The phone in rice: why it is a bad idea, and what to do instead

Dry rice absorbs moisture from the air, very slowly. It doesn't absorb water trapped between the logic board and its shield, or under the chips. During the two days the phone is “drying”, the water stays there, with the battery's current, and corrosion advances.

What really happens

After the rice the phone often turns on again: the contacts are dry on the surface. Then, a week or a month later, a function fails (charging, mic, screen), because corrosion has finished eating through a trace or a component. That is when the phone reaches the workshop, more damaged than if it had come the same day.

The right method

1. Switch off immediately, and don't switch back on.
2. Remove the case and the SIM, and wipe the outside.
3. Don't charge, don't heat, don't shake violently.
4. Book an appointment or send it the same day by Colissimo, marking it “water damage”.
5. Note which liquid (fresh water, sea, pool, coffee, juice): it changes the cleaning.

At the workshop

Strip-down, ultrasonic cleaning of the board, corrosion removal under the microscope, drying, tests, and replacement of dead components. Corrosion removal is at a fixed price per model on the prices page; if components need replacing, it is the 149 € logic-board repair. If nothing can be saved, nothing is charged.

One last word: silica gel sachets, the vacuum cleaner, the hair dryer and the radiator are in the same category as rice. None of them removes water from under a chip.