Database Users

Water damage - FIXED with a hair dryer

I left my phone outside before a rainstorm. It didn't get get direct rainfall on it but got the spray of the water hitting the side of the wall. When I remembered it 15 minutes later it was covered in water drops but not soaked.
Everything seemed to work fine at first but then the touchscreen kept thinking it was touched at random places.
I turned it off, removed the battery, and started to dry it off with a kleenex and a condensed air can to blow the water out of the slider. When I turned it back on, the backlight flickered for about a minute and then went black (the LCD picture was still there but very dark)
Now when I turn it on the backlight is on for a second but then goes off. If I hit the OK, Talk, or other buttons they work 1 out of 10 times. The touchscreen still registers hits by itself.
Any suggestions on what I should do to dry it out? Do I need to take apart the screen?
I'd hate to throw it away...any help will be much appreciated!

Hum ill try to say this in english. This solution worked for some friends of mine when their phones got wet. disassemble all the tytn parts, take pff the battery, sim card, memory card, everything u can, take it out. Then with a hairdryer point it to the PDA about an hour. Pay attention not burn it up, only heat it a little so that the water or humidy left in the PDA can evaporate. Then leave it on shelf all opened for about a night. Next day join all the parts and try to connect your device. If it doesnt work, u can always take it to warranty. Sry 4 my english I hope u can understand ^^

Zero|Cool said:
Hum ill try to say this in english. This solution worked for some friends of mine when their phones got wet. disassemble all the tytn parts, take pff the battery, sim card, memory card, everything u can, take it out. Then with a hairdryer point it to the PDA about an hour. Pay attention not burn it up, only heat it a little so that the water or humidy left in the PDA can evaporate. Then leave it on shelf all opened for about a night. Next day join all the parts and try to connect your device. If it doesnt work, u can always take it to warranty. Sry 4 my english I hope u can understand ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey don't worry about your English - you speak it better than most others. I'll try this suggestion but I will definitely have to be careful not to burn up anything. Thanks

After the experience tell me how it went

Forget warranty though, there is a water activated sticker inside the hermes to tell the service department if its been soaked. Its white if no water has got in but turns pink if water touches it.
Cheers...
Heres the link to the service manual to be able to dissassemble safely - http://michael-channon.spaces.live.com/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c02_owner=1
You need a small flatbade, a small philips head screwdriver and a no. 6 torque key.
Good luck....

The warranty's already gone so I am willing to take drastic measures to fix this thing. I will let it sit overnight and if that doesn't work, I'll be taking it apart tomorrow. I found a youtube video that shows precisely how to do it. I'll update tomorrow

Would grab the manual as well as it can't hurt to have all bases covered. The manual takes you through step by step.
Cheers...

Thanks for your help, guys!
Seems I was freaking out over nothing. I did like Zero said and took a hair dryer to it (maybe 3mins on low -- 1min on high....did have the patience to do it for an hour) and then let it sit overnight. The phone was completely messed up around 10pm last night even after blow drying but this morning I powered it on and it did just fine. It did reset a couple of settings in advanced config but nothing else was touched. As a matter of fact, I believe the phone runs faster than it did before the incident! I do notice that the CPU memory is idling at 45% instead of 55+%...weird....
So I guess they do make em like they used to

Im glad my solution worked out actually i never tested it on PDA's so i guess that it's quite the same. Hair dryer rullez^^

check your wifi
mcattack86 said:
Thanks for your help, guys!
Seems I was freaking out over nothing. I did like Zero said and took a hair dryer to it (maybe 3mins on low -- 1min on high....did have the patience to do it for an hour) and then let it sit overnight. The phone was completely messed up around 10pm last night even after blow drying but this morning I powered it on and it did just fine. It did reset a couple of settings in advanced config but nothing else was touched. As a matter of fact, I believe the phone runs faster than it did before the incident! I do notice that the CPU memory is idling at 45% instead of 55+%...weird....
So I guess they do make em like they used to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had an MDA before my Wing, dropped in the toilet twice after a couple of days worked fine the second time the wifi went out.
PS My wing doesnt go in the bathroom with me anymore

