dry water between lcd touch screen in stock

Was your cell phone recently dropped in water or exposed to moisture? Does there seem to be liquid or moisture underneath the screen? Is your cell phones screen fogged up from within the device? Has your phone had time to dry after having been dropped in water and seems to have water marks or a left over residue where the water had gotten into the phone? Here are some tricks that might help resolve your current predicament.

Go ahead and remove all of the pieces from the phone such as its back plate, a SIM card, an SD card, its battery (as mentioned already), etc. open up all of these areas to allow the phone to breath a bit and to locate possible moisture around these parts. If any of these parts are wet then go ahead and dry them off with a clean dry cloth.

If it appears that moisture is still present within the phone then you are going to want to remove or eliminate that moisture as quickly as you can. Here are some methods that you can use that can help speed up the drying time.

Before using a vacuum you might also want to ground yourself first to eliminate some of the static electricity that you might have built up in your body. Touching a metal table, metal service sitting on the ground, or any plugged in electrical product with a metal ground pin should help you rid yourself of any static electricity and help you avoid an electric shock.

Uncooked rice or instant rice is a well known tool which can be used to help absorb moisture and help speed up the drying time of your smartphone. Just keep all of the pieces that you took off of the phone aside and burry your cell phone in rice within a sealed air tight container such as a piece of Tupperware or a Ziploc bag. This will allow the rice to absorb moisture from your phone and not from the air in the room. You might also consider rapping your phone in a thin napkin or other thin material to help prevent rice from going into any places it shouldn’t. You don’t want a piece of rice to find its way into your SD card slot or SIM card port or fall into the hole where you insert a headphone jack.

If you don’t have access to any silica gel packs and you’re currently out of rice then you may be able to put your phone under the light of a desk lamp or on a windowsill on a warm sunny day. These two heat sources should be gentle enough to apply enough warmth to the screen in order to speed up the drying process while at the same time not applying too much heat which could actually damage the phone.

If your phone has had time to dry and you can see where liquid used to be underneath your phones screen because the liquid left behind a mineral deposit or water mark or stain then you might be able to clean those marks up using 99% isopropyl alcohol.

99% isopropyl alcohol shouldn’t leave behind any residue once it’s had time to dry and is a great choice to use as 99% isopropyl alcohol can not only clean out any mineral deposits or gunk left behind in the phone it can help absorb any lingering moisture, its non conductive, and dries very quickly.

If your phone has these marks underneath its screen and you would like to get rid of them without having to take your phone apart then you should certainly consider following the advice listed at how to use 99% isopropyl alcohol on a phone that’s been dropped in water or exposed to moisture. I think it might just be exactly what you need.

Thanks for reading. I hope that you have found the advice list above informative and helpful and with it you should be able to remove the moisture from underneath your phones screen or clean up any leftover marks that may have remained after the phone had time to dry.

If you have any more tips or tricks that you happened to use to clean or dry off the inside of your phones screen then don’t hesitate to let us know about the circumstances that led up to your little misadventure and what you ended up doing to fix it in the comment section below.

In my book, an iPhone 5 water damage recovery requires desoldering the shields and scrubbing every inch of the board, and then replacing any component that is corroded, burned, or damaged after examination under the microscope. Think of corrosion as a cancer that will metastasize if left unchecked.

When you say "digitizer not working" do you mean the display, or just the touchscreen function. If you mean the display, I would guess that your backlight coil or filters have failed---very common after water damage. Of course it is also common for the LCD to fail as well. If I were you, I would give it to a local shop and ask if they desolder the shields to do a full water damage recovery.

So as it would turn out, the gray area of the screen is actually the dried water while the white area is the water getting inbetween the backlight and the foil. So as of today pretty much all the water is gone. Due to damage somewhere the backlight was damaged and it wont go as "bright" but is otherwise perfectly fine.

What Id really like to do is completely strip the phone and scrub parts then take out the screen and get under that foil and rinse it with alcohol. Since I"ve never opened one up I don"t know if

Edit: Also, I"m very savvy with electronics because I work with them all day. I have never taken apart a phone before and Im worried about taking the screens out. Purchased 3M 2mm dpuble sided tape for it but seriously I"d rather use the phone as is for a year than break it trying to save it for a year and a day... and quite frankly if I ever used tape and glue to secure parts in the stuff I work on I"d be fired. No wonder phones are broken so easily. They"re glued together!

