This winter weather can be loads of fun, but what is decidedly less fun is seeing your smartphone slide out of your pocket during a snowball fight, and watching as it plunges into a cloud of frosty flakes.
The cold weather is known to cause issues with battery power, but direct contact with snow could possibly cause water damage too. Maybe handsets now have an IP67 or IP68 water resistance rating, but if yours doesn’t, of if you’re unsure, it’s best to play it safe and take action.
Just follow these simple steps from the experts at online smartphone retailer Mobiles.co.uk to ensure your smartphone doesn’t succumb to an icy end.
Commence snow rescue mission…
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Rescue it without delay
It may seem obvious, but the longer you leave your phone submerged, the lower your chances of reviving it. When you’ve extracted it, turn it off and remove the SIM card and battery, if you can. Wrap all the components in soft kitchen roll (or temporarily sacrifice those gloves and put your phone in there!)
Check for serious water damage by examining the corner near the battery – most phones have a white square or circle. If this area is pink or red, your phone is most likely water damaged.
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Dry the insides (if you have a removable battery)
Now, grab a soft towel and gently sponge water from the exposed insides of the phone. Try not to move or shake the phone, because that could move water further inside it and cause more damage.
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Remove any water with the vacuum cleaner
If your phone is waterlogged, the next step is to reach for the vacuum cleaner. Hold it at a reasonable distance and suck the water out of the phone, paying attention to the headphone jack, charging port, speaker etc. Never use a hairdryer as this will blow the water into any cracks.
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Search the house for silica
Silica gel could be your saviour. Not sure what we’re talking about? It’s in those little packets labelled ‘Silica – do not eat’ that you often get with new shoes, and it’s amazing at absorbing water. Put any packets you rustle up into a sealed sandwich bag with your phone.
If you can’t find any, rice can work too though isn’t usually quite as effective. Put your phone and its components (if you can take it apart) in a bowl of rice, rotating the phone every couple of hours. Leave it for at least a day, but the longer you can do without your handset the better.
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Be patient
Start a new boxset. Go back out into the snow and finish sledging. Go to bed. Just don’t switch your phone back on. The most worst thing that can happen to a water damaged phone is that it short circuits. A phone left for 72 hours stands a much better chance than one left for 24 hours.
Good luck…
If your rescue mission fails, then don’t despair- there are loads of amazing new Sim-Free and contract details at Mobiles.co.uk.
For more information, please visit http://www.mobiles.co.uk or follow on Twitter @mobilescouk and Facebook – facebook.com/mobiles.co.uk.