Dumb question about mobile phones

I'm with T Mobile, on a contract. Dropped my phone in the bath last night and it looks like it's a goner.  :\\\'( But it looks like Argos have a phone I like on half price at the moment. It says it's a T Mobile phone, so if I put my Sim card in it, it should work ok, right? I'm not missing anything obvious am I?

That should work!

Yup all fine!!  You can pop your SIM card into any phone that is unlocked to T-Mobile.

Yes, unless the SIM card is a goner too.  First you might want to try a tip that I was hearing about at work recently...from other people who have got their phone all wet like that.  Put the phone in a baggie full of rice & seal it up.  The rice is supposed to draw all the moisture out of the phone -- you may need to leave it for a couple days or so.  But the phone just might work again after that!  I heard about this from people who have done it.

Thanks everyone.

Carolyn, I might try that! I put it in the airing cupbaord for a few hours hoping it would dry out and be ok and it seemed like it was for a while but it's died again now.  But if it's not working by tomorrow I'll have to get a new one. I promised everyone I'd phone them using my free minutes over Xmas!

Thanks everyone.

Carolyn, I might try that! I put it in the airing cupbaord for a few hours hoping it would dry out and be ok and it seemed like it was for a while but it's died again now.  But if it's not working by tomorrow I'll have to get a new one. I promised everyone I'd phone them using my free minutes over Xmas!

Yes, let us know if it works!  I think the idea is that the rice draws out the moisture even from the innards of the phone, whereas the airing cupboard might just do the outer bits - but I don't know.  The lady who was telling me about it did it with hers before & has also known other people who have done it too.  Apparently, a lot of people drop their mobiles into water!  I feel your pain though - I was so irritated when I lost mine recently & I've still got to finish putting people's numbers onto it, cos my SIM card went with the phone of course.

Ok well I've done it. I hope organically grown gourmet rice mix is OK! I'll let you know if it works.

If it doesn't work at least your sim card should still be fine. I've dropped 2 phones in water and the sim card was fine. I've also fallen into a river with my camera in my pocket and the memory card still worked. I lost my camera but at least all my pictures were safe!

I've heard the rice trick before too - I'll be really curious to hear if it works. I ruined a phone by spilling... wait for it... can you guess? Yep, spilling wine on it. 

When was the last time you had an upgrade? If it's been a while you might just be able to get a new phone from t-mobile. And it might be a really flash one if it's been a while since you claimed one. Only drawback is that it will lock you in to a new contract - but if you're not interested in dumping them as a provider for a while it might be worth it!

I thought about that but thing is I'm on a really cheap deal that they don't offer any more so if I signed up for a new contract it would likely cost me double what I'm paying now. But there's a nice Motorola phone at Argos half price for £25!

I just checked on the phone, it's been in the rice for about 3 hours now so far nothing. I'll leave it there til tomorrow morning.

I've never heard of the rice trick before, but if rice does actually act as a moisture absorber it could work.   A few little bags of silica gel dessicant would probably be more effective though (you often find them in the boxes that VCRs, TVs, cameras, and similar devices are shipped in). 

To really dry out the inside of the phone in any other way you want both warmth and ventilation to carry the moist air away.  It can take a long time if you aren't prepared to open the phone up, and damp under the membrane contacts for the buttons might be a recurring problem if it's not dried thoroughly.

If you transfer the SIM card to another phone and it doesn't work immediately, try cleaning the contacts before deciding it's a goner.  Soapy water dried on the contacts could be the problem.  A rub over with Q-tips dipped in isopropyl alcohol or some similar cleaning agent might restore operation. 

Just letting it dry for a day or two should do the trick as well, if it is salvagable. That's what the recommendation for laptops when you spill liquid on them and I can testify that it works. Very important though: take the battery and the sim card out while you dry.

It was still not working this morning so I went into town first thing and got a new one from Argos. (It definitely paid to go in early as there was no-one else in Argos at 9am!). Anyway my Sim card seems to be working OK in the new phone so that's good.