"dry in a bag of uncooked rice"

Don't actually do this. It's a myth.

You can only get rice dust inside your phone that way. That's the only thing you can possibly accomplish.

> Don't actually do this. It's a myth

I revived a display on a camera that got wet during a rain on Hawai'i after two years when I read about the "rice method" - it was working the next day. Similarly I saved a phone that went off my pocket into toilet - immediately removed battery, washed in water and packed in a box of rice for a day. Works still like new.

> Similarly I saved a phone that went off my pocket into toilet - immediately removed battery, washed in water and packed in a box of rice for a day. Works still like new.

Done the same thing, without removing the battery or using rice (and done similar things with all kinds of electronics that have gotten wet over the years, again, without a desiccant.) If it doesn't short anything out causing permanent damage, electronics that can get water in them can usually also dry out. Magic rice or anti-bear talismans are not required. A dessicant near the device may help trivially by reducing the surrounding humidity and accelerating evaporation from the device, but just arranging proper ventilation probably works better than using a closed container with a desiccant in most environments.

I wish it was so easy; my camera a few years back, Canon TX1, got wet in one of those rains on Hawai'i and display could never turn on, thought camera was operating normally, taking pictures. I tried to put camera on a sunny place for weeks, didn't help. After two years I read something on forums somewhere about rice. I told myself I don't have anything to lose, so I put rice in a box and immersed camera with display open into it. After a day or so, I took it out and voila, display was working again! Though I must say there was rice dust present on display from inside. Obviously, I would have rather used another desiccant, but where could I buy such thing quickly and in required quantity?

oh come on it may not be an optimal solution but it's hardly "bear talisman" territory ...

Is it? Usually we insist on people providing evidence to support controversial claims.

In what way is the idea that using "uncooked rice" to restore wet electronics the normal one, and challenging it is the "controversial claim"?

In that it's well established practice and I have a list of people who says it does. Versus a couple of internet grouches and a few guys selling device repair services that say it doesn't.

To me, the science sounds plausible. Power it down, dry it up, introduce a desiccant to mop up what atmospheric moisture there is. Rice may not be the "best" desiccant available but it's commonly available and easily understood by most people.

I'd appreciate it if you and your friend could demonstrate that this is false rather than throwing around snarky rhetoric.

This article [0] appears to support your hypothesis but there's enough discussion in the comments that suggests their results can't be taken as conclusive.

I've read the original Gazelle article [1] too, and their methods are far from being clear or rigorous.

I'd need to see more replication before I'd consider this "myth" debunked.

[0] https://smartphones.gadgethacks.com/how-to/myth-debunked-unc...

[1] https://www.gazelle.com/thehorn/2014/05/06/gazelles-guide-wa...

You think "rice usage" is not a controversial claim in the first place? You are trying to create "negative humidity" with rice. Are you serious right now?

EDIT: Watch this rant from a guy who works in the repair shop.

No need to watch the whole video, you can see the "results" of the rice "cleaning" in the first couple of minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPeITOz2_YM

it's called a dessicant.

and it's not controversial if everybody agrees it works.

you are in the minority here and you must support your position with facts.

EDIT

In fairness, I think in the last year we've moved beyond accepting a ranting guy on youtube as evidence.

I've actually seen this guy and he's great on many topics. I can see, and appreciate where he's coming from but I don't think it disproves anything.

Possible conflict of interest that should be declared is this guys fixes devices for a living and charges for the service.

>and it's not controversial if everybody agrees it works.

Well, people agree in all kinds of crap like homeopathy.

Many (most?) agreeing doesn't make something "scientific". Proof does. And it's those proposing a mechanism that must bring that proof.

Uncooked rice works as a desiccant and is found in most homes. If you wrap the phone in a paper towel there is no need to worry about rice residue or rice dust getting into the phone. It does work, but it takes 24-48 hours to dry your phone. Silica gel or other desiccants work better, but most people do not have these in their home.

Did you just cite homeopathy?

Did this just happen. Did you just strawman me?

No... you were the one that was using "everybody agrees it works" as the support of your position. He's offering an analogy that, rightly so, makes your position completely unsupported. If you're willing to say that homeopathy is crap despite the volume of people that support it, then you have to admit the same about your own argument. Provide evidence or support, not appeals to the masses.

Nobody agrees that homeopathy works what are you talking about

Stop being intentionally obtuse. You were the one that said keeping a phone in rice works because "everyone agrees that it works". That's circular logic. He was using that same logic with the example of homeopathy because, much like your rice trick, the only support of homeopathy is that "everyone [who believes it] agrees that it works".

You're wrong. Stop trying to wash it away and just admit it.

It's a common sense to me, but if you want, we can do the math. Should be pretty easy to calculate humidity and rice desiccant properties to end this joke once and for all. Logically, it should be better to let phone dry in open even, instead of creating closed space in the bag of rice.

You can watch the video muted btw. PCB condition shows clearly the level of corrosion from just a little bit of moisture.

"If rice is placed in a sealed container, the air in the container will gain or lose moisture until it attains an equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) corresponding to the rice moisture and temperature."

Source: http://www.kcomfg.com/_docs/pdfs/principles_of_rice_drying.p...