How to take care of mobile phones during the rains

Tip: Zip lock pouches, cling wraps and plastic shopping bags are ideal and inexpensive ways to protect your phone from the rain.

Getting wet in the rain is usually a lot of fun for children and teens, and sometimes for grownups as well. But dealing with a wet phone is definitely not fun! Moisture and watery accidents can harm your mobile phones, even if they are from the best brands. To help you with the same, here are some smart tips to easily save your mobile from monsoon woes. They are not very expensive and can at least ensure that the damage is minimal.

Safeguard economically – Zip lock pouches, cling wraps and plastic shopping bags are ideal and inexpensive ways to protect your phone from the rain. You can also fold your handset in multiple sheets of plastic and tie it with a rubber band. Or drop a packet of silica gel in a zip lock pouch with your phone and say goodbye to moisture. When you are outside in the rain, wear a raincoat or waterproof wind-cheater and keep the phone in the deepest pocket.

Waterproof covers – Buy some waterproof phone covers to keep the rain out. These are cheap but hardy. But note that these covers cannot completely keep the moisture out. So take out your mobile now and then and wipe it with dry tissues. Waterproof covers are especially useful for smartphones, since it is a bad idea to touch the screen with wet hands.

Tempered glass screen protector – These screens are first heated and then cooled using a special technology that makes them very durable. They prevent water from sneaking in and also resist finger prints, scratches and shocks from falls. Since smartphones are quite expensive, don’t settle for ordinary screen protectors as their edges are not very good against moisture.

Waterproof mobile phones – To fight the rainy season, you can also get a waterproof handset at affordable prices from well-known brands. These often keep dust at bay too, and are designed to resist unfavorable climatic conditions. You can also get hold of a used waterproof phone if you are looking for a temporary solution and don’t want to spend much.

Keep a power bank – Getting stuck in the rain with your smartphone battery running out can be a scary situation. To avoid this scenario, get a power bank and keep it with you at all times.

How to deal with wet phones  

Despite all the precautions you take, your phone might still get wet or fall in a puddle. But don’t even think about charging it or drying it with a hairdryer. Charging might cause a short circuit and using a hairdryer might cause the moisture to harm the smaller components of your phone. Also, never ever put your phone inside an oven or microwave even at a low temperature. So here is what you should do:

• Take out the battery from your wet phone as soon as possible. Then wrap the mobile, the battery, the memory card and the SIM card module in separate dry tissues or toilet rolls.
• Next, use a clean cotton cloth to wipe the wet parts of your mobile carefully. But don’t switch on the phone just then. It might not be perfectly dry. Rather, allow the components to dry near the window or in the sunlight.

If your phone got badly soaked in the rain, then resort to the well-known rice method:

• Fill an airtight container with rice halfway. Then put all the disassembled phone parts in the rice and shut the lid.
• Shake the container well and leave it like that for about two days. The rice will remove any residual moisture from the phone components and also keep oxidation and corrosion as bay.
• Instead of rice, you can also use silica gel to absorb the moisture from your phone parts. Just dip all the components in a bowl full of silica gel packets to do it. These packets are often found in new bags. Save them from now on to address emergencies in the rainy season.
• Finally, put everything back together and insert the battery in your phone. Then try and start it; it should work most of the times.

Even after taking all the precautions or following the solutions mentioned above, your phone might fall prey to rain. And if nothing is working to get the phone back to its original state, then it’s time to visit a reputed mobile service outlet. Let them know that your mobile got wet and is hence not functioning, since service stations have ways to test as to what happened to your phone. And in most cases, they can fix it!