Water Detection Sticker voids warranties - General Topics

As you know Cell phones and PDA's are precious pieces of electronics. They cost a lot of money and they can be fragile. What you may not know, is that cell phones companies have a very clever way of knowing what you have done with your cell phone. It's the water detection sticker. Inside you phone you will find a small white sticker that will change color if it comes in contact with water. The only problem, if there is to much humidity near your phone, it will change anyway. Google it and you will find a bunch of angry consumers that got there warranties voided because of it.
And I am one of them. I will bet you guys, that my next phone will get a special treatment so the stickers dont change color.

Can you please take a closer photo of the sticker? The stickers generally comes with some pink crosses on it which are genberally there when the pink dye has not been activated by water/moisture.
The reason for the markings is that some people will bleach the sticker to remove the pink dye to circumvent the voided warranty situation. By having the pink crosses its obvious when that is done.

Wish I could send you a better picture but I have sent my Touch for repair. There for, I have no device on hand. But When I went to see the manufacturer, he showed me a good sticker, and there ware no lines. Just a white sticker.
I wonder if I could coat it with a spay or something to seal-it with out activating the paper ???

alexun said:
Wish I could send you a better picture but I have sent my Touch for repair. There for, I have no device on hand. But When I went to see the manufacturer, he showed me a good sticker, and there ware no lines. Just a white sticker.
I wonder if I could coat it with a spay or something to seal-it with out activating the paper ???
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Questionable post dude, aint gonna preach on the moral issues of this stuff to get past the pink sticker issue but tbh if there is enough moisture to turn the sticker pink then there is enough in the air to possibly cause problems with the device, its not something put in to get out of fixing a device dude.

Mine is now solid red, I too have the Vogue, but it never got wet!
I think when I wiped it down the sticker went red, good idea, but very poor planning on their part.

Mine is red solid also and I never even touched (But yes I live in a very humidity place)

A lot of the time it happens if you leave your phone in the bathroom when you take a shower... Lots of people do it, including me. **** warranties, never needed one till now.
(Plus the Fuze didn't even have a warranty) :\

My phone has pink/reddish cross lines on the sticker. Does this mean it is showing moisture or does the sticker turn solid red when this happens?

A tale of two waves
I'm in Cocoa Beach Florida this week on my annual vacation. I was making a pretty awesome-looking skull sand sculpture and had my phone (AT&T Tilt (Kaiser)) laying on the sand about 20 feet higher than any wave had been in hours. Should be safe there I thought.
A rogue wave came in and completely washed over my phone before I could get to it. I quickly pulled off the protective case, yanked the battery, opened up the keyboard and placed it to dry about twenty feet further up the beach where my wife was tanning. A few minutes later another HUGE wave came in and gave it (and my wife )another good rinse.
I dried it all as best I could for a day, then tried it. I had a couple of the buttons that weren't working, the speaker was intermittant, but otherwise it all worked. The next morning it quit altogether, gave a red light only and wouldn't come on.
I went to harbor freight tools and bought a small yellow precision kit that had a T-6 Torx bit and a philips 00, tool it apart, submerged and washed every piece (except for the battery) in a cup filled with denatured alcohol (this immediately changed every moisture label red btw). I used the LCD replacement instructions and service manual both found on this site.
I allowed all parts to dry for about an hour and reassembled. Surprisingly enough, it all worked! My touch screen actually seems more sensitive and accurate.
I hope this helps someone else who finds themselves looking at forking over $$$ for a moment of stupidity.

Twiddler said:
...submerged and washed every piece (except for the battery) in a cup filled with denatured alcohol...
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I also wanted to point out that I didn't submerge my touchscreen portion. I don't know how it would fare and don't want someone to think that it had worked for me.
In fact, I wouldn't recommend anyone attempt to take their phone apart without nimble fingers, ample patience, and experience working with micro-electronics.
Let me know if you had any similar experiences!

