|
View Poll Results: Your phone went through the wash, and you let it dry thoroughly. Did it work again?
|
|
Yes
|
   
|
6 |
37.50% |
|
No
|
  
|
8 |
50.00% |
|
Other
|
  
|
2 |
12.50% |
 |
|
08-09-2010, 10:59 AM
|
#21
|
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,608
|
I've never had the misfortune to launder a cellphone, but have washed a few watches which all seemed to recover.
Hopefully the Tracphone can be replaced for a low out of pocket cost if it doesn't work after the dry out process.
|
|
|
 |
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
|
08-09-2010, 12:19 PM
|
#22
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
|
Yes, I can replace it for $20 and 30 minutes on the phone with a tech support person with a foreign accent reading from a script and feeding me 60 digits to be laboriously entered into the phone. Online activation usually fails here due to poor reception. Actually, their support has been pretty good, but the process of manually entering in these long strings of numbers is ridiculous.
Also, my old candy bar tracfone seemed to get better reception than the new LG220 flipphone, so I may just stick with that.
Two days more of dehumidifying, then I'll see if it survived.
__________________
Al
|
|
|
|
|
08-09-2010, 12:24 PM
|
#23
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,021
|
 Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
Two days more of dehumidifying, then I'll see if it survived.
|
Al, instead of a poll on actual experiences you should have started a pool on "will it or won't it". I say no...
__________________
Numbers is hard
|
|
|
|
|
08-09-2010, 12:48 PM
|
#24
|
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Columbia, SC
Posts: 64
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
Yes, I can replace it for $20 and 30 minutes on the phone with a tech support person with a foreign accent reading from a script and feeding me 60 digits to be laboriously entered into the phone. Online activation usually fails here due to poor reception. Actually, their support has been pretty good, but the process of manually entering in these long strings of numbers is ridiculous.
|
You should get yourself a phone with SIM card, like T-Mobile. Then the next time you need a new phone you just drop the SIM card in it. No need to call customer support.
|
|
|
|
|
08-09-2010, 01:26 PM
|
#25
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,885
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2good
You should get yourself a phone with SIM card, like T-Mobile. Then the next time you need a new phone you just drop the SIM card in it. No need to call customer support.
|
Correct - and I was pretty sure Tracfone was GSM based which does us a SIM card. Check that out T-Al - it would be good to take the SIM out anyhow, get everything as open as you can to help with the drying.
And you don't have to wait or be w/o a phone either. Once you put the SIM in that old phone, it should just 'take on' your current account, minutes and all. The system doesn't care, as long as the old phone isn't locked to a carrier (since it was Tracfone also, no issue).
-ERD50
|
|
|
|
08-09-2010, 01:28 PM
|
#26
|
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Hagersville
Posts: 794
|
I have never successfully given a modern electronic device a bath.
__________________
I wish I was half as good as my dog thinks I am!
|
|
|
|
|
08-09-2010, 03:48 PM
|
#27
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by REWahoo
Al, instead of a poll on actual experiences you should have started a pool on "will it or won't it". I say no...
|
Hundred bucks on "No"?
Quote:
|
You should get yourself a phone with SIM card, like T-Mobile. Then the next time you need a new phone you just drop the SIM card in it. No need to call customer support.
|
I agree, but T-mobile doesn't cover this area.
Tracfone represents another instance where a product is made inferior (no SIMs) in order to increase revenue.
__________________
Al
|
|
|
|
|
08-09-2010, 08:34 PM
|
#28
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
Tracfone represents another instance where a product is made inferior (no SIMs) in order to increase revenue.
|
My tracfones have typically had SIM cards. But I think each one is tied to a phone. I have never been able to "switch" a tracfone SIM to another tracfone though. They usually require a new tracfone SIM to be activated on a different tracfone.
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
|
|
|
|
|
08-10-2010, 10:31 AM
|
#29
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,231
|
I voted yes even though it was not me... but my BIL had his dropped in salt water... after drying out the only thing that did not work well was the screen... I think half of it worked, the other half did not... but the phone made and received calls...
|
|
|
|
|
08-11-2010, 07:39 AM
|
#30
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
|
It works perfectly!
I put the battery in, and it didn't switch on (not surprising), but as soon as I plugged in the charger everything worked, including a test call.
__________________
Al
|
|
|
|
|
08-11-2010, 08:01 AM
|
#31
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
|
I'm a little surprised it still works perfectly when the battery was in the phone. I know many electronic devices can usually survive a "bath" after a long "drying" session if there was no current going through the device. Perhaps the current from the battery was low enough that it didn't cause any of the electronics to ***zap*** when submerged.
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
|
|
|
|
|
08-11-2010, 08:06 AM
|
#32
|
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,681
|
Nice to hear it's working. Does it still work if you unplug the charger?
__________________
Married, both 69. DH retired June, 2010. I have a pleasant little part time job.
|
|
|
|
|
08-11-2010, 08:34 AM
|
#33
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,021
|
Very glad to lose my bet...
__________________
Numbers is hard
|
|
|
|
|
08-11-2010, 08:49 AM
|
#34
|
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,498
|
I am so happy for you!!
Personally I have never had the misfortune to drop my cell phone into water, but would have just assumed that it was toast.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
|
|
|
|
|
08-11-2010, 08:53 AM
|
#35
|
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Hagersville
Posts: 794
|
Excellent
__________________
I wish I was half as good as my dog thinks I am!
|
|
|
|
|
08-11-2010, 11:56 AM
|
#36
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sue J
Nice to hear it's working. Does it still work if you unplug the charger?
|
Yes, and the battery holds a charge fine. I took a call today while on my bike.
__________________
Al
|
|
|
|
|
08-11-2010, 12:11 PM
|
#37
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,885
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
Yes, and the battery holds a charge fine. I took a call today while on my bike.
|
Good News!
You can answer your poll now 
-ERD50
|
|
|
|
|
08-11-2010, 12:23 PM
|
#38
|
|
gone traveling
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 3,851
|
Give us your number; we'll all be glad to help you test it  ...
|
|
|
|
|
08-11-2010, 12:26 PM
|
#39
|
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,901
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by FUEGO
My tracfones have typically had SIM cards. But I think each one is tied to a phone. I have never been able to "switch" a tracfone SIM to another tracfone though. They usually require a new tracfone SIM to be activated on a different tracfone.
|
I've had tracfone for 10 yrs and every phone I've had (maybe 5) including my current one, has had a SIM card.
Maybe they contract with a different carrier network in your area. Glad to hear yours still works Al.
__________________
“I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I've said” Alan Greenspan
|
|
|
|
|
08-11-2010, 12:30 PM
|
#40
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bikerdude
I've had tracfone for 10 yrs and every phone I've had (maybe 5) including my current one, has had a SIM card.
Maybe they contract with a different carrier network in your area. Glad to hear yours still works Al.
|
Were your SIMs interchangeable or did you have to have a new SIM for each new phone?
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
|
| Thread Tools |
|
|
| Display Modes |
 Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|
