a pee off the paddle boat and never went in to get it, so its lost

  14. Lynelle says:

    Well one more cell phone in the toilet. Came home from work, cell phone in pocket. Plunk there it went. What a bummer. I870 2 months old! Guess I will try the old
    dash idea. Hope it works for me. Thanks for ideas. Guess its not as strange as I thought.

  15. Kevin says:

    It might work. The longer you wait until drying it out, the more chance for corrosion or for the water to soak into something. I assume the water is chlorinated which will cause corrosion over time.

    Good luck.

    Kevin

  16. Mo says:

    question??? do you think this would work after it happened about 3 or 4 days ago? my girlfriend dropped hers in the toilet( yeah i was lost too…)and i wasnt sure if it would work but thanks for your info and hit me back, ill try everything…..

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