Rice trick

**dottedheadlights** · 11-21-2009, 01:41 PM

Can some please explain the rice trick to me, in more detail? Like does my blackberry need to be face up or down? fully immersed in rice or sticking out a little? should the rice and blackberry be in a cool dry place, or in the sun? Take out the battery and turn it off right?

Thanks so much.

**Hax0rPunk** · 11-21-2009, 01:52 PM

Take the battery out and fully submerge it in a bowl of rice, id say give it 12 hours and you should be good to go

**bigfloppyluigi** · 11-21-2009, 01:58 PM

What does that **** do? Make it a rice ball? Lol

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**ska11153** · 11-21-2009, 02:00 PM

?? What are you guys talking about? What does doing this do?

**Hax0rPunk** · 11-21-2009, 02:01 PM

If you drop your phone in water, the rice will act as a magnet for water and dry your phone out

**ska11153** · 11-21-2009, 02:04 PM

for future reference, take out the battery and submerge it with the back cover off?

**Hax0rPunk** · 11-21-2009, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by ska11153

for future reference, take out the battery and submerge it with the back cover off?

Yes that is correct, and as I said above let it sit for about 12 hours and you should be good to go

**pmar55** · 11-21-2009, 02:32 PM

This is why I check this forum everyday, always something interesting and new

**freakboy2539** · 11-21-2009, 02:38 PM

from what ive read alcohol is a fix aswell...since it dries quickly!

**TheScionicMan** · 11-21-2009, 02:44 PM

What I would do is wrap the phone loosely in a paper towel and then stick it into the middle of a ziplock bag of rice and seal it shut.

The rice acts as a desiccant and helps draw the moisture out of the device.

**TheScionicMan** · 11-21-2009, 02:47 PM

Originally Posted by freakboy2539

from what ive read alcohol is a fix aswell...since it dries quickly!

I would only use alcohol if it is something other than water than wets your phone. Then, I would still use the rice trick after.

waldog · 11-21-2009, 02:48 PM

The rice trick is bs. If the phone is gonna work after it dries out, it will work with or without the rice.

The real trick is to put the phone in the purest rubbing alcohol you can get. Take the battery out and dunk the phone in a bowl of the pure rubbing alcohol for maybe a minute or two. Then take the phone out and let it dry for a day.

Rice may absorb 'some' of the water. But the water isn't what hurts the phone. The corrosion that the water leaves behind is what hurts the phone. Alcohol pushes the water away and leaves no corrosion.

**neadiie** · 11-21-2009, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by waldog

The rice trick is bs. If the phone is gonna work after it dries out, it will work with or without the rice.

The real trick is to put the phone in the purest rubbing alcohol you can get. Take the battery out and dunk the phone in a bowl of the pure rubbing alcohol for maybe a minute or two. Then take the phone out and let it dry for a day.

Rice may absorb 'some' of the water. But the water isn't what hurts the phone. The corrosion that the water leaves behind is what hurts the phone. Alcohol pushes the water away and leaves no corrosion.

I dropped my tour in the toilet while cleaning the bathroom, I did grab it right out away and wiped it down with paper towel after I took the battery sim card and back door off left them all completely submerged in rice for a night and my phone is working as if it never tried to swim, I will always give my phone a rice bed after a swimming lesson

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**TheScionicMan** · 11-21-2009, 03:27 PM

The rice trick is SO not BS, it will even help when using the alcohol trick!

**JoeyMoose** · 11-21-2009, 03:35 PM

Rice = Corrosive to electronics

waldog · 11-21-2009, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by neadiie

I dropped my tour in the toilet while cleaning the bathroom, I did grab it right out away and wiped it down with paper towel after I took the battery sim card and back door off left them all completely submerged in rice for a night and my phone is working as if it never tried to swim, I will always give my phone a rice bed after a swimming lesson

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Like I stated. The phone will work if it's gonna work. The rice may have absorbed some of the water. But the tour still has corrosion on it. My brothers HTC works after being out over night in the rain on the ground. He didn't use rice.

If the phone is gonna work, then it will work. The only thing that has a chance in helping is the alcohol removing the corrosion. Because in some instances, the phone isn't gonna work. You just have a fairer chance of it working if you do the alcohol.