Related

Quick help with AT&T Fuze, por favor

The water sensor sticker on the battery for my AT&T Fuze is checkered red and white, is this normal or has it been tampered with water? I looked up an OEM battery online and my water sensor looks exactly like the one in the picture. I know for sure that my phone has not been water damaged by me, just afraid that the authorized AT&T dealer pulled some shady business on me, ie switch the battery with a water damaged one (box was not sealed). The other sticker that's on the phone (bottom right where the battery sits) is still solid white.
Thanks!
nautiboi said:
The water sensor sticker on the battery for my AT&T Fuze is checkered red and white, is this normal or has it been tampered with water? I looked up an OEM battery online and my water sensor looks exactly like the one in the picture. I know for sure that my phone has not been water damaged by me, just afraid that the authorized AT&T dealer pulled some shady business on me, ie switch the battery with a water damaged one (box was not sealed). The other sticker that's on the phone (bottom right where the battery sits) is still solid white.
Thanks!
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Same thing on mine, the battery sticker is checkered red and white and the the sticker on the phone (bottom right) is solid white.
I think the sticker turn solid red when it gets wet.
same thing on mine. Never exposed to water. I think it's due to the moisture.
My battery also looks the same, and has never been within 10 feet of water.
Thanks guys. I'm sure I have my answer now.
On a side note, when I talked to an AT&T rep, they told me that there's only one water sensor sticker, and that's on the phone, not the battery. But I wanted to make absolutely sure by verifying with you all.
On to problem number 2, my screen has an air bubble. It looks like the weird rainbow color in beef in the middle of the screen (about 1"x1.5"). When I push it, it moves, and when I let go, it moves back. I've only had the phone for a little bit less then 6 months. I will be working with AT&T warranty dept for this one. Wish me luck!
This makes me want to go over the dark side, the Apple iAndeveryoneandtheirsecondcousinhasone.
nautiboi said:
On to problem number 2, my screen has an air bubble. It looks like the weird rainbow color in beef in the middle of the screen (about 1"x1.5"). When I push it, it moves, and when I let go, it moves back. I've only had the phone for a little bit less then 6 months. I will be working with AT&T warranty dept for this one. Wish me luck!
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Good Luck. I have the same issue and they told me it was Physical Damage, and therefore out of warranty, so I would have to pay full price to get it replaced. My advice is to just call them and tell them you have dust under the screen or something like that, and hope that they don't find it.

