[Jamochawoke]

Hello there.

Been enjoying my Priv for almost a year now. Had no issues until today when I dropped it in some water. I immediately picked it out but the screen and indicator light at the top started flashing so I powered it down and dried it off as best I could then stuck it in a bag of rice for 24 hours.

It powers on and receives charge from the wall charger just fine and all the buttons work (power, volume up/down/mute/keyboard buttons all turn the screen on)... but the screen is completely non-responsive to touch now. Since the device is pattern locked on the screen I can't get into it for all my contacts list, photos, and videos that I really need access to and are really important to me.

Is there any way to fix this? I was always a flip-phone user until the Priv, so am pretty new to smartphones and touchscreens.

[Troy Tiscareno]

1. 24 hours is usually NOT enough time to dry out a phone. I recommend at least 3 days, but I also recommend drying with a hair dryer first to eliminate/evaporate as much water as possible to start with. Being in a warm, dry place also helps speed up evaporation.

2. Rice is an okay desiccant, but the right tool for the job is silica gel. Note that "crystal" cat litter is silica gel.

3. Even those measures generally only work if it's fresh, clean water. If it's salt water, or dirty water, than any dissolved solids or chemicals are going to get into the phone and start corroding things. Unless you can take it apart and manually dry it immediately, the phone is often going to be a loss.

4. Had you synced your contacts and other data with the cloud, you'd already, automatically have a full backup as well as immediate access to that information.

As it is, BB's "repair" process involves wiping the device, so all data would be lost. You might be able to find a third party willing to attempt a repair, but with water damage, there's never any guarantee of success. This is why I so strongly advise people to think of their smartphone as an ACCESS TERMINAL, but NOT as a data storage device. It's far too easy to have your device lost, stolen, or broken, and that means any data that wasn't backed up is lost. It's also true that additional security comes with an even greater need for regular data backups, because you reduce your chances of data recovery.

[johnsliderbb]

Dont melt anything with the hot air. I dried the Priv 2 weeks. Its up and running again, although speaker is damaged.

Posted via CB10