How to dry a wet smartphone

It turns out there’s more than one way to dry an iPhone.

When we published our guide to saving a wet gadget, many of our readers messaged us on our Facebook page to tell us how they would have done it.So: What have our far-flung readers used to rescue their dripping phones? Read on to find out. George V. from Oklahoma repurposed a common household item to dry out his phone:"I see all the advice to submerge a dunked smartphone or cell phone in rice or Rice Krispies but there is a much better solution. A Seal a Meal can restore a wet phone much faster and do a better job. Just place it in a tall jar or dish, place the dish in the baggie material and draw a vacuum on it and leave it alone for a couple of hours. Vacuuming is the preferred way to clean out a refrigeration system (heat pump/air conditioner) and it works for a wet cell phone too. Almost every home has a Seal-a-Meal. Try it, it works great."Ali, meanwhile, has a more technical solution: "I work in the semiconductor industry. I dropped my phone in the commode. I then placed it into a reverse hyperbolic chamber, pumped it down inside to about 50 Torr and vacated the water as it turned back into a gas form in about 5 minutes."A much simpler manner, anyone can buy a roughing pump and get a sealable chamber with a closable lid. You could sit in a mall, place a soaked phone in the chamber, close the lid, rough the chamber and phone down to about the same vacuum value of 100 Torr and vacate the water/moisture. Just an idea."In our original post, we recommended placing your phone in rice. Freddy B. sends in a vital clarification:"You should have specified uncooked rice for drying phones out. You know someone is going to go to the refrigerator and get the leftover rice from [a Chinese] restaurant."Very true. We meant uncooked rice! Don’t throw it into boiled rice. Please.Meanwhile, Freddy says rice can cure more than just water damage:"I dropped my week old iPhone in a gallon of Valspar wall paint a year ago. I took it out of its case and washed it under the kitchen faucet. Then I blew its orifices out with my air compressor. After an overnight in a baggie of Minute Rice it was working fine. A little cloudy but one day later it was like new. That was a year ago and it’s still going strong."And, of course, earlier Yahoo Tech correspondent Becky Worley tested a special kit called the Dry-All, which you can read about here. Do you have other alternative tips for victims of smartphone dunkage? Like us on Facebook and send us a message, and we may feature your tip on the site.(yahoo.com)ANN.Az