But now the problem has been solved, easily and cheaply, thanks to a new invention - - Aquastop - produced by a North Staffordshire based chemical company Future Developments (Man) Limited.

Aquastop is a simple, practical way of coating printed circuit boards so there is a barrier if mobile phones do come into contact with water or moisture.

Paul Williams, a director of Future Developments (Man) Limited, explains : "Aquastop is an aerosol spray. It takes a few seconds to apply an invisible coating of the product to a printed circuit board, allow it to dry and then re-assemble the phone".

"The product places a barrier between water and the printed circuit board. If a phone is dropped into water or is affected by damp, all you have to do is remove the battery, shake out the excess water, allow the phone to dry and it can then be powered up again to use. Only one application of Aquastop is needed for the life of the mobile phone. It's as easy as that".

"Electrical components for mobile phones are made smaller and smaller these days because of new technology and designs, so circuits have to be more complex. It makes the repair of water damaged phones impossible or very expensive. Aquastop solves that problem. It saves the life of your mobile phone".

• Aquastop, manufactured and produced by Future Developments (man) Limited, based in Burslem, Stoke on Trent, will be available in a 75ml aerosol can. Companies interested in distributing or marketing this product should contact the company directly.
  
  
• For more details contact director Paul Williams on 01782 829000/ Email: paul@fdvd.co.uk or www.fdev.co.uk.
  
  
• You can see a list of our current distributors by clicking here.

The retail cost of these radios is around £170, so it's worth spending some time to protect the investment. So here is what I did. First I took a new set off stock and checked the specification on a test set (Transmit power, receiver performance etc.) Next I removed the case and sprayed both sides of the PCB with aquastop. I then re assembled and rechecked on the test set (no change in performance found) Next I fitted it with a battery switched on and dropped the whole thing in a sink of tap water, there it stayed for 15 minutes. I then removed it and left it switched on with the battery fitted for 24 hours.

The next day I removed the battery, opened the case and let the whole thing dry out in gentle heat (over a storage heater) for a further 24 hours. The unit was the reassembled and tested on the test set again, with no measurable change from the 'out of box' performance.

The test sequence was chosen to be a realistic simulation of a drop into a swimming pool, followed by the user desperately trying to use the set (worst thing he could do - this will normally cause electrolytic corrosion driven by the battery voltage) before finally admitting his mistake to his boss and sending the set in for repair. Under normal circumstances this would have been very likely to result in a write off, it's very rare that a set will survive this sort of abuse.

This first test has encouraged us to proceed to a field trial.

We have now arranged to treat 6 sets belonging to a leisure center on an FOC basis providing they give us a report every a month for the next 6 months or so (normally they destroy a set roughly every month). This will allow us to evaluate the product in a real environment (sitting by a steamy chloriney pool and occasional immersion).

If this trail proves a benefit we will offer Aquastop treatment as an optional extra to all units sold.

Hope this helps
Regards
Richard

Zycomm Electronics Ltd - The Complete Communications Company
Nottingham Road, Ripley, Derby, DE5 3AS

Tel: 01773 570123
Fax: 01773 570155
Web: www.zycomm.co.uk