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[Q] Spilled water on phone. Now "Unable to start wifi" message

Guys, been hanging out here long time now. First incident with about 6 month old captivate. I dropped a glass of water on my captivate yesterday. I immediately removed and took out the battery and wiped it dry. Did not see much of seeped in water so did not do the rice method. Turned on Wi-fi this morning and it says "unable to start wifi". Same with bluetooth.
Call,sms, camera everything works fine. At work, so blew dry the phone and also have kept it next to a warm laptop exhaust. Should I dismantle the phone and try to dry the swb23 chip (wifi/bt) ?
Please help guys !
stock and unrooted captivate

thelastjedi said:
Guys, been hanging out here long time now. First incident with about 6 month old captivate. I dropped a glass of water on my captivate yesterday. I immediately removed and took out the battery and wiped it dry. Did not see much of seeped in water so did not do the rice method. Turned on Wi-fi this morning and it says "unable to start wifi". Same with bluetooth.
Call,sms, camera everything works fine. At work, so blew dry the phone and also have kept it next to a warm laptop exhaust. Should I dismantle the phone and try to dry the swb23 chip (wifi/bt) ?
Please help guys !
stock and unrooted captivate
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You can't see the water that got inside. Would have been better to do the rice method before switching it back on but you should do it now nonetheless. Just be warned, you may have cooked the WiFi chip already.
Are the moisture indicators clear? If so, you should send it for warranty replacement. If not, then you can resort to opening it up, wiping the traces, etc.

ianwood said:
You can't see the water that got inside. Would have been better to do the rice method before switching it back on but you should do it now nonetheless. Just be warned, you may have cooked the WiFi chip already.
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Yeah, pretty much ^^

uggg...may be too late. If you get a significant amount of liquid on or in your phone the worst thing you can do is turn it on.
You should have:
1. immediately removed battery and placed on a paper towel.
2. immediately place phone in a bag of rice for a minimum 24 hours if not 48 before ever powering back on.
Still its worth a try....remove battery and leave in rice for 24 hours....try again....maybe it didn't fry anything when you powered it on...but you definitely need to finish getting the moisture out of the inside via the rice absorption.
I had my old tilt in a pocket submerged in a swimming pool for a good 15 minutes before realizing my blunder. When i realizing it i didn't try to turn it back on. Left it in rice for 48 hours and everything work fine (luckily the phone was powered of when i got in the pool so that probably helped avoid anything frying).

Haha, I once accidently dropped my old Samsung Epix in a bucket of water and it still booted up and worked but most of the features are dead but screen and all still works. It looked like it was wrecked. I got it replaced under my insurance which is a good thing.

Lol.....Captain Hindsight......i love South Park.......
Sent from my pocket.

swedishcancerboi said:
Lol.....Captain Hindsight......i love South Park.......
Sent from my pocket.
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funny
but being aware that you shouldn't turn on an electronic device when it is wet hardly requires hindsight though does it? =)

Thanks guys, I have put my phone in a bowl of rice hoping it will get cured.
If not, will ATT not service my phone under warranty ? I read somewhere that replacing the wifi/bt chip costs $70 with ATT. Has anyone done this here ?
Thanks all for your quick replies ! Much appreciated. I will keep everyone updated on how this issue pans out so it will help someone in the future

Tesist the urge to take out Nd test.....leave at least 24 hours without touching
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

ianwood said:
Are the moisture indicators clear? If so, you should send it for warranty replacement. If not, then you can resort to opening it up, wiping the traces, etc.
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How do I check for the moisture indicator ? Any easy steps ?

It is the white (or not so white anymore) square in the battery compartment.

bames said:
funny
but being aware that you shouldn't turn on an electronic device when it is wet hardly requires hindsight though does it? =)
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I just felt like being ornery. I think i read a "you should have....." and it just got me laughing thinking of that episode. No disrespect intended towards anyone.

swedishcancerboi said:
I just felt like being ornery. I think i read a "you should have....." and it just got me laughing thinking of that episode. No disrespect intended towards anyone.
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i know i thought it as funny haven't seen that episode in a long time...almost as good as towlie
i am just always surprised to see the posts where someone gets there phone wet (washed in laundry, dropped in toilet, spilled significant amount of liquid on it) and the first thing they did was tried to turn it back on almost immediately.

btw if your looking at the moisture indicators for warranty purposes its quite possible you have to completely open the shell. Usually they have one visible without taking the phone apart but its not uncommon to have a secondary marker inside the phone where it would be harder for someone to tamper with. Can anyone confirm where all the cappys markers are?