Your LCD computer screen or any other LCD Display can get ruined due to water damage. If water in laptop screen is visible in the display or even you have a hint of suspicion that water has penetrated your screen then take action immediately because leaving moisture unattended in the laptop screen will surely cause permanent damage. If you remove the moisture quickly then your screen and the entire system have a chance to recover and return to normal display by resuming its operations.

When moisture is detected on your computer and specifically in the LCD screen then you need to unplug your power cord and shut down your computer. Your computer will short which may cause serious damage if the water creeps into the live circuit. Remove the battery completely from the laptop or remove all the cord connects from the monitor display after the power is turned off when you shut down your laptop. Then take a paper towel to blot the keyboard by absorbing water from the screen exterior. To prevent it from working into the computer remove as much water from the exterior as possible. Then place the laptop next to your fan so as to encourage evaporation while you prepare for the next step.

We recommend that you purchase a large bag of rice by adding rice to a storage bin, bucket, or any dry plastic container that is large enough to accommodate the computer with the rice combined. Then fill half of the bin to start by setting the entire laptop or the LCD monitor on the rice and add more rice until it is completely covered, then seal the container. Here the type of rice is not important as you can use any type of rice whichever is least expensive. The rice creates an ultra-dry environment by absorbing the water. The rice pulls away from the moisture by drying out your LCD screen’s water damage. This works for most of the electronic devices in which water has entered. We recommend that you leave the screen in the rice for full 24 hours. Then pull out the screen by wiping away any residue from the rice with a soft cloth to avoid any scratches on the screen.

By now ideally, the rice must have absorbed your laptop screen water cloud or other LCD water display issue. Then after cleaning the screen replace the battery or cords and reconnect the power. Then turn on the laptop unit to test the screen. You need to watch for any flickering or any odd behavior which indicates that water is still present. If the laptop screen is performing normally then it indicates that the water is removed. If the problem still persists then return it to the rice bin by leaving the unit submerged in dry rice for several days. This process works, however, it works slowly. You can also use the kitty litter method by absorbing the moisture in case the rice method fails. The litter method is used to grab moisture by holding it in clumps. In an extreme case, you need to buy silica gel packets like those found in shoeboxes which will also work for repairing LCD screens having water damage.

Here is theConclusion abouthow to remove water from lcd screen -We hope this blog will be useful for our laptop users who find it difficult to repairLCD Screen Water Damage.

Laptop screen water damage is a common problem. It can happen when you spill liquid or food on the laptop. It may also occur if you accidentally spill water on your laptop while it"s being used outdoors or in a wet room. If the damage isn"t quickly cleaned, it can lead to permanent loss of data and/or hardware failure.

There are many causes of laptop screen water damage,but most are preventable. The following tips will help keep your laptop safe from accidental spills and other water-related accidents:

If you accidentally spill something on your laptop screen, don"t panic. You can still salvage the plastic cover and get it clean with a little effort. Simply use your vacuum cleaner to suck up any water that has managed to penetrate the cover. If there is any liquid left behind, you can use a soft cloth or paper towel dampened in rubbing alcohol to wipe it away. Be sure not to use anything abrasive as this can scratch the screen.

You also need to be careful about blowing air directly at the screen if you want it to stay dry. Blowing air directly across the computer"s surface can create static electricity that causes damage over time. Instead, place some towels over areas of your laptop"s case where there may be liquid present and blow across them gently with a fan turned off or on low power (keep in mind that this will also help with dust).

The most common reason for water in monitor screenis a broken seal around the monitor. The seals are plastic or rubberized strips that keep dirt and dust from getting inside of your monitor. When these seals break, they can cause water to leak into your computer.

Maybe the apartment above yours has sprung a water leak. Or perhaps your teen tripped in the living room, spilling soda all over the TV. Either way, now your TV is wet, and it’s not working like it used to. Learn what to do if your TV got wet and how to know when it’s time to shop for a new one.

