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Water Damaged. Rice a Myth? Or is this a better solution?

nostresshere said:
Saw this in USA Today. Not sure how great this is, but the best advice they give is to TURN THE PHONE OFF NOW to avoid a mix of water and electricity.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/tech/2014/12/18/phone-drying-systems/20212889/

Thoughts from the experts?
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You have to turn it off anyway before placing it in rice. Doing so otherwise is moot because of potential shorting of the components. You also need to use unopened bag of rice because otherwise it'll already have absorbed the moisture.

Do you really believe an article containing advice from TekDry and DryBox who'd rather that you shell out your hard earned money to buy their products instead of a $5 bag of rice?
 
I had it happen to me, i was caught in a heavy downpour with the phone in my pocket and the screen was very patchy when i came to use it. It does kinda work - it seems to pull out the liquid, but basically it dulls the screen to the same extent all over.

In the end i took it in for replacement.
 
It works. I did it for my mother-in-laws iPhone 3GS. Worked like a charm. She still uses it as her only phone and operates as smooth as butter. Can't get her to upgrade.
 
A good 10 ounces of water was poured into my 2008 15" MBP by my son. I powered if off as soon as I could and waited. I tried powering it on after two weeks - no go. I tried again after three weeks - no good. I tried again after a month - still no good.

At that point, I wrote it off and started looking for its replacement. I was almost going to pull the trigger on a purchase late one night, and opted not to because I was too tired to fill out the info. The next day I was in my office, intending to place the order when I said "what the heck, I'll try one more time." And hit damn, it turned on!!!!

Six weeks after taking its bath, it was up and running again. The battery lasted for another two years, and the misses is still using it(RAM and SSD upgraded) today - six years after purchase, and three years after it's bath.

I did not use rice, but it was in a dry place.
 
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they have like "BHEESTIE bags" that supposedly work better then rice. theres another bag like called iresq or something ? i don't know the name. they cost a lot more then rice, heh, when my iPhone got wet and i turned it off, i was looking all over the stores for that bag but couldn't find it anywhere.

anyway, it might get in the way of drying it out, but don't forget to tape your ports and speaker holes closed. i put my iPhone in rice and a small piece of rice got into my lightning port. and that was it. i couldn't charge or sync. and i damaged the lightning port trying it get it out.

i ended up having to pay the $269 replacement fee to swap it out. but it wasn't such a big deal. i only had to pay the $50 deductible (grandfathered plan) and square trade reimbursed me the $269

i took real good care of that iPhone 5 replacement and sold it on swappa for $280
 
The iPhone, having a built in battery and no "hard" power switch, is somewhat disadvantaged when wet.

I have seen an iPhone that was so wet that the screen no longer worked and you could not turn the device off or pull the battery. It was horrible watching my friends phone die such a horrible wet death.

The rice thing is a good idea for phones that can be saved but most rice in a box or opened plastic bag may contain too much moisture but is better than nothing.
 
I spilled tea on my wife's macbook and it worked it's way inside..I kept it in rice for 4 days and it worked fine after, and it's still working almost 1 year later (there is one small stain ~1/2 inch in diameter on the screen behind the glass)...It might have done the same without rice but it's a cheap fix and it worked so I figure it can't hurt to try.
 
My sgs3 fell in the toilet (toddler tried to grab it off the counter as I was taking him potty).

I quickly grabbed the phone from the toilet, phone was off. Took it apart, cleaned /disinfected and let it stand in a bag of rice for two days. The phone was able to turn in but touch was unresponsive. Took it apart again and let it sit for another few days and it worked like normal.

Rice works, just need time to let it do its thing.
 
saberz said:
My sgs3 fell in the toilet (toddler tried to grab it off the counter as I was taking him potty).

I quickly grabbed the phone from the toilet, phone was off. Took it apart, cleaned /disinfected and let it stand in a bag of rice for two days. The phone was able to turn in but touch was unresponsive. Took it apart again and let it sit for another few days and it worked like normal.

Rice works, just need time to let it do its thing.
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But I wonder if it was the fact that you let it sit for another few days that did the trick, rather than the rice?

Kinda like diet pills taken to lose weight that always advise a proper diet and exercise. What works, the pills or the diet/exercise regimen?
 
I'm a freshman in highschool now, but I remember way back in fifth grade, my friend, for whatever reason, put his iPod touch 2nd gen in his lunchbag in a rush out of the lunchroom. Long story short, his water bottle broke open and soaked his iPod, and it would not turn on. He was freaking out and I told him to put it in a bag of rice, he did for a few days and it turned on again, good as new.
 
HighLife420 said:
Rice does work, but i keep those little silica packets you get in some items you buy. Those work really really well, much better than rice.

Just toss them in a plastic zip lock and keep them in a dry place.
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CNET posted a story saying the same thing. They recommend collecting silica gel packs from products you buy (leather goods, electronics, medicine bottles, etc.), so you have them when needed.

If a phone is wet, CNET says to power it down, remove all removable parts, and put them all in a zip-lock bag for 72 hours with a handful of those packets.

If your silica gel packs stop working after being used for a while, you can supposedly recharge them, but I'd just collect more new ones.
 
Rice worked for me after my 6+ took a swim while I was washing my toddler. I quickly powered it down as soon as I got it out of the water. next morning I powered it up and the speaker wasn't working and the screen was splotchy.

I powered it back down and left it in rice for another day and everything worked fine after that . This was about 6 months ago and it's still fine.

I will swear by rice from now on.
 
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