cracked screen

So yesterday I went out to dinner, grabbed my trusty TP2 and put it in my pocket (uncracked), reached out location and pulled it out (cracked). I know there was no impact between the two locations as I simply sat in a car the whole way.
Anyone else have something similar? Glad I have insurance, that's for sure.
Is it possible you had the screen facing out in your pocket? What I mean by that is when I keep mine in my pocket I make sure the screen is against my leg and not facing forward.. Either way, good thing indeed that you have insurance..
it is, but its a coat pocket. I Just couldn't believe it happened as I've had a touch screen phone for the last...3 or 4 years without issue.
if you have made fun of someone that has a case on there hip that is why it happend to you if not then its bad luck.
do you really believe that crack could appear after no physical impact?
I've seen crazier things happen. My one thought was that its quite cold here right now. Either way, I definitely didn't have any impact that I felt, which shouldn't be enough to crack a screen like this did. I just expect more out of HTC I guess.
A screen protector like invisible shield would help i have it on mine...only thing i hear is that when used in ur pocket it can pick up a lot of lint but so far mine hasn't had that problem. any little bit of dust i see on it i just rub it off
I've got ghost armor, when they get back in stock and i claim my insurance i'm going to start using a slip in case.
football0552 said:
So yesterday I went out to dinner, grabbed my trusty TP2 and put it in my pocket (uncracked), reached out location and pulled it out (cracked). I know there was no impact between the two locations as I simply sat in a car the whole way.
Anyone else have something similar? Glad I have insurance, that's for sure.
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Yep. A couple of days ago I got into a car, the TP2 in my pocket (which was hanging...unzipped jacket) closed the door and crack! Lovely cracks spread across the screen of my beloved and not even 30-day-old TP2.
I should have known better, The same thing happened to one of my Moguls earlier this year. The weird thing is, the TP2 still works perfectly. I tried to get a return authorization, but Sprint referred me Assurion, which means $100 deductible. The only good thing about it is that the TP2 is so new, they don't have any refurbs to send out, so I'm getting a new one, with one year warranty. From now on, cases only... no pockets!
Not sure what happened in your case,
A: My assurion deductable was $39... I could have sworn it was $89.
B: I need to find a good stiff slide in vertical case that I can just slide the phone into and out of in my pocket.
C: Assurion says they'll get my phone to me Tuesday (i.e. out Monday).... either they're full of cow chips or they purchased a stock just in case since Verizon is apparently trickling in shipments.
what was the temperature outside ?
if it was decently cold, and your phone was cold as well, cold things always crack easier, especially with a screen this big. smaller the screen, harder it is to break.
haha, well it was cold for this time of year. nothing terrible. about 20 degrees F. I know the size matters, I just couldn't believe it cracked so easily so I was really just fishing to see if its a possible problem. My replacement will be here today and i've been trying to find a good STIFF slide in vertical case I can just keep in my pocket.
I live in Canada and on occasion it gets down to -25 degress c here (-13F)
and I have left many cellphones out in the cold, with no ill effects (although screen response can slow down dramatically while it's cold)
the only thing that would crack it is a dramatic change in temp. over a short period of time, like 80 to -5 and I don't even know about that.
a screen skin is NOT going to prevent cracking, only scratches, the LCD glass is on the inside of the device and a think film doesn't add anything to stability.
my guess is it got flexed are banged in the wrong spot. possibly a few days earlier which weakened it and then lightly banged again when you put it in your pocket...
of course a defect in the internal glass is possible, when you get in to mass production of a product there are bound to be some defects.
mine on the other hand has traveled 10 feet across from say 4 feet up and hit pavement with no more than a 1mmx3mm indent on a corner.
it's in general a well build device (but boy was I sick when that first happened)
My advice, if your insurance costs money.. bring it in with a little story.
"I was sitting at a table and typing away I closed the keyboard, and I couldn't believe it a crack appeared across the screen"
As long as it is a solid crack across the screen with no obvious point of impact, I am pretty sure you will get away with it.. even with out insurance.
Football, Telus here in Canada has a thin hard plastic case for 15 canadian.
it will even prevent your screen from getting scratched. and makes that annoyingly placed "power"/screen blank button harder to push. I am pretty sure all the cdma devices are the same, but I don't know 100% I ordered a verison screen protector, and it fits. but the tolerances aren't as high for that
I had the same thing happen to me just a week ago. Slid it into my pocket and not even three minutes later, pulled it out to use the phone and had fresh cracks spreading across the screen. The phone did not come into contact with anything... Still a mystery to me as to how it happened!!
