How my BlackBerry survived a swim in the toilet
My BlackBerry, after recovering from Wednesday's swim.
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET)It's every gadget lover's nightmare and, on Wednesday, it became my reality.
My BlackBerry went for an ever-so-brief tour of CNET's plumbing facilities. I'm not sure how it ended up exactly where it did, but suffice it to say, it did. And, to answer the question before you ask, it was a clean bowl.
I pulled it out within a second of hearing that dreaded splash. I shook it off, dried it, and headed to my desk with a sheepish look on my face.
With a quick glance to make sure no one was looking, I googled "What to do if cell phone gets wet."
As you may or may not know, many cell phones meet their end by visiting pools, tubs, and other reservoirs of different shapes and contents. There are so many such incidents, cell phones now have indicators that show whether they have gotten wet and are therefore ineligible for warranty replacement.
I called Verizon Wireless to see how often this happens. Although spokesman Jeffrey Nelson didn't have any solid numbers, he said, "I do think it happens a fair amount more than people realize."
Nelson said his own cousin has dropped his BlackBerry in the toilet twice and a Facebook friend dropped his phone in a cup of coffee this morning. (The Verizon folks also helpfully pointed me to this phone, should I really want a phone that can handle the water.)
Luckily, even some of the non-waterproof devices survive their aquatic ordeals and there is plenty of advice on the Internet about how to maximize one's chances.
Pull out the battery. Check. Make sure everything is as dry as possible. Some suggest paper towels or those silica gel packs to absorb moisture, while others recommend a bowl of uncooked rice.
The next piece of advice is to leave it be for a day or two. Don't test it. Just let it dry out.
That's was the hard part. It just goes against human nature--or at least my nature--to just let it sit there.
I must admit, I did test it several times yesterday.
I saw signs of life, but it was clearly not working properly. Sometimes the power light would go on and nothing else. Other times it would show the rotating hourglass, but the screen was not back-lit.
The time without my BlackBerry was unsettling. To be away from the computer is one thing, but to not check my e-mail every few minutes was unnatural.
On the bus ride home, I occupied myself with Yahtzee Adventure on my iPod Touch. As soon as I got home, I quickly logged into Outlook Web Access to see what vital messages I had missed on that 30-minute commute home.
I tried to pretend it was no big deal. I cooked dinner and sat down to watch the "American Idol" finale. In some ways, it was good. I had no opportunity to check Twitter, which would have inevitably led me to some spoiler from an East Coast twit.
But, I was clearly out of sorts. My partner kept asking me if something was wrong.
I tried my best to demur.
"You just seem off," AJ said.
"I'm fine," I insisted.
How do you say, "It's not you honey. I just miss my BlackBerry?"
I went to sleep fervently hoping to wake up to a brighter day--and screen.
When I put the battery in this morning, my heart lept as my screen came to life. The hourglass spun for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, though, my familiar home screen popped up, revealing all of the e-mails, text messages, and Facebook updates that had streamed in during the time my phone was drying out.
My joy abated some when I tried to respond to an editor's e-mail. I tried to tell him, "I've got it" in response to a story idea, but the screen showed a bizarre mix of "h"s and "l"s.
Still, it was a step in the right direction. I made my commute into the office on Thursday able to at least read my e-mail, if not reply.
When I arrived at the office, all but a few keys were working properly. After my morning bagel, the keyboard seemed to be fully functional. I tried a test message. It worked.
Excited, I ran off to show a co-worker.
She looked at the brief e-mail. What's the big deal, she said.
Well, you see, my phone had a bit of an unfortunate water incident.
"You didn't drop it in the toilet, did you?"
I demurred.
"And you let me touch it?" she exclaimed.
I guess not everyone is as proud as I am to hold a BlackBerry that learned how to swim.
Audio
Tale of a dunked BlackBerry
CNET News reporter Ina Fried tells editor Leslie Katz what happened when her BlackBerry went for a swim.
Download mp3 (1.59MB)
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
.. sound like one of those .... "my friend's ipod/mac fell in the pool/storm drain/river but it survived" stories.
the only exception, the author forgot to say how amazing BlackBerry is!
what better for wet electronics than to put electricity through them. good thinking, cnet tech person!
Of course businesses are shrewd - and ruthless - and will happily issue laptops & smart-phones to their employees because it increases productivity because the user is actually working over-time - but they're so "i have this" (call it stars or sh-- in their eyes) that they don't realise they are working 2/3/4 hours extra a day and dealing with e-mail at weekend while not getting paid for it.