When you phone gets wet
I don't know if anyone has heard of the Kim Commando Show, she is syndicated over the Radio. Anyways, she's a techie and gives advice on different situations relating to different devices and new stuff coming out. Anyways, she advices when a phone get wets to NOT turn on the phone right away (obviously), take the battery out and put the phone in a bag of rice. The rice will pull out the moisture. The phone has to be in the rice for 24 hours. It works 95% of the time. The trick is to not turn on the phone until you are sure the phone is completly dry inside and out. As you all know, electricity and water will just fry your phone. A new battery is suggested.

water damage SGS2 also..
Got my Galaxy s2 in my pocket when it was raining , i hade about 10% of battery.
Took it up and it was dead, so when i came home i put the charger in it but nothing happend.
I have put it into a bag of rise now and will se if it starts tomorrow. I also have bought a new battery.
if that not works ive also bought a new Charger oem cabel from ebay.
to bad for me did the warrenty went out for about 3 weeks ago.
I hope it will turn on again when i read that people that have droped directly into water and have them fixed by rise or other ways.
If this not works, is there any other ways?
thankfull for any help!

Touch HD In water, hints?

HI all, i've a really disappointing problem. My touch HD was in my pocket when I took some rain on my motorcycle . Arrived at home the phone was off. I opened it following the service manual. I've putted it behind the power supply of the pc, where the warm air comes out, dismantled, for a few days.
Then I assembled all, and now it turns on, but, it randomly restart. Do you think my mobo is broken? some contact?
I was thinking I can sell the various parts of my phone all the items works, sim, sd reader, camera (back and front) except the mobo ofcourse.
thanks in advance for your help

Hi.I have heard of one way of fixed water damaged devices and that is by putting them in a container covered by UNCOOKED rice. I think the rice is meant to draw the water out. Leave it for a day I think. Never tried it myself but heard it works
Phil G

Hi, thanks for your answer, the phone was behind the psu of the pc for a week totally dismantled, so I think is pretty dry
thanks again for you interest

I actually dropped me BS in a bucket of water. Dried it out in a heat cabinet at work (50 deg C) for a day and it works perfectly still

Hi la3bna, i'm trying to do as you suggested, was your bs powered when it fall in the water?
thanks for your answer

You should use the salt that is used to lower humidity (e.g. from Bison).
Put the bag of salt on the bottom of a plastic box.
On top of the bag a plate so your device has no fysical contact
with the salt. On the plate you lay down your device without
the backside. Seal the box airtight and leave it there for 7 days.
I did this with the Ipod of my son which had been washed for over
an hour on 60 degrees celsius. The Ipod was dead, but after the
procedure as described it was fully functional!

Thanks a lot, I'll try this!!

Yes mine was on, actually someone called my when it fell

I dropped mine in deep snow... I was holding it in my hand and slipped and also fell
It was very wet so I got scared it won't work but when I got home I turned it off,removed the battery,cards and just put it in some blanket to dry off
After an hour turned it back on and everything worked just like before
Also the other day I accidentally spilled some hand cream on my blackstone and it got inside but nothing happened again so I'm lucky...

thanks for your advices, trying the rice thing

lol, you guys are fecking useless
There is no way I would put myself in that situation, then again I have dropped it a few times so probably only lucky there wasnt water about

Well, I also dropped my Blackstone into water and, after drying it for some 2-3 hrs in the sun it works, except the memory card reader - the problem with the water and mobile phones is the fact that the water is oxidizing the circuitry - so, if it still malfunctions after a week of drying, then probably the phone is doomed.
Sorry for your loss!

for oxid, i've "bathed" the phone in Svitol, but nothing appens... i'm going to sell it as spare.
thanks all for your answer

open the device and dry it out..