BTW... If you were looking at the phone in the upright position, the screen cracking started from the left middle of the screen and made it's way across to the bottom right corner. Just wondering if anyone else has had the same pattern.
twasnow said:
I live in Canada and on occasion it gets down to -25 degress c here (-13F)
and I have left many cellphones out in the cold, with no ill effects (although screen response can slow down dramatically while it's cold)
the only thing that would crack it is a dramatic change in temp. over a short period of time, like 80 to -5 and I don't even know about that.
a screen skin is NOT going to prevent cracking, only scratches, the LCD glass is on the inside of the device and a think film doesn't add anything to stability.
my guess is it got flexed are banged in the wrong spot. possibly a few days earlier which weakened it and then lightly banged again when you put it in your pocket...
of course a defect in the internal glass is possible, when you get in to mass production of a product there are bound to be some defects.
mine on the other hand has traveled 10 feet across from say 4 feet up and hit pavement with no more than a 1mmx3mm indent on a corner.
it's in general a well build device (but boy was I sick when that first happened)
My advice, if your insurance costs money.. bring it in with a little story.
"I was sitting at a table and typing away I closed the keyboard, and I couldn't believe it a crack appeared across the screen"
As long as it is a solid crack across the screen with no obvious point of impact, I am pretty sure you will get away with it.. even with out insurance.
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To keep it short, I know, I know, I know, and I know. lol. (Just for an interesting note, being in South Dakota for College I've had it around that cold without a windchill... walking to class and having your eyelashes freeze in a block sucks.)
I was more or less just trying to come up with the most plausible excuse even though I was sure (99.999%) it wasn't the cold. It just completely blew me away that I pulled it out and there was cracks across the screen because at the point I hadn't even dropped the phone and as previously mentioned I wasn't leaning or really touching anything while riding in the car.
Also, generally its not actually glass that's on resistive touchscreen's as far as I know. I wasn't trying to insinuate that the screen skin would help stability at all (actually stiffness... don't get my started about this I've been dealing with stiffness matrices WAY to much lately in class).
I agree in general it seems quite well built, and agree if my case is isolated but I was wanting to make sure it was. A point of note is that the crack originated on the far right side and propogated in a couple of lines across the screen. Really my guess is that the method they use to connect the "glass" (a plastic..?) produces some residual stresses around the edges of the material.
Finally, where do you get the case you have? I really just want a slip case as I mentioned that is pretty stiff so that anything that may possible break the screen gets spread out over the area of the case. I am trying to stay away from a snap on hard case as I find them bulky, get your device dirty, and really don't protect what I want to protect.
Thanks for your input.
wbchristmas said:
I had the same thing happen to me just a week ago. Slid it into my pocket and not even three minutes later, pulled it out to use the phone and had fresh cracks spreading across the screen. The phone did not come into contact with anything... Still a mystery to me as to how it happened!!
BTW... If you were looking at the phone in the upright position, the screen cracking started from the left middle of the screen and made it's way across to the bottom right corner. Just wondering if anyone else has had the same pattern.
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mine cracked middle right and propagated in a crack more or less horizontally across the device and another at about a 45 degree angle towards the bottom of the screen. The instances sound similar just reversed.
The reason your screen cracked was most likely it pressed up against the seatbelt buckle. I have had this happen a couple of times. When driving now I ALWAYS take my phone out of my pocket or remove the case from my belt. As I said, a couple times I left it there and when I buckled up, the buckle of the seatbelt was pressed against my right hip. A little bit of pressure, like from stopping the car, is enough to crack the glass.
So word to the wise, do NOT leave your phone in your pocket or on your belt when you get into a car. Or if you do, put it on the side of your body that is facing away from the seat belt buckle.
docgiggs said:
The reason your screen cracked was most likely it pressed up against the seatbelt buckle. I have had this happen a couple of times. When driving now I ALWAYS take my phone out of my pocket or remove the case from my belt. As I said, a couple times I left it there and when I buckled up, the buckle of the seatbelt was pressed against my right hip. A little bit of pressure, like from stopping the car, is enough to crack the glass.
So word to the wise, do NOT leave your phone in your pocket or on your belt when you get into a car. Or if you do, put it on the side of your body that is facing away from the seat belt buckle.
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Haha, I already do this. Actually, I was in the passenger seat and the phone was in the right pocket of my fleece jacket. I'm just the jacked it what damned me because normally when I put it in my pants I have the screen facing my leg.
Is this something that asurion will cover?

