Phone fall in the toilet? It can be fixed

Our home is littered with electronic devices.

This probably seems like an open invitation to burglars hoping to score a motherlode of tech but they would be greatly disappointed. Almost every piece of tech in the Earnheardt home has some broken part – a cracked screen, broken speaker, damaged power port.

I’ve turned into a veritable MacGyver, temporarily repairing iPads with paperclips and rubberbands, all in an effort to provide endless access to videos and apps for my kids.

Of course, some fixes are beyond my abilities, challenging my Mr. Fix-It status, and I’m left with no other option than to admit defeat and turn to the professionals: tech repair shops.

Usually when I go to these places, they’ve heard my “woe is me” stories a million times.

Dropped the phone? Check.

Ran over the iPad with a tricycle? Check.

Dropped Samsung Galaxy S in a creek? Check.

“We’ve heard all kinds of stories,” said an iPhone tech at Broke As Phone, a smartphone and smart device repair and parts replacement shop with locations in Boardman and Niles.

“One of the craziest (stories) we had in our store was for a customer who put a phone in her mouth,” he said. “For some reason she bit down so hard that it cracked the screen.”

Most of the more entertaining stories have a theme: toilets.

“As you can imagine, we get a lot of the ‘I dropped my phone in a toilet’ stories. We’ve also have people who have dropped their devices in porta potties.”

Apparently, the portable toilet mishap is a common occurrence.

A sales representative for Verizon Wireless in Youngstown laughed when I mentioned porta potties.

“Oh yeah, we see that, and mostly in the summer” he said.

“One guy didn’t take his out of the case, but the fluids seeped in and it was all greenish bluish. Kind of gross, but we can get those sent out for repair. Some times.”

When all else fails, the Verizon Wireless rep said you might need a new phone. He also noted that, for a monthly fee, most wireless carriers have replacement plans.

“We tell people all the time ‘Don’t put your phone in your back pocket’,” he said. “If you pull your pants down, and your phone is hanging out, it could easily fall into the bowl.”

“One women brought in her phone after she changed her son’s diaper,” said the Broke Ass Phone tech. “He started to pee and she blocked the stream with her phone. Needless to say, the urine got into the device.”

And if you’re prone to toilet travesties, you’re in luck.

Most good repair shops can fix screens, speakers, charge ports and most types of water damage.

Broke Ass Phone’s water damage repair process includes using a chemical to remove the corrosion and moisture, drying chambers, replacement parts, and thorough testing.

Adam Earnheardt is chair of the department of communication at Youngstown State University. Read his blog at adamearn.com and follow him on Twitter at @adamearn.