A small spill or minimal condensation on your TV may not cause irreparable damage as long as the water doesn’t reach the primary power sources. But even just a small amount of water on the circuit board can lead to permanent TV damage and short-circuiting.

Start by unplugging the TV. Then, wipe up the water with a non-abrasive cloth to avoid scratching your screen. Give your TV plenty of time to dry, and ensure that every drop of water has been wiped up so that it doesn’t soak into your television.

If your TV has sustained heavy water damage, it’s likely beyond repair, and you may need to replace or upgrade your television. However, any attempted repairs should be done by a professional.

Allow your TV to fully dry and have it inspected by a certified technician. A professional will be better equipped when determining the extent of the damage. Taking your television apart yourself could put you at risk of serious injury and may void the warranty. It’s always best to check your TV manufacturer’s warranty information before having any repair work done.

If you have a water-damaged TV screen, you’ll likely know pretty quickly once you’ve turned it on. A water-damaged LCD screen is usually not repairable, as water can settle between the layers of the liquid crystal display and can be very difficult to dry. In this situation, consider replacing your water-damaged TV with a new one.

Your TV’s remote control may be a little more forgiving of water damage than your television. If you’ve spilled water on your remote, quickly remove the battery cover and batteries. Then, use a soft, non-abrasive cloth to wipe all the water off the remote. If the water spill was minimal and doesn’t appear to have gotten inside, wiping it and setting it out to dry should be enough.

If there was a big spill or the remote was submerged in water, it likely has internal water damage, making it less likely to continue working. Remove the battery cover and batteries, wipe the remote down, and place the remote in a zip-top bag filled with dry rice. Let the remote sit for 1-2 days before removing.

Replacing a water-damaged TV remote may not be as big of a deal with tons of universal and replacement remotes available. But a water-damaged TV is a different story!

Hello friends Today I will tell you a trick on how to fix a water damaged touch screen phone. Users can get rid of water from LCD, LED or OLED screen of your Smartphone. You don’t need to use any external hardware. You can fix all the blur screen of your Phone. Just a simple and 100% Working method to fix your Smartphone Touchscreen. Don’t Panic if you have dropped the phone in water and screen stop working.

There are several ways on how to fix a water damaged touch screen phone. You can fix touch screen on your Android Phone without any external hardware. You can fix your LCD touch screen without any additional repair. Follow all the steps listed below and fix a water damaged touch screen phone.

We accidentally drop our smartphone in water many-a-times and if quick actions are not taken. Then, there is assured water damage to the phone. First of all, make your phone out of the water as quickly as possible to prevent much water penetrating inside of it through the holes and cracks. Once it’s out of the water, there are certain things you have to do and undoubtedly more important things you have to avoid doing to ensure the damage prevention. Make sure you read the complete guide and follow every step listed below. We will use rice to soak water from our Smartphone. This method is safe and secure to follow.

Now, dry your phone by soaking the liquid from your phone using a paper towel or cloth. Try not to spread the liquid around as it may enter into openings in the phone and damage it further. Just soak the liquid by using the cloth over it.

Not many people know that rice has excellent absorbing property and is widely used for drying off tablets and smartphones by professionals. You can also get phone drying pouches available in the market and keep them in your house for an emergency. You have to put your phone in rice as quickly as possible.

Now leave your phone to dry in this condition for a couple of days. Do not take it out and try to switch it on before that. While the phone is drying, you can use a spare one for your daily needs if you have any.

Now, Switch on your phone and It will start functioning normally. Still, keep a close eye on it for next few days. Check your speakers by playing music on it and make sure your touch screen is working smoothly just like before.

You have successfully averted a crisis and managed to salvage your phone screen from permanent water damage. In a majority of the cases, this method will work and fix Smartphone touchscreen. But if it is not fixed. Then, then you may have damaged the hardware of your Smartphone. So make sure you visit directly to the company service center. Make sure you visit only company service center. Don’t visit any local vendor to repair your touchscreen as it can be very risky.

Repairing water damaged phone is costly. The company is charging whopping 20% to 40% of Phone cost. A screen is one of the most critical parts of the Smartphone. It cost 20% to 40% of value on your Phone. So make sure you follow this method on how to fix a water damaged Touch Screen phone, and I am 100% sure that it will remove all water content from your SmartPhone.