Tip: Keep your LDI from voiding your warranty due to false water indications

TL/DR:
It looks like the Sensation has a hair trigger LDI (Liquid Damage Indicator), as myself (see explanation below if you're bored) and another member have already had the dot turn red due to humidity condensing on a cold phone. The other member was a dev - can't recall the name, sorry - who has abandoned the Sensation due to being out $550, and I'd hate for anyone else to suffer a similar fate due to a crappy design on HTCs part. I've attached 3 photos that should help you prevent the LDI from being inadvertently tripped. There are other LDIs within the device, but those are hopefully not as prone to humidity as the exposed on under the battery - plus, they usually give you a warranty exchange well before they open up the old one.
Mods: I've combed through the TOS of the warranty and relevant consumer protection statutes, and can say with 100% confidence that this does not violate any laws/regulations or terms with the warrantors. If your phone fell into a pool and you lied about it - that would be another story, but that's not what my DIY is meant to protect you from. That being said, Make sure you remove the tape before you send/take your phone in, so as not to raise eyebrows and make your life difficult!
Blah blah:
About a week ago, we bought a Sensation from a very air conditioned T.Mobile corporate store in the humid southern USA. We left the store, and once I got into my car, I popped open the box to swap the SIM with another family member's, since the upgraded line was different from the person who would actually be using it.
Well, lucky me..the LDI was a nice pinkish/red color, which meant my warranty was toast.
We walked right back to the store, less than 10 minutes after we had bought it, and tried to explain to the manager that this BRAND NEW phone was indicating water damage. She put the blame squarely on me, even though it would have been impossible for me to leave the store, dunk the phone in water, dry off all traces of said water, and go back to the store in such a tight time frame.
Then it hit me: the LDI on the Sensation must be of the wicking variety, and the humidity in the air must have condensed on the cold innards enough to partially trip the sticker (similar to how water droplets will cling to a cold can of Coke on a hot muggy day).
They wouldn't budge from their stance to swap out the phone and notate how easily the LDI indicated damage, so we called Discover and initiated a charge-back. Because the total billable amount over the contract length is well over $1,000, I cited some legit sounding statutes and a case name that I made up on the spot, and threatened to contact the attorney general (mentioned the AG by name, but leaving that out so that I don't give away my state). The manager finally agreed to do a "courtesy swap" but said that if it occurred again, I'm on my own. Because of that, I figured that I need to cover myself since this occurred so quickly.
Great idea! Thanks..
HTC Sensation LDI False Reading
Just today my wife went in to return our 2 HTC Sensations as the reception was not much better then our decrepid My Touch 3G's so we figured why extend our contract for the same poor coverage. Last night I spent a few minutes copying over the memory card data, formating and reseting the devices. I boxed everything up and my wife took them in to our local Tmo store today. She called me from the store during the return transaction and told me that the store rep had taken one of the phones to the back room. When he returned, he said that devices' LDI was trigger. Not knowing which of the phones he was refering to, I was unsure if it was mine of my wifes. I know that she is more careful then me, as I use my phone outdoors often, and regular sim swap between phones depending on what I am doing. T thought that I might have touched the LDI during one of the many times I have opened the phone. Well turns out the IMEI was hers, and I know that she did not get her phone wet. Anyway, they would not return that unit. My issue is, that I have read on the net that other carriers do not use the outside LDI as a proof positive of water damage, that if the LDI uin the battery compartment is red, they will open the device to see if the inner LDI's have also changed. In my case, it is highly possible that the spray used to put on the Ghost Armor may have triggered the LDI.
I think it should be standard practice to look deeer then the LDI under the backplate since that indicator is exposed to the elements by actions like battery slaps and memory card and/or sim card removal.
I wouldn't be surprised if they went in the back, got a lil water & oops oh look... the LDI is tripped...
So my wife brought the phone home that TMobile said has a triggered LDI. There is a round circle LDI bottom right corner of the battery bay. There is a rectangle LDI on the bottom right of the battery. And then supposedly there is one in the bottom right rounded corner of the device in a small little hole. When viewed from the side, the hole is parallel to the HOME icon on the face of the phone. That supposed LDI voided my return of the device even though the Battery Bay and Battery LDIs were unchanged.
cybrslug said:
And then supposedly there is one in the bottom right rounded corner of the device in a small little hole. When viewed from the side, the hole is parallel to the HOME icon on the face of the phone. That supposed LDI voided my return of the device even though the Battery Bay and Battery LDIs were unchanged.
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I have triggered this on my handset, i think it was mositure on thumb after picking up handset after using a glass, because of the fit of the rear housing it has gone between and triggerd that even though rest of handset etc is bone dry, take care people as seemd to be very easy to trigger due to the flexing in the rear housing.
Now i will have to strip down and change sticker so my warranty stays intact

