Walmart kiosk could save your water-logged phone

TAMPA (FOX 13) - If you’ve ever dropped your phone into water, you know it can mean instant death for your device, but a new invention might help bring it back to life.

It’s called the DryBox and it’s much more sophisticated than the old bowl of rice trick.

DryBox claims to have saved almost 30,000 water-logged phones to date, so we decided to put it to the test.

DryBox creator David Naumann gave us a little tutorial on his system. He says the first thing to do is gently dry the phone of any visible water.

“We want to get as much excess moisture out as possible,” he explained. “The last thing you want to do is turn it on. [But] definitely, don't try to charge it.”

Plugging into a charger could short out your phone and once that happens, your phone is officially toast.

If you haven’t made that fatal mistake, your first step is actually to swipe your credit card in what looks like an ATM at the front of your local Walmart. Then, keep your fingers crossed the DryBox rescue station kiosk saves your phone from its untimely demise.

Inside the kiosk is a secure vacuum chamber. You leave your phone there for about 35 minutes.  Naumann says vacuum pressure lowers water’s boiling point.

 “So basically we are just evaporating the phone by safely warming it up and then it cycles thru,” he explained.  

For $40, it’s much less expensive than getting a new phone or even paying the deductible on an insurance plan.

DryBox creators say they have a 75 percent success rate. They say the system works because the phone dries before corrosion kicks in.

As for the iPhone we dropped in water, and then dropped into the DryBox, it didn’t fire back up right away, but Naumann had an explanation.

“A lot of times, moisture depletes the battery. We're not gonna panic. We're gonna charge it. Let’s see what happens,” Naumann reassured us.

And sure enough, some time on the charger did the trick. Our iPhone seemed to be back to normal.

DryBox says if your phone doesn't come back to life - you can apply for your money back on its website. So maybe it’s worth a try!