[hew2nd]

I dropped my 7520 overboard and it was in about 3 feet of water for ten minutes. I took it apart and poured the water out.

Anything else I can do to hopefully save it?

Thanks, HEW2ne

[tru2life]

keep it apart for a few days to dry completely.....you might luck out.

[toadloaf]

Read Mark Rejhon's thread on how to dry it out and reboot it

[Dawg]

this is the best answer

Originally Posted by toadloaf

Read Mark Rejhon's thread on how to dry it out and reboot it

[Mark Rejhon]

That's funny, -- 2 articles about BlackBerries being dropped in water, in a short period. Here's a success story posted here

You may have good chances if you reacted quickly and kept the battery away from the BlackBerry (always resist the temptation to test the BlackBerry, always keep the battery removed). The BlackBerry has survived "in statis" (wet) in non-corrosive liquid for several hours, as long as the battery was kept removed or that the battery was dead during this time.

Disassembly was the correct procedure. But keep it fully disassembled now. Don't reassembled the BlackBerry or test the BlackBerry until:

One of the below:
(1) 1 week of unassisted drying on disassembled components; OR
(2) A few days of direct sunlight or under an incandescent desk lamp (3 days worth) for the disassembled components; OR
(3) A few hours of low-temperature oven bake at 150-180 degrees F. Always BELOW boiling point, use a thermometer (motherboard only, no screen -- the screen should still be dried out too though, so put the screen in direct sunlight or lamp while you bake the motherboard)

I use approach 3 because it is the safer method because it gives water less time to "rust" the BlackBerry circuitry. Remove the screen too (it's held down by just a couple screws and a snap-off connector, be careful with it), since water can go under the screen.



Don't forget to read the instructions first, as well as my other post. It is important that correct procedure is followed (most particularly quick action for maximal chances, and odds are usually improved if you remove battery ASAP and resist the temptation to test the device)

You may want to use the distilled water rinse method that I used (motherboard only, no screen), if the lake water was dirty or the BlackBerry fell into mud at the bottom of the water.

Please remember your odds are reduced somewhat if you did not remove the battery immediately, or you succumbed to the temptation to test the BlackBerry with the battery. (Water+power = short circuit = instant damage .... Must dry 100% first before testing!) Sometimes the battery short-circuits itself before it manages to short-circuit the BlackBerry, so try testing a different battery too. (You got lucky if this happened, better a new battery than a new BlackBerry)

[hew2nd]

Well - I've got it in baking now. When it fell in the water it was on, and when I took it out the red light was on. Maybe it got fried from the short circut then, but we'll see.

It will be baking another hour. Since I'll be in bed before then, I'm just going to turn off the oven and let the temperature die down and take it out in the morning. WIll it be OK to test it then, or shoud I wait longer. (I couldn't get it apart, so the screen is baking also.)
Thanks for all the help.
HEW2nd

[Mark Rejhon]

I hope you're monitoring the temperature and keeping the oven door slightly ajar. Ideally, the elements should be turned off before you put the BlackBerry in the oven. (I turned off the oven before putting my BlackBerry in). Sometimes the 170 setting turns out to be 250 and this will kill your BlackBerry motherboard, so this should never be done -- however, if you have no thermometer, preheat your oven, turn off oven, and put the BlackBerry motherboard on a paper towel inside.

Always turn off the heating element after preheating the oven for a waterlogged motherboard drying operation. If the oven cools down too much, you can turn on the element for 30-60 seconds (if you have no thermometer), or until the thermometer hits the top end of the range.

If you accidentally left the oven on without a thermometer (remember: 180 degrees F on the dial can mean above boiling point inside the oven, since the dial isn't always accurate), immediately turn off the oven now especially if it is not one of the new digital-thermometer-controlled models, and open the door a little.

If you must leave the heating element on, make sure you also have a thermometer inside your oven and you never let it get anywhere remotely near boiling point (this would kill certain electronic components such as certain kinds of capacitors and LCD screens, for example... You never want to bring those electronics component to boiling point)

Since you could not remove the screen (there are screws on the bottom of the motherboard that attaches the screen), I suggest a temperature of 140 or 150 degrees and a slightly longer bake of about 4-5 hours. (thermometer monitored, of course). 180 degrees F may damage a LCD screen! The motherboard can survive longer than the LCD during baking temperatures. Side effects of an overcooked LCD screen is not pretty...

1 hour might do it but it may not be enough, especially since you could not remove the screen (water may have gone under the screen, it takes a lot of time to bake that out). I suggest drying out longer than 1 hour for a safety margin, or just simply putting the motherboard about 12 inches under an incandescent desk lamp tomorrow morning, for a full day, before reassembling...

[hew2nd]

Thanks for the help. I'm afraid we had services today over the drowned BB. My guess is that the time in the water with the battery live probably caused a short - or something like that.

In any case, I appreciate all your efforts at helping me out.
HEW2nd