skyrocket water damage fix

my skyrocket got dropped in water i pulled it out put it under a hair dryer and it works, kind of. i use it as my primary phone right now but sometimes it freezes and the touch sensitive keys dont work the it either a) shuts off or b) i have to take the battery out.
any idea what replacement part or parts i could possibly change to fix this?
A new phone you prolly toasted the pcb
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http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1582881
Link to thread with link to AdamOutler video recovering from water. Take apart if you can. If left as is, you may expect further deterioration of the internal components and connections.
dac1227 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1582881
Link to thread with link to AdamOutler video recovering from water. Take apart if you can. If left as is, you may expect further deterioration of the internal components and connections.
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Issue is he has been running it already
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nrm5110 said:
Issue is he has been running it already
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Right. All the damage is already done. He didn't care for it properly immediately after it got wet.
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It ain't over till it's over.
I had the proverbial "Bad Day" yesterday, or rather, my poor Skyrocket did. It went from being perfect, not so much as a scuff on it to: a) Dropped onto my CEMENT driveway from a height of almost 6 feet. How is this possible, you may ask? I was leaning over the porch rail to open the recycling bin, instead of going around and down the stairs... PURE LAZINESS is what it was! Anyway, it slipped out of my top pocket, in spite of the fact that I was trying to hold it with my fore arm. Why of WHY did the Skyrocket have to be so slim and sleek! The phone hit the cement, bounced once or twice, and then slid, ON IT'S FACE about 3-4 feet, with me making that scream you do while breathing in; kind of a "Uuuoooaaarrrrggghhhh" is the best I can describe it. I followed this by grabbing the phone, taking it inside and throwing an ever loving **** fit. I proceeded to throw the phone on the couch (Even during a full blown hissy, I try to protect the damn thing!) and as I examined it, it was one of those "It could have been much worse" things, that we try to comfort ourselves with, and amazingly they do help, even if it's BS. The damage was 100% to the front black chrome bezel (around the front edge of screen) - A part that in fact CAN be replaced, but requires COMPLETE disassembly, including separating the Screen from the digitizer, which I have no clue how to do. It may NOT be possible, in fact without breaking a layer of adhesive. EVERY other part of the phone is replaceable, in modular sections, I know, and will explain in a moment.
So... bad day right... well that would had been enough since I love my phone as many folks on XDA understand, but nooooooo. I had to then drop it in 8 inches of standing water. Yep.
Was in the bottom of my above ground pool trying to restart a siphon for draining it, when, "SLIP" I %&*&#@ DID IT *@#&$% AGAIN!! *#$%&!!
Phone drops STRAIGHT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE HALF FOOT OR SO WATER IN THE POOL!!!!!!!!
Ok, so I almost NEVER keep my phone on me when doing physical work of any type. When I work on my cars engine compartment, or crawling around under it, I put my phone in the car. Even when I dry my car after pulling out of the car was the phone gets taken OUT of my top pocket and put somewhere safe. I guess I got complacent, since I hadn't had "an incident" in several years. Even with my 5" Dell Streak, beast that it was, I never let it slip from my standard place of Top shirt pocket. Every time I lean forward, my hand or forearm holds the phone from slipping. It is a motion as natural to me as shifting while driving, without even thinking about it. But even I know that "**** happens" so, lesson learned: I am going to bite the bullet and get a nice slim cover for the Skyrocket. NOW THAT IT WORKS AGAIN....
So after I pulled it out of the water I was in full panic mode: I quickly patted it in my shirt, but even while it was still wet and dripping, I RIPPED the back cover and battery out. In hindsight, I wish I had worked to dry the exterior quickly, and THEN opened it. The battery liquid detector wen bright read... CRAP! The PHONE liquid detector stayed WHITE… Ahh, finally caught a break. So after a basic dry everything I can reach (and the Sim came out wet, and the microSD came out wet, not good signs) I tried a quick power up.... The SkyICE animation began, then suddenly changed colors and turned pink/red.. WHOA.. STOP THE BOOT! So I yanked the battery.
