By Peter Cochrane, 5 May 2005 12:55
COMMENT I leapt into the sea - and my phone still works
02.05.05, 15.30 GMT, Colyton, Devon
I don't want to go into the detail of how and why but I just had to leap out of an 8m boat into the sea. We were stuck on a gravel bar, run aground, being pounded by the waves and not making any headway. It was obvious that getting off and pushing was the only likely solution.
It didn't look too deep and it didn't look at all dangerous, so over the side I went, and only up to my knees - initially anyway! As anyone who has done any sailing can imagine, it kind of developed fast, and yours truly got into deeper and deeper water really fast. The upside is we refloated the vessel. The downside? The crew was left to wade back to shore, and I was submerged in water up to my chest.
Suddenly I remembered my watch, car keys, pedometer and mobile phone. All had been underwater for 15 minutes or so. The boat returned to the harbour and we got out of wet clothing and dried off. Everything was dripping - money, wallet, phone, electronic key... everything!
We returned home to affect what repairs we could. Phone, keys and pedometer were placed into the oven at 40 degrees centigrade, whilst paper money and receipts were carefully ironed and dried at the same time. My pedometer, keys and phone all worked by some miracle, after 30 minutes in the oven. In all of this I made just two mistakes. First, some of the receipts were from thermal printers and immediately turned 100 per cent black. Second, whilst my keys and pedometer survived perfectly, my mobile phone lost the screen back-light within an hour of removal from the oven.
For the next day or two I had to use my mobile in conjunction with a torch! But then I got a replacement model, and set about dismantling my damaged phone. Sure enough, the salt water had cased the bridging of circuit tracks leading to a build-up of carbonisation. At the points of very high current density the damage was gross and defied my attempts to fully repair the device.
And the moral of this story? If you are going to jump into the sea, leave your electronic devices on board - although in an emergency it is real easy to forget. And should you get your phone submerged in fresh water, stick it straight in the oven at 30 to 40 degrees for half an hour. If it is submerged in salt water, then dunk it thoroughly in clean water to dilute and/or remove the salts before the oven treatment.
You can imagine the fun this all invoked. But the stories that followed were even more interesting. You can't imagine the number of people who had dropped their mobiles into puddles, the sea or down the toilet - or put them through the washing machine whilst in a shirt pocket, run over them in the cars and so on. And the number of phones that survived after a thorough wash and oven dry was near 100 per cent. Amazing!
Before this incident, my worst mobile phone accident was to drop one 20m onto concrete with no serious damage. Over a 59-year lifetime I have seen technology transform everything we see touch and do. I have also seen the technology transformed by micro-miniaturisation and advances in new materials to the point where we can do almost anything. But what amazes me most is the sheer reliability and resilience we are now achieving. Every aspect, from the plastics and metals to the electronics and performance - absolutely unbelievable!
Anyway, I have a new routine, as soon as I get on a boat, all my valuables go into a sealed plastic bag. Oh, and I take even more dry clothing spares!
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There are 8 comments. Join the discussion
1. Simon
My approach to deal with 'contaminated' electronics (usually something spilled in a keyboard by a careless user) is to first wash it in clean water, then dry it. Under no cicumstances try and turn it on until it's dry.
As Peter found out, salt doesn't mix very well with electronics. One of the problems is that when perfectly dry it is an insulator, but it is hygroscopic and will absorb water from teh atmosphere and become both corrosive and conductive.
2. Chris Knowles
Once jumped into the sea with my hearing aids still in. A loud whistle then nothing! An hour later they were working fine again.
Regarding wet paper, a friend in the recovery business says the most effective way of restoring wet paper (including photos) is to put it in a plastic bag in the freezer compartment. When frozen dust the ice particles off. Repeat until the paper is restored. Heating it is apparently entirely the wrong thing to do.
3. Matt Ream
Peter,
Great piece. I sell pedometers and was wondering which one you use. It's quite a recommendation that one can go through so much and still function properly.
Thanks,
Matt Ream
http://www.rypsports.com
4. JT
Well Peter, if you'd pushed my boat a bit harder and a bit quicker you wouldn't have been in the water so long or so deep!
5. David Cantrill
There's nothing more frustrating than realising that wonderful little gadget you've valued so much is threatened by it's very susceptibility to the elements. I have both drowned and run over mobile phones and had them carry on working, obviously wondering why I felt the compulsion to treat them in such a fashion.
The oven thing definitely works on phones that have been dunked in fresh water (and that was on a phone 10 years ago). Running over phones in a car tends to destroy most screens, as it did with my phone. But integrated circuitry tends to be far hardier.
Moral of Story: technology will always be prone to our carelessness/stupidity...etc, and will probably continue to get better at dealing with it's owners little nuances.
6. Oliver Wright
Well having had the mother-in-law accidently put the electronic key-fobs for both our cars through the washing machine, and then deny all culpability for why my wife and I couldn't get into our cars in the morning, I can vouch that hot soapy water is as bad as cold salt water. Happily, distilled water, a paint brush and a hot radiator was the cure for both.
7. Simon Allen
Liquid damage to a mobile? I recall one of my users in the City ...
It was 1987 and an NEC 'brick' solidly constructed of metal. The user proudly told me that he had washed it in a champagne ice bucket and then banged it on the table to get the water out. It worked fine!
8. Jane Stroud
Dear Peter, thanks to your advice my sons mobile phone is working again.I keep telling my dear husband to check pockets before washing clothes. Fell on deaf ears and the phone had a 40 degree wash! My son was in a right state and wasn't convinced that putting it in the oven at 30 degrees might do the trick. I left it on the radiator overnight and today it's as good as new.
Amazing!!