Pearl diving

September 14 2007

I am impressed.

Earlier this week, my Blackberry Pearl made the famous electronics dive manuver -- out of my shirt pocket and into the dog's water dish.

Knowing all the horror stories, I immdiately freaked out.  I was Pearl diving two seconds later, but it was all washed up.  

Under time pressure at that moment anyway, I took the soggy Pearl apart to dry out.  30 minutes later, I held my breath and put it back together.  Amazingly, it worked -- but the display had some attractive dark spots all over it.  It wasn't dead, thankfully, but it sure wasn't 100% either.

Sarah and Valerie at RIM received a panicked e-mail from me somewhere along the way.

But.

Three days later, and the innards have completely dried out -- the Pearl is back to its Tuesday noon condition.

Of course, it is September, so oysters are back in season.  That must explain the excellent quality of this Pearl.

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Blackberry Pearl  Add/View Comments [15]

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  1. 1  Mikkel Heisterberg http://lekkimworld.com | 9/14/2007 4:09:48 PM

    I heard that when this sort of stuff happens it is usually a good idea to dry it out as you did and then place the device in a sealed container with some kitty-litter or similar porous material for some time. This will also help dry out the device.

    Something to keep in mind for next time... :-)

  1. 2  Mark Dowling http://cork2toronto.blogspot.com | 9/14/2007 4:32:27 PM

    Lucky you Ed. Warranty is refused if the unit is permanently damaged and has to be replaced. I understand there may be one of those strips inside which changes colour when wet and stays that colour even when dried out.

  1. 3  Stuart McIntyre  | 9/14/2007 4:33:08 PM

    At least it wasn't a dive out of a pocket and into the toilet - my wife managed that masterpiece once ;-)

  1. 4  Flemming Riis  | 9/14/2007 4:33:55 PM

    i once make the mistake between a open soda and a new one , so i tried to drink from the new one and put the open one into my laptop bag.

    suggar free is what saved me i think , took 4 days of drying everything worked again

  1. 5  Volker Weber http://vowe.net | 9/14/2007 4:47:18 PM

    It's usually the toilet bowl and not the dog's water dish. But the second one sounds nicer. :-)

    Been there, done that. Water goes between the lcd and the white surface behind it through capillary attraction. One way to get rid of it is a warm and dry spot. Like on top of a sat receiver.

  1. 6  David Russell http://www.russellsphere.com | 9/14/2007 8:46:11 PM

    My Blackberry has a nice crack on the screen, it just 'appeared' (promise, I didn't do anything) - like I took a screwdriver and quickly stabbed it. Thing is - you can't feel the crack with your finger - its on the inside. Like an internal crack, some kind of defect in the glass. But the wireless company will not replace it, they think I dropped it. But I have got used to it, it is now a feature :-)

  1. 7  Michael Weitzel  | 9/15/2007 2:08:14 AM

    Hey Ed,

    Saw this article on LifeHacker a while ago... haven't tried it myself but it sounds pretty much along the same lines of Mikkel's comment.

    { Link }

    M.

  1. 8  Tim Leach  | 9/15/2007 2:58:03 AM

    Coincidentally, I just saw a CBS News video ({ Link } ) on how to rescue wet gadgets. As 1) suggests, kitty litter seems to work well.

  1. 9  Darren http://www.dadams.co.uk | 9/15/2007 4:09:39 PM

    Not the same, but you know when you go to see customers and you need the boys' room, and sometimes a member of staff will give you a security card to get back in? I can't remember who it was, but an ex-Lotus guy somehow managed to drop the borrowed card in the toilet (before it had been flushed). What with that and giving it a rinse-off it rendered the card unusable.

    I also heard a radio phone-in where a guy had been having a sneak-peek at his boss' new pride-and-joy mobile (cell) phone and had dropped it in the toilet, and was looking for advice on what to do when his boss returned.

  1. 10  Adam Brown http://www.isw.net.au | 9/16/2007 12:47:53 AM

    I did the exact same dog bowl trick with an o2 atom. In my case though it was buggered! The good news was that it gave me a reason to move to a Blackberry 8800, a move that I have never regreted. It would have to be something very impressive to get me off the Blackberry now.

  1. 11  Scott http://www.lotus911.com | 9/17/2007 11:49:27 AM

    Lotusphere 2 years ago I went down that water ride and got soaked. Seconds later, by BB started buzzing continusously, so I took the battery out just so it wouldn't annoy me. 2 Hours later it did the same when I put the battery back in, but the next morning it was fine and has been ever since. I can't tell you how much abuse my BB has taken, but it's a testament to quality that it still works today (although I did hand it down to a colleague so I could get a shiney new one).

  1. 12  Todd Carpenter  | 9/17/2007 5:44:48 PM

    Treo 650 = swimming pool while attempting to cut the hedges - after a dry-out period in the sun and a cool down in the A/C worked like a charm.

    Blackberry 8700c = salt water dip while attempting to dock boat = toast (no recovery)

  1. 13  Ben Rose http://www.jaffacake.net | 9/18/2007 6:36:03 AM

    Been there, done that...

    { Link }

  1. 14  beffers  | 1/16/2008 12:09:17 PM

    I dropped my blackberry in the toilet (clean water), yanked it out fast, opened, removed battery & SIM card, dried out for a couple of days. when I put the battery in it buzzes non stop. how can i get it to stop?