Been a while since I had mine apart but I don't recall seeing one inside.

newter55 said:
Been a while since I had mine apart but I don't recall seeing one inside.
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wasn't sure....my Tilt2 had one in the battery compartment and one on the motherboard that could only be seen by opening the casing

Water Damage Help

Hey guys, whatsup? Anyway, first post here on the forums, but I've been hangin' around here since sometime last year when I got my first aria. Just recently I got an HTC Inspire. Everythings been going great the last few months with it, rooted and running Android Revolution nosense... until today.
I was out fishing when I got a phone call. When I went to hang up I dropped my phone into about 2 inches of water on the side of the pond. I picked it up after about 4-5 frantic seconds of getting out of my chair and going down the bank to get it. I immediately removed the battery and let it dry out. I came home about and hour later and the phone was completely dry looking so I decided I would try it out and hope for the best. Put the battery in and turned it on and... Vibrated 3 times and the LED was flashing red. Took the battery back out and put the phone and battery in a bag of rice. I have used the little rice "trick" on a past phone and worked out for me fine.
Now to sum my story up,
Dropped Phone in water
Removed Battery Immediately
Put battery back in hour later
Powered up
Vibrated 3 times and flashing red led
Removed battery and put in rice
So my question, what does the vibrations and led mean? Is my phone FUBAR? I have the att insurance so I'm covered on water damage. Trying to avoid the deductible.
Any Help is greatly appreciated.

rj 420x said:
Hey guys, whatsup? Anyway, first post here on the forums, but I've been hangin' around here since sometime last year when I got my first aria. Just recently I got an HTC Inspire. Everythings been going great the last few months with it, rooted and running Android Revolution nosense... until today.
I was out fishing when I got a phone call. When I went to hang up I dropped my phone into about 2 inches of water on the side of the pond. I picked it up after about 4-5 frantic seconds of getting out of my chair and going down the bank to get it. I immediately removed the battery and let it dry out. I came home about and hour later and the phone was completely dry looking so I decided I would try it out and hope for the best. Put the battery in and turned it on and... Vibrated 3 times and the LED was flashing red. Took the battery back out and put the phone and battery in a bag of rice. I have used the little rice "trick" on a past phone and worked out for me fine.
Now to sum my story up,
Dropped Phone in water
Removed Battery Immediately
Put battery back in hour later
Powered up
Vibrated 3 times and flashing red led
Removed battery and put in rice
So my question, what does the vibrations and led mean? Is my phone FUBAR? I have the att insurance so I'm covered on water damage. Trying to avoid the deductible.
Any Help is greatly appreciated.
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Sounds like hardware failure if it vibrates 3x
Leave it in the rice for a day or two without the battery. See if it comes back a live.

Damn, that was exactly what I was hoping I wouldn't hear. Anyway thanks, I'll post back with results tomorrow.

My Inspire took a swim with me when I got pushed into a pool. As I was falling into the pool, I automatically reached in my pocket and grabbed my phone and handed it to a person on the pool deck as soon as I could. I let it dry out for many hours and it was fubar. It did the same, it vibrated and flashed a red LED. It seems like the Inspire is ultra sensative to water damage. I have heard of other inspires getting fried with little water exposure. I had insurance on it and got it replaced.
I would recommend the same for you...call the 800 number to cash in on the insurance. The insurance deductible will be $125...but that's better than paying full price for a new one, unless you are eligible for an upgrade. They will mail you a brand new phone, and you will have to ship your damaged phone back with the provided shipping materials.

cavsoldier19d said:
My Inspire took a swim with me when I got pushed into a pool. As I was falling into the pool, I automatically reached in my pocket and grabbed my phone and handed it to a person on the pool deck as soon as I could. I let it dry out for many hours and it was fubar. It did the same, it vibrated and flashed a red LED. It seems like the Inspire is ultra sensative to water damage. I have heard of other inspires getting fried with little water exposure. I had insurance on it and got it replaced.
I would recommend the same for you...call the 800 number to cash in on the insurance. The insurance deductible will be $125...but that's better than paying full price for a new one, unless you are eligible for an upgrade. They will mail you a brand new phone, and you will have to ship your damaged phone back with the provided shipping materials.
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Thats assuming he has the insurance from at&t.