already tried, using the service manual to open it, and dried for a week, but nothing appens.
thanks anyway

keep pressing the on/off button - eg, press button on off on off on off (while charging)
and tell me what happens, eg, a vibration??

hi, ti vibrate, then starts, show the smart mobility screen, load the SO, and all works for about 10 minutes. Then the phone restarts and get stuck to smart mobility screen. After that the only way is to press reset or remove the battery. After that if you press the power button the phone get always stuck on smart mobility, sometimes start to load the SO and then it restart before finishing to load.
Nicola

Solved
Hi, problem solved, just left the phone in its box for a month then acidentally tried to start it and from that day works great... guess that just needed to dry out.
Thread can be closed.
Thanks for all your advice.
Nicola

The end?
Dropped my Blackstone in the toilet last night (don't know how, I was drunk at the time). I believe it had been fully submerged for 2-3 minutes. It was turned on at the time. When I recovered it (thank God nothing had been done in the toilet at the time), it was off. I removed the cover and there was water behind the battery, in the SD card reader and SIM. Not a lot, but it was wet. Stupidly (drunk) and panicking , I dried off the back panel with a hand towel (possible static charge damage? - not yet known ). I left it on top of a t-shirt which is on top of the radiator. I don't yet want to turn it on fo fear of wrecking it (if it's not already wrecked).
What methods to people recommend I should take from above? Or maybe there are some new techniques? Would I be better taking it to a mobile service repair shop to see if they can fix it from the beginning, before I do any more damage?

1 dismantle the device into pieces. (if your not sure how i can give you a step by step guide)
2 now dry each of the parts of the device with cotton wool buds (the things used to clean your ears)
3 the put the device back together.
4 done.
....some people say to leave the device in rice etc because it draws the water from the device, IMO this does not work properly and there is nothing better that opening the device and actually cleaning it and removing the water yourself, and this should only take a few mins. it is also not recomended to send it to a service repair shop for something you can do yourself. just be carefull when dismantling the device. do not break any ribbons - used to connect the lcd amungst other things to motherboard.
might be possible you will need a new battery ^

Drunk G1 turns itself off

Hi fellas, long time no see!
So, first of all, yes, I've used the search, but what I've found is threads about wet phones, mine I believe is already dry.
Situation: I'm in the club, glass of absolut and redbull in my hand, phone in my jeans pocket, extra glass of absolut w/redbull on the bar next to me. Fat drunk aproaches the bar and tips my glass with his elbow, all my drink spilled over my clothes. After a brief discussion I realized the guy was too drunk and was a worthless douche so I let it go. I reach for my phone and realize my pocket is soaked wet, when I take it out, phone is out, red light dim. So I turn it off, take it apart and forget about it til the next day. Next day, it began to turn on, but shut itslef off after a few secs, so I take it apart again (that is back cover, battery, SIM and sd, I dont have the screwdrivers to go further), cleaned what I could with alcohol, let it vent in front of a fan for a few hours, then in a bowl of rice for 2 days, no good.
So I got an extra phone and let it sit for more than a month. The other day I decided to give it another try and voila! it worked, had to be dry by now! used it for a day, left it charging, when I came back, it was off again, unresponsive. I have an extra battery, so I got one of those universal battery chargers, because I though the problem could be the phone not charging the battery. It was (even when the light turns on red and it says charging and all). So, first weird thing, light turns on red, screen says charging, but USB wont wont actually charge the battery if it is somewhere below.. 70% maybe, it does charge if it is lets say about 80% or above.
I used it like this for a week or so, and now, when I turn it on, after the bootscreen and the initial loop, the phone now powers itself off (with the text "turning off" -or whatever it says- and vibrating and all), even with the battery full. Tried with both batteries full, plugged in the usb (the light is green when full, and will even charge), erased battery stats (recovery works fine) but the damn thing wont load android properly!
Any ideas what might be causing this? it should be dry by now (its been like 2 months already and I let it vent and used the rice method), it doesnt smell funny (you know, like burnt, like when sth short circuits).
btw, also tried flashing the ROM again (i always have a couple in the sd just in case) and didn't work neither, does exactly the same.
i know it is a bit long to read but i wanted to give you the most insight i could. i know that it works! it did a couple days ago, but something got screwed with the startup and i dont know what it is!