There are several other methods to fix a water damaged touch screen. But they are not easy to follow. People may destroy their Touchscreen by using other methods. This method is safe as it doesn’t have any adverse effect on Phone touch screen. Trust me this technique will also work and will share with others. I will suggest you try this method once and fix a water damaged touch screen. Do share your views in the comment section below and don’t forget to share this article with your friends.

From the beach to the boat, wherever we go to enjoy the warmer weather, our phones are usually right along for the fun—and keeping them above water can be a challenging task. According to 2021 Asurion claims data, more phone repair claims are filed for water damage between June and August than any other time of the year.

So, what is the best way to protect your phone from liquid damage? Asurion Experts are asked this question often while helping our 300 million (and counting) customers with all of their tech care needs. Their advice: Invest in a waterproof pouch. While some of the newest phones are considered “waterproof,” they’ll only be protected if submerged for a set period of time—to learn more, check out our guide to waterproof vs water-resistant phones. Waterproof phone pouches, like those made by CaliCase® or JOTO®, will help to keep your phone afloat.

Here"s what to do if you drop your phone in water or get it wet:Remove it from the liquid immediately. The longer it stays there, the more liquid will seep into various inlets.

Use a cloth or paper towel to dab your phone dry. Do not rub the phone, as doing so could accidentally push liquid into the phone’s more sensitive parts. If the phone was completely submerged, you might try (very) gently vacuuming around the phone’s creases and openings to suck more water out.

There are a few signs that can confirm water damage to your device:Look for the visual presence of water or evaporation (or dried water markings) behind the screen.

Check the Discolored Liquid Damage Indicator (LDI). The LDI is typically located in the headphone jack, battery compartment, or SIM tray slot. If your phone has water damage, the LDI will appear red or maroon.

According to Asurion Experts, putting your water-exposed device in rice may absorb some moisture. However, it may also cause other issues for your phone, such as an introduction of dust and dry starch (a rice byproduct) into your phone"s cracks and crevices. Rice could also potentially become lodged in your phone"s charging port or headphone jack, which can be extremely difficult to dislodge as the rice swells when exposed to liquid.

Blow-drying your phone when it"s exposed to water is not recommended. While it might remove some of the surface moisture, it will do very little to remove the moisture from inside your device and the heat could do irreparable damage to your phone"s internal components.

Turn the device off and place it in an upright position to dry out, with the speakers facing downward. Doing so will encourage excess water to come out.

You probably touch your phone"s screen hundreds of times per day. Combined with its delicate glass build, it"s no surprise that smartphone touchscreens are one of the most common components to run into issues.

But the touch screen not working on your Android phone isn"t always the result of a hardware failure. If your phone touchscreen often isn"t working or fails to respond, there"s a lot you can do before getting professional help.

First, you should rule out the possibility of a software bug if your phone touch screen is not working. There are a handful of troubleshooting steps you can do to confirm this.

A good-old reboot might sound futile to fix such an advanced issue. However, it"s often one of the most successful ways to fix an unresponsive touch screen on Android. Restarting your phone shuts down and refreshes all background services, which could have crashed and led to your issue.

If you"re unable to touch the screen to select the option, on most devices, you can hold down the Power button for several seconds to switch off your phone. In some cases, you may need to hold down the Power button and the Volume Up button at the same time.

If your touch screen is not working, but only intermittently, then you may be able to re-boot your phone into safe mode. Android"s safe mode lets you use your phone with only the original software it shipped with, which strips out all services and apps you"ve installed. If your display works normally in safe mode, a third-party app is likely at fault here.

To enter safe mode on most new Android devices, press and hold the power button. In the resulting prompt, touch and hold the Power off button. Once you see the prompt to enter safe mode, tap OK, and your phone will soon restart. To exit safe mode, just restart your phone normally.

If you"re scratching your head wondering, "Why is my phone touchscreen not working?", you"ll find a range of apps on the Play Store that could help you to diagnose your display issues. These are designed to pinpoint what exactly is wrong with your phone"s touchscreen. We recommend trying out one simply called Display Tester.