good luck!!! hope the phone will live again

ATT says you have 90 days to add the insurance after purchase. Just dont tell'em its dead when ya call and add it. Then call'em a few days later to report its demise.
I have never heard of any electronic device that was "on" recovering when they hit water. If the water hits the board its over. If it had been off, the dry'n out thing would prolly work.

tweaked said:
ATT says you have 90 days to add the insurance after purchase. Just dont tell'em its dead when ya call and add it. Then call'em a few days later to report its demise.
I have never heard of any electronic device that was "on" recovering when they hit water. If the water hits the board its over. If it had been off, the dry'n out thing would prolly work.
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I believe its 30 days. Not 90

kirk123 said:
I believe its 30 days. Not 90
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You could be right. I was just there and could swear the idiot at the counter said 90 days.

30 days, don't believe the counter-monkeys. However, if you call and it's slightly over the 30 days, you can get approval; I believe I was closer to 45 days when I got mine, the rep had to get supervisor approval. I think it helped that I was calling from the very phone I wanted to add insurance to.
The only way you are going to save a phone that has been immersed long enough to wet all of the innards is to immediatly take the battery out and open the phone up to where you can expose the circuit board, then blow dry it slowly. That might not even work depending on the phone. I've save a couple of older phones that way, but not a smart phone; these are probably too difficult to open that quick anyway.
Backup to dropbox and phone insurance is your best friend when this happens.

tweaked said:
You could be right. I was just there and could swear the idiot at the counter said 90 days.
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Idiots at the counter say a lot of dumb ****. I had a coworker who told customers that the Atrix and Inspire were LTE phones, and didn't stop even after I corrected him.

SmittyRN said:
30 days, don't believe the counter-monkeys. However, if you call and it's slightly over the 30 days, you can get approval; I believe I was closer to 45 days when I got mine, the rep had to get supervisor approval. I think it helped that I was calling from the very phone I wanted to add insurance to.
The only way you are going to save a phone that has been immersed long enough to wet all of the innards is to immediatly take the battery out and open the phone up to where you can expose the circuit board, then blow dry it slowly. That might not even work depending on the phone. I've save a couple of older phones that way, but not a smart phone; these are probably too difficult to open that quick anyway.
Backup to dropbox and phone insurance is your best friend when this happens.
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I wouldn't even use a blow dryer. It can push water further into the tiny openings you can't see. Open the phone as much as possible, and let it sit in uncooked white rice in a warm area. Windowsill works well for that, and keep the top on the container open so any water can evaporate out. Most phones I'd recommend a full 24 hours in rice, this phone I'd be more inclined to say 48+ hours in water to be sure.
There aren't many parts that will be damaged by the actual water, maybe just the screen, speaker and microphones. The damage comes from the short-circuit as the water bridges contacts. Hence why you should pull power immediately and don't even think about turning it back on until you are certain the inside is dry, and then waiting a few hours on top of that.
It's hard to wait when your phone is floating, but it can be worth it if you do it properly. I've saved phones that have gone swimming for a good 10 minutes using the rice/don't touch it method. I've also seen phones die within five minutes of a hair dryer and moderate rain.
Be careful guys, phones & water don't mix.
EDIT: 30 Days for sure on Insurance, I distinctly remember being told that in the AT&T store.

I was working in a bathroom above a toilet in the stall above the ceiling, pulled my phone out to check the time and it slipped out of my hand, hit the rim of the toilet, and it was like slow motion as I watched it to see what way it would fall, and of course it was the water side. Luckily it was a new bathroom in a commercial building with clean water. The phone was FULLY submerged for about 5 seconds before I got it out and immediately pulled the battery. Shook it out as best I could, took both covers off and put it in my work truck, Got home, sprayed it with the air hose real good, turned it on and bam-booted right up, no problems at all. I have two, the one that was submerged still works, I just don't use it. I was really pretty shocked that it still worked. The water damage sticker isn't even pink. Weird, I know. I guess mine was just sealed really well.
I would still get a new one if I were yon, cause even if you don't have problems now, chances are down the road you will