**dave3825us** · 11-21-2009, 05:44 PM

The trick, for starters is don't drop the phone in water. Should you tho, pull battery right away and put phone somewhere warm, like above the oil burner or base board for a day or two. I have done this with blue tooth's, cell phones, beepers and a gps. Keep in mind that while submerged with power hooked up the chances of stuff frying is greater. If blackberry uses conformal coating, then you may only really risk your sim card being damaged.

As far as rice, write a letter to mythbusters and let them try it out. That would be a cool episode to watch and I'm sure they will bust it...

**hockeyrulz** · 11-21-2009, 09:14 PM

When I had the Curve - it dived right off my leg into a cup of coffee! tried the rice trick, but really just left it out drying for about 24 hours and - presto! she worked!

I will have to share funny story (funny ha ha now, but not then). My husband walked into the kitchen and said "remember the thumping noise in the dryer last night? well it was ***'s phone! (my 15 year old). Well I went kinda ballistic! Needless to say, his washed and dried LG touch phone works great! However, I don't think I would recommend washing and drying your phone this way--LOL

**solesolace** · 11-21-2009, 10:02 PM

Did the same thing with one of my first cell phones. It was one of the freebie ones they give you when you get your two year upgrade. Funniest part was, my brother did the same a couple of months ago with a Dare. Didn't make it. Guess free doesn't necessarily mean crap.

**3yoders** · 11-21-2009, 10:26 PM

Originally Posted by waldog

The rice trick is bs. If the phone is gonna work after it dries out, it will work with or without the rice.

The real trick is to put the phone in the purest rubbing alcohol you can get. Take the battery out and dunk the phone in a bowl of the pure rubbing alcohol for maybe a minute or two. Then take the phone out and let it dry for a day.

Rice may absorb 'some' of the water. But the water isn't what hurts the phone. The corrosion that the water leaves behind is what hurts the phone. Alcohol pushes the water away and leaves no corrosion.

News for you.....yes, corrosion can hurt the phone obviously, but it is not what folks are experiencing when they "fry" their phone in liquid. Liquids are conductors and you are conducting electric where it is not supposed to be. Rice WILL help by immediately drawing moisture out and away. The moisture that remains is no worse than being in humid conditions.

**RegE** · 11-21-2009, 10:34 PM

Originally Posted by waldog

...The real trick is to put the phone in the purest rubbing alcohol you can get. Take the battery out and dunk the phone in a bowl of the pure rubbing alcohol for maybe a minute or two. Then take the phone out and let it dry for a day.

While you are absolutely right about the evaporative properties of alcohol and its ability to displace moisture, I would be very hesitant to submerse my device in alcohol (especially pure or denatured alcohol). Pure alcohol can be considered caustic and not suitable for adhesives, plastics or paint. Problem is, if you're gonna use alcohol to exploit its evaporative properties, it's better to use pure alcohol vs. isopropyl alcohol as it contains water.

**hockeyrulz** · 11-21-2009, 10:35 PM

Yeah - I've had a phone that just croaked too. Just never in my life thought a washed and dried (new) phone would work so beautifully. Didn't have to dry my curve that way........

**Fuzzballz** · 11-22-2009, 02:10 AM

not so sure about the rice thing. I'm sure it will absorb SOME water, but there are much, much better substances around. If you're afraid of dropping your phone in water, then it might behoove you to go out and spend $10 at Home Depot on some industrial moisture remover that comes in a can. It's used for serious moisture removal and will suck stuff out fast.

However, the conductance of the water itself will ruin the phone between the time you drop it in the water and the time you remove the battery. If it's not fried by then, it's not the water that's going to be the problem. It's the impurities in the water, left after the water evaporates, that will cause short-circuits, etc.

**Nat.N.Mom** · 11-22-2009, 02:41 AM

I'm a tech at a Sprint store, and we use Alcohol to clean phones. It's both the corrosion and the instant damage that's done from the liquid when the handset is powered on and gets wet. It can for sure "fry" your phone. If it doesn't right off the bat, then you're very lucky. First thing you should do is clean off the phone with Alcohol. You can try doing in yourself, or take it into your local tech center if you have one in your city. Tell them what happened and they usually won't mind helping you take it apart and getting it cleaned out. (as long as they're not slammed busy) The rice trick works, but not near as effective. Your phone might work great for a while, but it's still going to get corrosion and have problems or give out eventually.