update: so today i tried again, to my surprise, it showed me the first-use android intro, and i could use it, but wen i was about to finish setting it up, it shut off

time for a new phone!

You need a new Phone.

aaawww cmooon, heh, yeah, i know, but it aint easy to just "change the phone", i mean, i already have, but im using a crappy phone, and i wouldnt buy anything lower than the dream, but these things arent cheap here you know? you might get them for free sometimes with a contract, not around here we dont.
I think the problem is the no-charging issue, because i believe the phone not working now is due to bot batteries being damaged by the universal charger. the contacts are all scratched. i tried like to scratch them more to make them even, and it worked for about 2 minutes.. if i can rule that out and i can fix the chargin issue, all i need is a new battery, but i wont buy another one (i cant just go to a shop because they dont sell them here, i have to order them online and wait like a month for it to arrive) until i know it will work!

Just an update:
So I forgot about the issue once more and let it sit for.. well from the last post till last week (6 weeks give or take a week). After dusting it off, I took the less-damaged battery and tried my best to fix the contacts. Put it back on, plugged it, and after a while, I turned it on. To my surprise, it worked, and now it is charging again. I guess it hadn't fully dried, idk, but it works at least for now (and has been working for over a week now, I think that's better than last time) .

HTC HD2 Is not turning on, only turns on sometimes whats wrong? need help extremely!

Ok i got an extremely bad problem
i brought a hd2 from ebay with a fault, which was the person said he dropped the phone and the screen cracked then he replaced it with new screen and digitizer, but he said after he did that the phone only starts up sometimes, anyway i won the bid and when i recieved it i put the charger in and it turned on by itself and was stuck ar htc screen i took the charger out and the phone went off, so i put the charger back in again and it didnt turn on this time, tookout battery and did reset and hard reset and still nothing? the phone doesnt have hardspl.
so i opened the phone up and look to see if anything was lose which it wasnt and i also manged to damage the volume flex cable and the bottom buttons flex!
so i left my phone overnight and in the morning i put the battery in and put it on charge and A RED LED LIGHT CAME ON!!!! which means it was charging so i thought if i press the reset button it come on, so i pressed the soft reset and nothing came on and the red light dissapeared and it doesnt come back again?
Can anybody help me whats wrong?

Since the previous owner has dropped the phone, anything could have went wrong.
First, check the battery pins on your phone, and make sure they are straight (not bent, not eve a little)

Hi I tryed that but it still don't work, also to follow up I put my htc in fridge for 5 mins and put in usb and orange light comes on so I left it for couple of hours and after it finished charging it virbrates and screen comes on but it just stays black so I took out battery and it didn't startup, so battery is fully charged and I. Put phone back in fridge and put usb back in and orange light came on again, so this time I pull out usb cable and the light is still on??? And I pull out battery and it goes off I don't know what's wrong???? Its driving me nuts!!!
Edit - ignore what I wrote above, okay I left phone in fridge and I put battery in and then I put in usb and orange led light comes on then the phone vibrates and the htc logo screen comes up but it is frozen there and I can't reset because I have no buttons because I broke the flex ribbon. I pull out battery and it turns off and it doesn't come back on so I put usb in and then battery and nothing but I can feel a tiny bit of vibration but not as strong as before. Its soo wierd the phone only powers when I leave it in fridge.

really need a solution fast
Please guys I really need a solution, don't leave me hanging. I was going to buy a new motherboard but I don't know whether its worth it because I font want to waste money.