My Tilt2 fell off a counter right into my dogs water bowl. It might've been in there 5 seconds. Took it apart and set in close to the fireplace for a few hours rotating it once and a while. Turned it on and all was good.
About 6 months later I dove in a lake going after my sunglasses and realized as soon as I hit the water my phone was in my pocket. It was in the water close to half a minute. took it apart as soon as I got out and set it in the sun. When I got home I packed it in rice and set in a warm oven over night. Turned it on in the morning and again all was good.
The phone was on when it hit the water both times, albeit it was in standby.

anit77 said:
My Tilt2 feel off a counter right into my dogs water bowl. It might've been in there 5 seconds. Took it apart and set in close to the fireplace for a few hours rotating it once and a while. Turned it on and all was good.
About 6 months later I dove in a lake going after my sunglasses and realized as soon as I hit the water my phone was in my pocket. It was in the water close to half a minute. took it apart as soon as I got out and set it in the sun. When I got home I packed it in rice and set in a warm oven over night. Turned it on in the morning and again all was good.
The phone was on when it hit the water both times, albeit it was in standby.
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You must have stepped in your dogs poop cause you are very lucky your phone worked after all that. lol

Don't forget the fact that if you add insurance by calling ATT they place a call to your phone to make sure its in working order to add the insurance...
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

[Q] Power up without battery

My phone has water damage and I'm not sure if it is the battery or the phone (I'm assuming the later, but just in case). Is it possible to power on my G2x without the battery in it?
-ishould

ishould said:
My phone has water damage and I'm not sure if it is the battery or the phone (I'm assuming the later, but just in case). Is it possible to power on my G2x without the battery in it?
-ishould
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If the phone recently gotten water damage then I recommend not powering it up for about 3-4 days to let the water dry out. Water can short out the electrical system and cause big problems.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

leave it alone for 1 week minimum

bag of rice for sure 2 days minimum, washed my old mytouch 3g in the washer for 2 minutes, through it in a bag of rice went out for the weekend came back and turned it on with only some screen wash inside of it. DO NOT POWER IT ON AT ALL

Washed my Nexus One. I tried the rice trick and a couple of days on top of a hot radiator with no luck, the phone would lock up or reboot. So I bought a G2x and forgot about the Nexus in a desk drawer.
2 months later I tried the N1 again and it suddenly worked fine. I put my buggy G2x away for couple of weeks and went back to the once wet Google phone without any issues at all.
The G2x is back in my pocket now though, ROMs like Weapon 2.0 have me loving it like the cool new gadget I'd always hoped it would be.

ya the rice trick works... if you don't turn it on... but the poweron without the battery? i have no clue... wish you the best of luck or try and send it back? hopefully you wont get charged for a new one....

I try to turn on phone with no battery. And it will not turn on.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

Spyvie said:
Washed my Nexus One. I tried the rice trick and a couple of days on top of a hot radiator with no luck, the phone would lock up or reboot. So I bought a G2x and forgot about the Nexus in a desk drawer.
2 months later I tried the N1 again and it suddenly worked fine. I put my buggy G2x away for couple of weeks and went back to the once wet Google phone without any issues at all.
The G2x is back in my pocket now though, ROMs like Weapon 2.0 have me loving it like the cool new gadget I'd always hoped it would be.
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Exactly, WeaponG2x is just awesome. My exact same feelings in your post.
Sent From My G2x Running Weapon

Sensation went for a swim! Now it thinks its charging

Ok so my Sensation went for a bit of a swim yesterday at around 10am. So I put the phone in rice imediatly (after pulling the battery ect) and left it in the rice till a bout an hour ago. The phone turns on works great can call text surf the web the whole nine yards. BUUT it thinks its charging...24/7!!! Weirdest part is it'll go up in battery life!!!! It's gone from 93 to 99% already.
I tried a different battery and that worked for like 5 minutes before it started to act dumb again thinking its charging. Is there anything I can do for this? Tried whiping battery stats no luck with that. Other then that I'm outta ideas!

Haha! That's great. Never need a charger again! But is there any downsides to it thinking its charging like battery dying fast or anything?
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

Wow great news, you have a mutant sensation.
Get in touch with Xavier about this in sure he will be able to help you out.
Watch out for for Magnito as we wouldn't want that super phone falling into the wrong hands...
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App

Indeed, great news! Sounds like a plan for me..

