Helped! Dropped Droid X in toilet, and now sound won't work right

[LonelyPilgrim]

Help! I dropped my Droid X in the toilet for only a second or two. It was in two cases -- a bumper and a Sidekick (something like this: Amazon.com: New Fashionable Leather Pouch Protective Carrying Cell Phone Case for HTC Google Nexus One / HTC HD2 /… -- It slid off my belt) and *barely* got wet. I dried everything quickly and everything seemed to be working properly.

But a short while later, I realized there was nothing wrong. I tried to make a phone call, and couldn't hear anything. The earpiece wasn't making any sound at all. After the call dropped several times without making a sound, I tried turning on the speaker, and I could hear that the call was in fact connecting -- and that there is nothing actually wrong with the speaker. Also, the keytones when I dial on the keypad no longer sound. When I try to play music or other media, no sound comes through the speaker, but when I plug in headphones, I hear it clearly. My notification tones play fine (although I did have to turn up the media volume).

What it *appears* to me is going on is that the Droid *thinks* I have headphones plugged in. I suspect some water may have gotten down in the headphone jack and confused it. I tried to suck the hole out (kind of gross, as we are talking toilet water here, but I was desperate) and did bring out a couple of drops. But the sound is still not working properly.

Is there anything I can do? Or have I screwed up my Droid?

[northernmoris]

I spilled coffee on mine this morning and now have the same problem. After I read your post I checked my headphone jack and it was wet. Im hoping it will dry and be fine. But thats definetly our problem.. Lmk what happens or what you do..

[baniels]

Dear Nature,

I hope you do not, but if you ever decide I must also go through this, please shape my experience after the second poster and not the first.

Thank you.

[WVOz1970]

Try a Bheestie bag. I've heard they really work. May be too late for this situation, as I think you have to use them fairly soon after "water incidents"... but I've not had first hand experience (and hope I never have to!)

[hemorrdroid]

Go to Hobby Lobby, or some place similar and buy some silica desicant gel, it is used to dry flowers, place the phone in a ziploc bag with the gel, allow it to sit in there for a day, more if you can wait. This will draw the moisture out. You might wrap the phone in a paper towel to keep the powder from getting on the phone.

[impostor71]

did you get insurance?

[northernmoris]

I let mine sit in the car under the sun for about 30 mins. Now its back to normal. Just let it dry out. Try a hair dryer.

[aminaked]

Cellphone Dryer Box from Japan Will Dry Your Cellphone, Perhaps Save it From Doom

OR

I'm not expert on this but have had to deal with this in the past and have read quite a bit about wet electronics.

0) REMOVE THE BATTERY. LOCK IT AWAY so you don't do something stupid and ruin your phone.

1) take apart the device as much as you feel comfortable. With most phones these days, there's not much for most people to take apart.

2) if it was anything besides plain water (salt water, urine, juice, etc.) then rinse the sucker off ASAP. If all you have is tap water, then just do it. Better alternatives are distilled water or 90%+ rubbing alcohol (although alcohol could damage some parts). Slosh the phone around in a bowl of it for a little while.

3) try to shake out any water. spin the phone around in a towel. don't throw your phone

4) get that thing dry as fast as you can. A hair dryer works great but you have to be very careful to not scorch the thing. Keep the hair dryer about 18 inches away. Test it with your hand. Don't leave it pointed at the phone too long. After about 10 minutes, you might want to let the phone cool a bit and then go another 10 minutes.

If you don't have a hair dryer, leave the phone in a sunny window or dry it in any way that you think will work...dehumidifier, desiccant, rice?, whatever.

5) WAIT! The best thing to do is wait 5 or more days to be more sure that the thing is dry...although a hair dryer could do the job the same day.

6) Unlock your battery from the vault, put it back in, and charge it up.

Any suggestions to improving these ideas are welcome!

[LonelyPilgrim]

For what it's worth, I blew mine out with a blow dryer, and then turned it off and let it rest overnight. By morning, it was all better, and I haven't had a problem since. I wish you all the best of luck and a similar recovery! Thanks for the responses.

[bcolby20]

Help! I dropped my Droid X in the toilet for only a second or two. It was in two cases -- a bumper and a Sidekick (something like this: Amazon.com: New Fashionable Leather Pouch Protective Carrying Cell Phone Case for HTC Google Nexus One / HTC HD2 /… -- It slid off my belt) and *barely* got wet. I dried everything quickly and everything seemed to be working properly.

But a short while later, I realized there was nothing wrong. I tried to make a phone call, and couldn't hear anything. The earpiece wasn't making any sound at all. After the call dropped several times without making a sound, I tried turning on the speaker, and I could hear that the call was in fact connecting -- and that there is nothing actually wrong with the speaker. Also, the keytones when I dial on the keypad no longer sound. When I try to play music or other media, no sound comes through the speaker, but when I plug in headphones, I hear it clearly. My notification tones play fine (although I did have to turn up the media volume).

What it *appears* to me is going on is that the Droid *thinks* I have headphones plugged in. I suspect some water may have gotten down in the headphone jack and confused it. I tried to suck the hole out (kind of gross, as we are talking toilet water here, but I was desperate) and did bring out a couple of drops. But the sound is still not working properly.

Is there anything I can do? Or have I screwed up my Droid?

lmfao i did the same thing with my eris. i just IMMEDIATELY pulled the battery and let it sit for 5 days. my friend and i were out fishing recently and we capsized the boat we were in lmfao and we were in water for literally ten minutes and his eris was in his pocket and he pulled the battery when we got out and set it on the dash of his car for 2 weeks and put the battery back into it and called me off of that phone. you should have immediately pulled the battery and just let it dry out completely and then when you think its dry wait 2 more days man. or maybe this is just because the eris can swim.