When you launch Display Tester, head into its Tests tab. Here, you have the option to test a whole bunch of aspects. The app can detect dead pixels, burn-in on OLED screens, whether the contrast and saturation are accurate, multi-touch status, and more.

If you got positive results in touch-based tests, you should review all recently installed apps or consider performing a factory reset. Since your touchscreen functioned as intended under special circumstances, a third-party app is most likely the root cause.

Many people apply a screen protector on their phones as an added safety against drops and scratches. But that same sheet of plastic or glass could prevent your touch signals from reaching the display panel.

If your phone"s screen has been acting up lately, try removing the protector. Of course, this doesn"t guarantee a fix. However, it could increase the response rate on an already weak screen.

Touchscreen Repair is a lightweight app that calibrates your screen to reduce response times. The app asks you to consecutively tap several sections of the touchscreen. Based on your phone"s internals, it then artificially drops the latency as much as possible.

The effectiveness of Touchscreen Repair varies depending on your phone maker. Many OEMs ship their phones with optimal response rates. In those scenarios, Touchscreen Repair won"t be able to do much. But it"s worth a try if nothing else has worked yet.

You don"t have to rely on touch inputs to control your phone. To better serve users with accessibility needs, voice and facial-based interaction methods for Android have come a long way.

With the right apps, you can navigate on your phone entirely through your voice and facial movements. Of course, these solutions only apply if your phone"s touchscreen works enough to install an app from the Play Store.

Else, you can try installing the app to your phone through the Play Store web interface. And you can disable touchscreen input on your phone until you get the screen fixed.

Google"s Voice Access app proactively listens for your commands and assigns a number to every action available on the screen. Instead of touching an app icon or menu element, you just have to call out the assigned digit.

Voice Access links fundamental actions to fixed phrases. So you can say "screen down" for moving around pages and "go back" to return to the previous screen, for example.

This app does exactly what its name suggests. It adds a virtual cursor on your screen, which you can manipulate with your face. To move the pointer, you simply have to move your head in the appropriate direction.

If you can"t install any apps due to screen problems, connecting an external keyboard and mouse might do the trick. This assumes you can still see the screen, though.

It"s important to understand the difference between water-resistant and waterproof. A water accident can permanently damage your phone"s internals if you leave it on. Thus, in such scenarios, your best course of action is to shut down the device and wait for it to dry.

With these possible fixes, you should hopefully be able to revive your phone"s touchscreen if it"s just a software bug. Failing that, the apps mentioned can grant you a temporary workaround.

Otherwise, you will have to visit a service center for help. If you"re lucky, a professional will be able to restore the touchscreen"s functions, although depending on the device, it may be a pricey repair. If not, you"ll have to look at replacing your phone.

Your Android touch screen might not be working for various reasons. Hopefully, one of the fixes above helped solve your touch screen issues. If everything fails, perhaps it"s time to upgrade.

We’re not the type to make up statistics, but we’ll assume that 100% of all phone users would experience a fit of panic if their phone fell in water. If it’s happened already, you probably told yourself that it’s “game over”.

Well here’s the good news. If you backed everything up - you should be okay. But more importantly, phones don’t die upon immediate contact with water, meaning you can fix them even when there’s significant damage.

Water turns into a phone’s kryptonite when it works its way into the ports, jacks and speakers. Once inside, it flows into the circuits. The result? The water, which acts as a conductor, carries a current which then overloads the phone with energy, frying the circuit board.

Certain practices make this worse, such as allowing the phone to dry on its own. Letting water sit in the phone leads to corrosion of its circuits, coils and resistors due to minerals in the water.

This one throws people off too because the damage isn’t immediately apparent in all cases. Sometimes, the water might take a little longer to reach vulnerable components. That’s why someone can drop their phone in water without any noticeable effects. But the following day, those poor souls won’t be able to turn on their phones.

The other thing to keep in mind is the source of water. Dropping your phone in a puddle or the toilet is bad, but dropping it in the ocean, and you can kiss that phone goodbye. Salt water is highly corrosive and will damage a phone’s components much quicker than freshwater. So be careful when taking selfies on your yacht.

