posted July 06 2008 03:53 PM                

The activities of the summer season brings an influx of water damaged cell phones -- just ask Steve Harrington, the store manager of Wireless World on Holton Drive in Le Mars.

"People go fishing with them, swimming with them," Harrington said. "We see a lot of damaged phones in the summertime."

But the dangers of getting your phone wet aren't just outside.

"One of the top five things we see is people who have left their phone in their pocket and it goes through the washing machine," Harrington said. "People also come in having dropped it in the toilet or in their coffee or tea."

So after your cell decides to take a swim, what should you do? First, take it out of the water.

If the phone is turned on, cut the power.

"Take the phone apart and remove the battery," advised Harrington. "Don't turn it on because any water in the phone will short it out. Just set the pieces in a warm place."

You can dry the phone by hand drying it with a paper towel or by using a vacuum. Using a hair dryer is risky as it may force moisture further into the small spaces of your phone. It is important to just be patient and to let it sit for a day to let as much water escape as possible.

"If the it still doesn't work after a day, put the pieces into a Ziploc bag full of dry rice," said Harrington. "Just zip the bag up, and leave it for two to three days or even a week to be sure."

What the rice does for your phone is it absorbs any eemaining moisture that may still be in the parts that cannot be reached.

"Doing these steps are pretty simple and are 50 to 70 percent successful," said Harrington.

If your cell still will not start up after all that, chalk it up to a life lesson learned and enjoy your new phone.