After quite a bit of further drying, warm gentle air across the back for a venturi effect (sure!) another try and the screen behind the Samsung logo was bright, blood red, instead of black...
THIS convinced me to take the sucker apart, and for the most part I did really well. I did break ONE tab on the "body" of the phone - that holds the back section over the PCB on, but fortunately there are 7 screws, and it fit tightly when reassembling. I DID frin s coupe drops of water, though they did not seem to be in spots that would short anything, like on the stainless cover over the Qualcomm Processor, but those were just what I could see, without magnification. I dried those, blew warm gentle air over the PCB, and then gently warmed the parts over a low wattage bulb in a lamp.
I am SO impressed with the construction of this baby! I WOULD prefer more alloy, and less plastic for frame, shell & body parts, but what AMAZED me were the connections for all the ribbon cables, between modular PCB's (Like the one on the bottom with a antenna, USB port, Speaker, Mic and capacitive touch buttons, and others... The ribbon just comes around from behind, and attaches via a snap in connection to a receptacle soldered onto the corresponding PCB. In the video of the guy taking it apart, he just goes around and pops up 5 or 6 of these in about 10 seconds total time elapsing. Anyway, check out the middle section of the video I post here, right after he pulls the rear frame off... you'll see...
Bottom line? It's maybe NOT too late for the OP... Granted the more he runs it with a short or worse, the more potential damage. But in my experience it is REALLY difficult to get ALL the water out of a current design phone. It just travels from section to section, His best option (besides either trashing it or paying for repairs is doing what I did. Parts are readily available from Hong Kong, and short of the Screen/Digitizer, most are reasonably priced. Good luck with it. Get a jewelers screwdriver, and a plastic "separator" before starting. My only warning: When separating the main frames, after removing the 7 screws holding the two main frames together, use a CURVED separator, and try to bend the frame that’s the back of the phone OUTWARD a little bit. In other words, pull it OUT as well as spreading the two halves. I did not have a curved plastic tool, just a straight one, and as I pulled the two halves apart, I did not bend it out (away from an inner opening, that tabs go into from the back frame, and I snapped one of the inner openings edges. Think of it as tiny tabs that you want to pull up out of a depression before pulling the parts directly away from each other.
Aww, hell, just watch the video closely, I repeated some sections a few times before trying the procedures.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf6jqYejWNU
Sorry for the lengthy post, but if I can save ONE person the pain of losing a good friend, then I think my life van finally have true meaning. Or something like that.
Why would you power it on so soon without even taking it apart to dry out?
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You see this guys pinky nail?!? Whou. I couldn't stop looking at it. I bet i can guess what its for
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should've left it off and left it in sack of rice for a day or so. RIP your phone...
Bricks don't fly or float.
Sent from, The Eclectic Chair.
At least he didn't drop it in the water during a mini bath
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jnicks510 said:
should've left it off and left it in sack of rice for a day or so. RIP your phone...
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Yeah I was about to mention rice
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Well, I dropped my skyrocket in water a couple days ago but fished it out instantly.
Learning from past mistakes, I immediately turned it off and took the battery, sim and memory card out. After I took a paper towel and tried to dry as many cracks and openings as possible until I saw I could not get any paper towel wet. I put the phone and battery in a sealed bag filled with rice and left it for 3 days. When I took it out, the phone was covered in rice dust so I took compressed air and tried to blow it clean. Praying it worked, I put the battery in and turned it on. Miraculously it booted like nothing ever happened.
I heard online to not use a hair drier as you will blow the water into components which were initially not wet.
"I heard online to not use a hair drier as you will blow the water into components which were initially not wet."
This. Definitely avoid hairdryers. Rice is like magic. I have only dumped one phone in water (it was an iPhone 3GS on and playing a video at the time! Then I had a hellish time getting it to turn off... kept turning back on.) I popped the screen and gave it a rice bath for a couple days. It was as good as new after that. (Well, as good as any iPhone can be, anyway. )