Now explanations are great but solutions matter way more. Water doesn’t waste its time in circulating through your phone, and the damage it causes is never far away. So if your phone fell in water, you need to act fast.

Here’s the truth - simply allowing your phone to dry off completely on its own isn’t a good idea. Remember, water does its damage under the surface where your hands can’t reach. Power to you if you’re mechanically-inclined and repair your own devices, but if you can’t, let the experts do the dirty work.

Dropping a phone in water happens to the best of us. With that said, some people just seem to have their you-know-what together and don’t seem to have these accidents. A few simple tips can put you in their league and keep your phone dry.

Get a water-resistant case or phone -There’s no such as waterproof cases or phones, but water resistant phones can survive a brief drop in water with no harm done. The keyword here is brief.

Be mindful of your surroundings -You’ll most likely have the experience of having dropped your phone in water at some point, or at least a close call. So hold your phone tighter or put it in your pocket if you’re walking on or near watery surfaces.

Assuming you respond quickly, it will live. Follow the tips mentioned above, and even serious water damage shouldn’t leave your phone completely sidelined. The worst that might happen is a temporary vacation from your device while it’s under repair, and having to use an old-school, loaner flip phone.

Whether you spilled a liquid on your laptop or it was left in an area of your home that suffered water damage, a water damaged laptop will usually experience a variety of problems. It"s not uncommon for the water to seep into the device"s chips, circuits and wires, thereby causing aspects of the computer to malfunction. Commonly, such malfunctions are related to the screen not turning on or operating effectively, even when the rest of the machine is seemingly working fine. There are a few routes you can take to fix this issue.

If your laptop screen isn"t turning on, there"s a good chance that water is still inside of it. The first step you should take is attempting to dry the machine yourself. Turn the laptop upside down and see if any water drains out of the machine. You might also consider using a blow dryer on various parts of the screen to see if you can dry any of the excess moisture, which is likely the culprit of a malfunctioning screen.

If you"ve attempted to dry your laptop without disassembling it and it"s still not working, the next step is to remove the screen. On most PCs, this can often be done with a few basic hand tools, although the steps vary by model. After you remove the screen, separate it from the circuit board and look for any excess water inside the circuit board. If there is no water, the water may have dried and rusted some of the inner workings. Use a soft cloth and do your best to clean the circuits or even any stains that may be left on the screen itself. Reassemble the computer and see if the screen powers back up correctly.

If your screen still isn"t working after attempts to dry it and you don"t have any type of spill replacement warranty on your laptop, you"re not out of options just yet. Many laptop manufacturers sell replacement laptop screens that can be installed. If a replacement screen is unavailable, one way to salvage your computer is to attach your laptop to an external screen. If your laptop still turns on and it"s just your screen that is faulty, purchasing an external panel and connecting it to your laptop via a USB cable can still ensure its use.

One other route you can take to remedy the situation is to hire a contents restoration company to salvage the piece. Specifically, contents restoration companies use a variety of specialty drying technologies to dry items after homeowners experience water damage. The technology is able to salvage things like books, board games, furniture and electronics such as DVD players and computers. However, water damaged items must be attended to within 24 hours of initial damage for the best success rates.

I recommend disconnecting all power supplies--print out this page so you can refer to it while it"s OFF--and then maybe just letting it dry out like outside in the sun (keep an eye on it) or even a blow dryer.

**read the part about just taking off the LCD casing... it"s fairly easy and works on 12-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch PowerBooks-- if you need help, let me know, as in a visual (though you can do that on iFixIt.com)

But all may not be lost even after your cell phone takes that free-fall into the toilet, or your iPod goes through the washing machine in the back pocket of your favorite jeans. There’s a chance — about 70 percent — that you’ll be able to completely dry the device and put it back to work within hours. In most cases, it won’t be quick, and you’ll have to be willing to make a bit of a mess. But you could save yourself a trip to the electronics store for a replacement.

Although drying procedures for smartphones, music players, cameras and tablet PCs vary in certain ways, for the most part you would follow the same process for any of them upon major contact with water or other liquid:

Remove the battery.As the power source, this is more likely to be damaged by water than the actual device, especially if the item was on when contact was made with the water.