I can't answer your question. But I know for fact that if the hd2 overheats monsterously the processor melts off it's spot or something and the phone starts to reboot at 25-30 Celsius degrees and that could explain cooling it down lets it boot. My suggestion is to sell the phone on Ebay as SLIGHTLY damaged Hahahah!

infact thats what i done i put it on ebay if anyone wants it let me, mint condition except boot failure I don't think it the processor because I can connect to usb and it comes as qualcomm data
The phone tries to turn on because I see the vibration motor turn once but nothing else happens?

facepalm.
....

Was there any need of facepalm makes you look like a retard. Don't do it please

Advice for water damaged note 3

I recently got my note 3 wet (clean-ish lake water) and immediately got the battery out and the phone dissasembled and into a bag of rice.
after a few days I reassembled it and booted it up and I can hear the startup sounds, feel the vibrations from power up, reboot & charge and I also can hear all of my notifications including ringing calls.
The problem is I cannot get the screen to turn on*.
What happens is the back button and menu button led's light up at the bottom and the screen sometimes flickers. I have got the screen to turn on though really rarely (playing with it and removing/readding the battery, rebooting etc..) and when I DO get it to turn on all functions work perfectly as if the phone was never damaged.
My question is, what components can I take a closer look at that would cause this behaviour? I would say that the screen is kaput but when it turns on everything works....
I am asking here as my google fu has not dredged up anyone with this specific problem before.
I have cleaned what appears to be corrosion or water spots on the larger copper traces on the mainboard with 99% iso and dried then reassembled but no change in behaviour (it did turn on once after I did this and work).
I tried a new OEM battery, no change.
Any and all advice is appreciated and yes I will order a waterproof quality case if I can get it working again

aridhol said:
I recently got my note 3 wet (clean-ish lake water) and immediately got the battery out and the phone dissasembled and into a bag of rice.
after a few days I reassembled it and booted it up and I can hear the startup sounds, feel the vibrations from power up, reboot & charge and I also can hear all of my notifications including ringing calls.
The problem is I cannot get the screen to turn on*.
What happens is the back button and menu button led's light up at the bottom and the screen sometimes flickers. I have got the screen to turn on though really rarely (playing with it and removing/readding the battery, rebooting etc..) and when I DO get it to turn on all functions work perfectly as if the phone was never damaged.
My question is, what components can I take a closer look at that would cause this behaviour? I would say that the screen is kaput but when it turns on everything works....
I am asking here as my google fu has not dredged up anyone with this specific problem before.
I have cleaned what appears to be corrosion or water spots on the larger copper traces on the mainboard with 99% iso and dried then reassembled but no change in behaviour (it did turn on once after I did this and work).
I tried a new OEM battery, no change.
Any and all advice is appreciated and yes I will order a waterproof quality case if I can get it working again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You acted perfectly after getting the phone wet, so congratulations. But unfortunately, screen failures are fairly common in phone-wetting scenarios.
What you can do is try keeping the phone a couple of days more in silica gel bags/rice to see if there still is moisture in the screen assembly. If nothing changes, all you can do is replace the whole screen assembly.

totalnoob34 said:
You acted perfectly after getting the phone wet, so congratulations. But unfortunately, screen failures are fairly common in phone-wetting scenarios.
What you can do is try keeping the phone a couple of days more in silica gel bags/rice to see if there still is moisture in the screen assembly. If nothing changes, all you can do is replace the whole screen assembly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can the screen be submerged in isopropyl 99% to displace any water or will that damage it?

aridhol said:
Can the screen be submerged in isopropyl 99% to displace any water or will that damage it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alcohol should be harmless. Go for it, you have nothing to lose.

I think you should put your phone in sun light for 40 minute without battery. after that let you phone cool. then Try to boot.If not work then open that back part then try again for more 30 minutes. I think it will help you.
in my case it works on samsung galaxy s.
God bless you & your phone.