While it could be perceived, by some, as "sad", people adopt & incorporate technology into their lives. That's the way it is.
so did you use any one of those recommendations? paper towels? silica? rice? or just let it air out?
You should have taken your BlackBerry's downtime to give it a thorough cleaning with a Clorox wipe :-P
Let this be a lesson to check your pants pockets before throwing them in the laundry.
Sidebar - My wife wears hearing aids and has a special dryer for them. She puts the aids in there overnight and it not only dries them but it uses an ultraviolet lamp to help kill germs. I frequently use it for my earbuds. see http://www.dryandstore.com/
That happened to my brother's nano! After it went through the wash, it would start up but never charge.
This article just confirms what I always suspected about iPhones, BlackBerries and every other instrument with randomly misplaced cApitaLizaTion. They're simply high-tech flavours of the month that not only stroke the egoes of their owners mightily every time they put their hands on them, but in fostering these twin delusions of indispensability and self-importance, also help to develop a healthy industry resolving OCD issues somewhere down the line ...
You quickly turn it off (if it's not already off)
Disassemble it. Remove the battery, battery plate, and anything else made to be removed.
Dry them with a paper towel or towen. DON'T BLOWDRY OR LAY IN THE SUN
Let all the pieces sit out for 1 -2 days (2 recommended, the longer the better).
After a couple of days, make sure it's all dry, reassemble it and try it out.
This is basically the steps with A LOT of electronic devices from cell phones, portable games, even laptops depending on how long they've been subjected to water and how much.
Now if you get soda your electronics, well let's just say I wish you ALOT of luck there.,you'll definitely need it
May not always work, depends how quickly you can remove from the power source, but has worked for me a couple times in the past.
Dissasemble the keyboard and remove all the paper or water soluble items. Stick it in the dishwasher for a run (no dry) cycle. Blow it dry with compressed air, then let it air dry for a few days. Reassemble it.
Try spilling over soda or cofee on your BlackBerry or any keyboard and see what happens. It's toast.
4 weeks later it still works. I am still amazed.
-Remove the battery imediatly! Cannot stress this enough
-Do not push any keys
-Do not blow into the phones openings
ABSOLUTELY DO NOT TRY TO TURN THE PHOE ON IF ITS OFF, IF ITS ON REMOVE THE BATTERY IMEDIALTY
To fix the problem of it being wet as long as the liquad isnt dark like soda or coffee
Find your Wife or Girlfriends powerful blow dryer
set it to max and hold it steady on each side of the phone for about 15 minutes, open any conector or SD card slots ect remove the sim card, you may need to dry it more depending on if water or liquad got under the screen.
If you get soda or coffee on the phone its more than likely dead already after it drys cuz of sticky keys, but you can get some High end rubbing alcohol and soak the phone in it for 20-30 minutes and do the blow dryer procedure. I have yet to loose a phone yet, this procedure even worked on a old nokia phone all us teenagers used to have, after it being in a river for 6+ hours, but just because the phone doesnt turn on after u do the procedure doesnt mean its dead, if the battery gets wet enough it can short out and continue not to work. so try a afriends battery, alas if it doesnt turn on your phone is FUBAR.
-Alex
Seriously why were you using your phone in the restroom!
P.S., you are seriously addicted to your BB. Try unplugging once in a while, it might just help your relationships with people.
Whenever I am without my computer or iPhone I feel isolated from people. Call it an addiction if you like, but I think it is wonderful that people can communicate constantly. When I look at old television shows from the 60's I feel sorry for the people back then - their lives seem so empty and limited compared to todays wired lifestyle.
For the record I have never spoken to any person from a toilet but there are many times the iPhone has been in my hand while entering. Why oes everyone assume Ina was actually talking on her BB while in there?
I used our electronics cleaner to clean everything and compressed air to dry everything off. I left it apart for the night and reassembled it the next day. Unfortunately the battery would only last about 4 hours before needing a charge, and the display was sort of iffy after that. Sometimes displaying perfectly and some times showing odd results.
Now, I don't take my gadgets into the washroom unless I have no choice (in a public place). I have a belt case for my phone and I've added a strap so there's no way the phone can drop out any more.
- by michaelportent May 21, 2009 4:32 PM PDT
- I've also heard that putting your wet electronic device in a bowl of uncooked rice is a great method too. The rice absorbs all the water on it and the water that will seep out of it too.
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