Remove the memory and SIM cards if possible.Because in many cases your data is stored on these instead of the actual computer or phone, you’ll probably want to protect them as much as possible. Fortunately, they’re fairly durable, so you’ll be able to dry them initially with a cloth towel, then let them air dry for a day before reinserting.

Remove any covers and external connectors. This will open up as many gaps, slots and crevices as possible for drying, and help ensure that no moisture is trapped inside the device.

Remove any peripherals and set them aside to air-dry. This is especially true for very small devices as there’s not a lot you can do beyond this. Headphones, in particular, are tiny, but extremely water resistant, even capable of surviving multiple trips through a washing machine and dryer.

Look for signs of water damage. In the case of phones, manufacturers have placed a liquid damage indicator on the inside near where the battery sits. It’s normally a clear or striped pattern; if it’s a solid color (usually red or pink), you may have water damage.

Pat-dry the outside. Use a soft cloth towel to dry off the exterior of the unit. Do not use the towel on any lenses or screens as this can scratch them if dirt or sand particles are in the towel fibers. Instead, use a lens or microfiber cloth for these items.

Do a “dry soak.”Use a product with a high affinity for absorbing moisture, such as uncooked rice or silica gel (the little packets that are found in new electronic devices and shoe boxes after purchase, usually labeled “Do not eat”). Cover the device with the product for at least 12 hours, turning the product over every 1 or 2 hours, or as often as possible. Note that larger items, such as cameras, could take up to a week to dry.

Use “gentle heat.”You can speed up the drying process by putting the device in a location that gets a moderate amount of heat, such as near a television or the dashboard of your car. Do not place the battery on a warm device. Do not use high or direct heat such as from a hair dryer or in the oven as this will damage the unit (especially the LCD screen).

Leave the item in a well-ventilated area to dry.Speed up the process with use of a small fan if desired. Let the item air dry for at least a day or two.

Do the “towel test.”After half a day or more (depending on the drying technique used), place the item on absorbent towels, napkins or other paper. In 4 to 6 hours, check for signs of moisture seeping from the unit. If moisture is evident, repeat the vacuum and dry soak efforts.

To check battery damage, try cleaning the battery connections with a cloth dampened with a light rubbing alcohol solution. Wait several hours for it to completely dry before reinserting the battery and trying again to turn the unit on. Do not turn the unit on if you still smell rubbing alcohol.

You may notice discolored areas on the LCD screen to your camera or smartphone. If you’re lucky, it’s an indicator that there’s still some water in the unit. The device is safe to use at this point, however. If the screen does not return to normal within a couple days of use, you have permanent damage.

If the unit powers up but isn’t acting 100 percent normal, odds are there is still some water inside the unit. The device should not be used. Resume drying activities as noted earlier or perform the following::

A last-ditch effort is to take the unit apart. This is only recommended for basic cell phones, and only if you are 100 percent comfortable with disassembling the device. Note that opening the unit up invalidates any warranty that may exist. Keep careful track of where all the pieces go as you disassemble. Pat-dry each piece with a soft cloth, then reassemble and try again.

It never hurts to prepare for the worst, especially when it comes to protecting your electronics against unexpected moisture. There are several ways to waterproof your technology “just in case:”

Buy a waterproof case or bag. This sounds obvious, yet many people forget that the carrier their phone or laptop came in may not be designed for submersion. Cases tend to come in three categories: standard, rugged and heavy-duty. Keep an eye on the submersion factor, a gauge of how many feet underwater the case will stay waterproof for at least 10 minutes. Standard items tend to survive only a few feet; heavy duty can tolerate 100 feet or more.

Opt for a waterproof product. If you haven’t bought your electronic device yet, carefully consider this option. Cameras, in particular, offer a lot of choice in this department. Expect, however, to pay 10 percent to 20 percent more for the water-resistant of the device.

Use zippered plastic storage bags.This truly low-tech option keeps your device safe from water and other environmental hazards such as sand, dirt or dust while still giving you full use of the keys. Not a great option for larger units such as tablets or laptops as they don’t make bags big enough. The idea is to keep the phone or music player in the bag until you need it, but you can operate the device from within if need be. In this case, forget about using external mics or headphones and prepare for a lot of background noise as the bag shifts while you talk on the phone. Even without the background noise, sound quality through the bag will still be marginal.

