Mobile and monsoons: How can you protect your phone

A little care ensures that your mobile lasts longer and serves you with fewer problems. A wet mobile is very dangerous to keep as it can result in the explosion of the battery that can cause serious injuries to you or your loved ones.

The arrival of the monsoons has rung an alarm bell for mobile phones. The rains add to our concern for our phones as moisture can cause severe damage to a phone. One not only needs to take extra care about himself/herself but also their phones in the monsoon.

This article enlists steps that can be taken before and after your handsets get wet or moisture seeps in your handset:
   
1. The best method to prevent your phone from getting damaged by moisture is using a handsfree or a Bluetooth headset This way you can avoid the handset from getting wet while continuing taking/receiving calls. You should in fact avoid taking out your mobile phone unless it becomes absolutely necessary.

2. Avoid your phone from getting drenched by using inexpensive means such as transparent plastic bags or zip pouches. If you are connected via headset, you can safeguard your phone by wrapping it with a plastic bag. Additionally, you can even add silica gel in these bags to prevent your mobile from getting moist.

3. Place the phone in your innermost pocket and make use of features such as voice messages rather than taking out your handset. If you don't need to personally attend the calls, make use of features such as call forwarding or call diverting.

4. You can opt for dust-resistant and waterproof handsets such as the Intex IN 3030 and Motorola Defy. Motorola has recently launched the Defy Plus that has great features such as water resistance, dust resistance and drop resistance. These handsets are not expensive and are available in come in the 3K-15K range.

5. You should avoid messaging unless absolutely necessary. Messaging requires to take out your handset. If you have a touchcreen phone, you are left with no option but to take it out which can be harmful for it.

6. During the rains, take care to unplug your handset after it is charged.  Also, avoid keeping your handset in humid places.

7. Always make sure that you are not using a low quality or damaged charger as this can cause a short circuit. Serious injuries can be prevented by taking small precautions.

In case your handset does gets wet; don't worry!  We provide you a few tips to correct the problem.

1. Avoid using a hair dryer or microwave for drying the wet handset. Such measures can permanently damage a handset. Instead, you can leave the handset in a dry place where it can face direct sunlight. Another remedy is to submerge all the phone parts in a dry bowl of rice.  Rice is known to extract moisture without causing any damage to your phone.

2. Another way is to soak your wet phone in new plastic bags lined with Silica gel that can easily absorb moisture.

3. Never charge a wet phone. Always check if all the ports are dry. If you do suspect that any water has seeped inside the phone, avoid charging it as a damp socket recharge can easily cause a short circuit.

4. Never switch on a wet phone. This can permanently damage the handset.

5. Do not use cotton cloths or fibers to clean the handset. These get entangled in the handset and it becomes a hassle to get them out.

6. If nothing works, take your mobile to a mobile repair centre and explain to them in detail whatever happened to your handset. If your phone is still in warranty period it might not even cost you to get the phone repaired.

Keeping your mobile handset dry and safe ensures that it has a long shelf life and gives fewer problems. A handset needs to be handled with care as it might save your life in the time of crisis.