Success repairing water damaged S3

I thought I would make a quick post to provide some encouragement for those who may water damaged phones. Took mine swimming the other day. Phone fell out of my pocket and drifted down to the deepest end of the pool 8+'. Fortunately I discovered the phone before I got out of the pool.
I ran down to the hardware store and bought a bag of powder dehydration powder used for drawing humidity out of the air. I combined this powder with a bag of white rice in an airtight container (may seem like overkill but this worked much better then the typical prescribed method).
Any how, I removed the battery, took the screws out of the inner housing assembly popped the assembly without completely disassembling. I then wrapped the phone in a couple of coffee filters to prevent any of the powder from entering the phone.
I put the filter wrapped phone in the powder over night, sealed the container and left overnight. When I awoke I had a completely dry phone.
When I attempted to reboot the phone, the phone booted, but the touch screen didn't work.
After watching a video on Youtube (disassembly guide) I completely disassembled the phone. Working with 99% Iso alcohol and some small brushes, I completely cleaned the interior of the phone assembly including the main board, all connectors (paying very close attention to the pin assemblies). I found quite a bit of white corrosion inside the pin assemblies for the connectors and on much of the components. I assume this was residual chlorine from the pool water. After thoroughly cleaning all components, board etc. I carefully reassembled the phone per the instructions in the video.
Once the phone was buttoned up and recharged, I rebooted the phone. The phone booted right up. Everything worked perfectly, with the exception of the camera (wouldn't focus right). I disassembled the in housing again and took the camera out again. After inspecting, I realized I hadn't cleaned the interior of the plastic cover that protects the camera. After booting again, camera worked perfectly.
I would highly encourage anyone who mistakenly immerses their phone in water to at minimum use the powder and rice mixture w/partial disassembly. This worked exceptionally well compared to simply removing the battery and placing in rice.
If your patient and willing to follow directions, I found the thorough disassembly and cleaning process to be quite informative and rewarding, and I got a working phone out of the deal.
Don't recommend getting your phone wet, but if you do, take the initiative and try this yourself. Feel free to msg me if you have any questions
Good to hear that home solutions is still a viable way to fix electronic problems.
How long was it in the water for? I would have figured there was no way that phone would come back to life. Good to know.
Makes no difference if it was 10 seconds or 10 minutes. It doesn't get "wetter" being in longer.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
mine got wet 9 months ago and the op's steps that they took were similar to what I did and I can confirm that you can save your phone. My phone even got plugged in to the charger before i realized it was wet. Thanks op for posting this to help others out.
Hall, that cant be entirely true. Granted, either way is bad, but you can have more corrosion build up if it sat longer. Will 10 minutes do that much corrosion? still doubtful, but still can effect the phone differently. Also, depending on the case, it could take a little longer to access deeper in to the phone.
Sent from my MIUI powered S3 thanks to StrumerJohn and using Tapatalk 4. Respect My Authoritah!
BurningDog said:
How long was it in the water for? I would have figured there was no way that phone would come back to life. Good to know.
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Sorry for the late reply. Phone was about 9' deep for about 10 minutes. It was completely water logged. Funny thing was screen was still operational when I pulled from the water. I immediately pulled battery to prevent shorting.
I tend to think the amount of corrosion is relevant to the depth of water invasion and the amount of chemical or other component in the water. Mine was full of white corrosion. Under a magnifying glass I could see it everywhere. Any place i found it, I scrubbed with a fine brush and alcohol, specifically around the pins in the connectors. Be careful not to bend any though.
As far as components, they seem to be very well sealed. Nothing got into the camera, gyro etc. Speaker and phone jack both needed quite a bit of work, but eventually came clean.
Wouldn't suggest opening a phone for no reason, but it is actually quite interesting to see how small and well designed the components are, as well as to see how and where they are installed, gives one a much better understanding of how these things work.
Should I ever drop a phone in water again, I will certainly feel much more confident about my ability to revive it. Not good for the phone but certainly not a death certificate either. With a thorough cleaning your phone should work just fine again.
Edit: so I read the OP. Excellent job, with the exception of the rice. Leave it out next time. It's time to end the rice myth!
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For the love of God people, stop putting your wet phones in rice. I work at a repair shop and have worked on more water damaged phones than I can remember. Also, I come from a fobby Asian family and have carried(20+ lb bags)/washed/steamed/eaten a lot of rice.
First, rice doesn't just absorb moisture. If it's submerged in it, it will. It doesn't just pull it out of the air.
Second, when you put something wet in a container, or anywhere without good airflow it takes significantly longer for the water to evaporate. Take some wet clothes and put them in a bag. Even an open bag. See how long it takes compared to something like line drying.
Half the time someone leaves their phone in a rice filled container, the phone still has water in it 3-7 days later. The other half the water is gone, but it has accelerated damage from corrosion/rust.
Best thing to do with a water damaged android phone: take out the battery. Put it anywhere with a comfortable ambient temp and airflow, leaving the battery cover off. Leave it as long as you feel comfortable. Install new battery and back up your stuff.
At this point, you may need to clean everything with rubbing alcohol. If you don't feel comfortable doing that yourself, bring it to someone.
Sorry to rant but I'm just so sick of opening up wet phones and having people tell me "but I read it on the internet!"
Spread the word.
rockingondrums said:
Sorry to rant but I'm just so sick of opening up wet phones and having people tell me "but I read it on the internet!"
Spread the word.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything on the internet is true though. Which is why I will now let everyone know. You all owe me money. Depending on your yearly net income.
20k and below. $10
50 - 70k $20
70 - 90k $50
90k and up $100.
You may pay me via PayPal.
This is on the internet. This is true. Good day!
Sent from my MIUI powered S3 thanks to StrumerJohn and using Tapatalk 4. Respect My Authoritah!

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