Vacuum seal your device.A step up from mere zippered bags are products that offer special-fit, airtight bags designed specifically for iPod, iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle and similar products. These items leave the headset/headphone jack available for easy access, and are reportedly waterproof in many cases for at least 10 feet under water, but can cost $60 or more, which can seem pricey compared to a $2 plastic bag.

Put on an “invisible shield.” You may have seen these products in kiosks at shopping malls as well as on television: a plastic, custom-fit cover that is glued to your phone, laptop, camera, e-reader or other device. Designed primarily to resist scratching, it does offer some protection against moisture such as raindrops or sweat. But it won’t be as effective if your camera ends up in a water fountain, for example.

Waterproof the device. If you decide after purchase that having a waterproof item is a good thing, you can manually safeguard against moisture with paint-on nano-coating products that claim to be undetectable once applied and offer protection for the life of the device.

Rice creates an ultra dry environment and absorbs water. The rice will pull away moisture and dry out your LCD screen water damage. This works for water that has entered most electronic devices. Leave the screen in the rice for a full 24 hours.

You can also use the kitty litter method by absorbing the moisture in case the rice method fails. The litter method is used to grab moisture by holding it in clumps. In an extreme case, you need to buy silica gel packets like those found in shoeboxes which will also work for repairing LCD screens having water damage.

High-definition televisions with LCD screens offer exceptional image quality, but can be compromised by water and moisture damage. The liquid crystal display television screen, with liquid crystals between two thin sheets of glass, is subject to water damage from both direct contact and humidity in the air.

Most Android smartphones now use a capacitive touch screen, and water will typically damage its performance and precision. When your finger touches the screen, a very small electric charge flows to the finger; which completes the circuit that results in the action being performed on the screen.

Well here’s the good news. If you backed everything up – you should be okay. But more importantly, phones don’t die upon immediate contact with water, meaning you can fix them even when there’s significant damage.

Multiple websites suggest sticking electronics that have been submerged in liquid in a bag of uncooked rice, to draw the water out. But that actually doesn’t work and can introduce dust and starch into the phone as well, said Beinecke.

If your screen has darkened or dimmed as the result of your phone coming in contact with water, the water has seeped into the display and made it harder for you to use your phone. Power down you phone immediately and submerge it into a plastic bag or tub filled with rice.

If your iPhone has been exposed to liquid, unplug all cables and do not charge your device until it’s completely dry. Using accessories or charging when wet might damage your iPhone. Allow at least 5 hours before charging with a Lightning cable or connecting a Lightning accessory.

It is perfectly alright to use a blow dryer to dry your hair but it’s not a good idea to use a blow dryer to dry a cell phone as it can actually force moisture deeper into the phone (which you don’t want to do) and a blow dryer also produces heat which could damage parts of the phone as well.

Do not use high or direct heat such as from a hair dryer or in the oven as this will damage the unit (especially the LCD screen). Leave the item in a well-ventilated area to dry. Speed up the process with use of a small fan if desired. Let the item air dry for at least a day or two.

Use cotton swabs and a cleaning solution such as isopropyl alcohol, baking soda and water, or even vinegar to clean it. Gently apply the solution to the affected area and wipe back and forth until the corrosion is removed. If necessary, leave some of the solution on the corroded area and wipe it off later.

Fill a plastic zip-top bag with silica gel and bury the phone in the bag. Leave your phone in the bag for at least 24-48 hours. After you’ve allowed your phone to fully dry, switch it on. If it doesn’t turn on right away, try charging it to see if that makes a difference.

You can tell if your iPhone has water damage by removing the SIM tray and looking for a red color inside the SIM card slot. If it’s red, that means the Liquid Contact Indicator (LCI) has been activated and there is water damage. It should appear white or silver if there is no damage.

Unlike leaving the phone on a sunny windowsill, the rice trick places the phone out of sight, and maybe out of mind. The grain may not guard the device from the destructive powers of water, but the trick does temporarily remove a much more dangerous element: us, and our impatient, tech-driven neuroses.