Is it also getting very hot? My friends G1 went for a dip in the hot tub and his thought it was charging....for about a week then it turned off and i had to replace the charger port circuit board.

dcwiker05 said:
Ok so my Sensation went for a bit of a swim yesterday at around 10am. So I put the phone in rice imediatly
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Yoy should disassembly the phone and wash it all with isopropyl alcohol.
Mike

I would stop using device in that condition. You HAVE to wash device and dry it well. Even for day or two. If state is continued as described, go to service.
Hope it all goes back as before.
Cheers

Yeah it is dieing faster, it lost about 10% in 30 minutes. I put it back in rice but I am contimplaiting the while taking it apart and cleaning it thing. Though considering I work for T-Mobile I'm elidgable for a discount on a new phone and I'm thinking about an amaze. But I feel like if I buy an Amaze there is going to be something new in a few months so idk. Plus there is no Core Droid on the Amaze :/ What do you think guys?

I think you should just wash it properly. If u need to get a new phone,wait for the Nexus Prime
Sent from my Sensation using Tapatalk

Jerald2 said:
Wow great news, you have a mutant sensation.
Get in touch with Xavier about this in sure he will be able to help you out.
Watch out for for Magnito as we wouldn't want that super phone falling into the wrong hands...
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
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Lol..you just make me laugh!!
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App

KlashbeN said:
I think you should just wash it properly. If u need to get a new phone,wait for the Nexus Prime
Sent from my Sensation using Tapatalk
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I reaaaaaaaaally don't like samsung phones lol. Just dont care for them at all really. I like the Prime cuz of ICS but thats the only draw. Plus the Nexus line isn't a phone that T-Mobile sells at retail locations so I wouldn't be able to use my employee discount on it :/
I put it in rice again and it seems to have made things worse. I now have weird marks under the screen that look like powdery, guessing rice dust. And it still thinks its charging. Thinking of investing in one of those 20 dollar CPR kits from radioshack that say they are able to fix any wet phone. But I doubt itll pull out those marks from the dust.
Should I dip it in alcohol then throw it in one of those?

[Q] Phone Dropped In Water...

Hey guys. So I know a few things about this phone and have been taking pretty good care of it...only two drops from about three feet away from the ground. However, I dropped it in the toilet today. Now, I put it in rice for two hours and then got it out. I tried to turn the thing on, and it succeeded. The bad thing is, when I turned it on, before my boot animation ended, the screen flickered and turned off, and that's when I pulled the battery out of my phone and continued to leave it in rice as I type this right now. Is my phone busted permanently, or is there some hope?

You should have left it to dry like 24 hrs or more. You might have fried it. Let it sit at least over night and keep your fingers crossed.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

Does the fact that a rice grain being in the headphone jack have to do anything with my phone screen flickering? I'm sorry, I'm being paranoid right now, but I'm just desperate to get any info I can to fix my phone up...I need it tomorrow....

dkcalf said:
Does the fact that a rice grain being in the headphone jack have to do anything with my phone screen flickering? I'm sorry, I'm being paranoid right now, but I'm just desperate to get any info I can to fix my phone up...I need it tomorrow....
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That's called wishful thinking. I seriously doubt the rice grain is the problem.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

Yeah...well my phone did start buzzing...

Any updates?
dkcalf said:
Yeah...well my phone did start buzzing...
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I got a friend who dropped his phone in the water once. He did the rice trick but waited for more than 24 hours before attempting the first boot.
Now his phone works great except for battery issues. He has the Galaxy Nexus, so he can't change the battery easily. He'll just wait and buy a new phone someday. He just has to keep a charger near!
What about your phone? Anything new?

Well I tried this morning, the screen first started to go sort of whitish during the boot animation. Then, the screen returned to normal but remained unresponsive to my touch...I'm leaving it to dry more because I guessed that water was still near the screen, causing it to be unresponsive.

I've done this exact thing and the phone from it, mostly. I had constant signal issues afterwards and got rid of it.
The rice does seem to work, but.. you're supposed to take the battery out immediately and put it all in the rice to dry. 2 hours isn't going to cut it.

Ok guys...so my phone turns on and does function properly...problem is,,,the touchscreen doesnt work...should I put it back into the rice?

dkcalf said:
Ok guys...so my phone turns on and does function properly...problem is,,,the touchscreen doesnt work...should I put it back into the rice?
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Hate to be the bearer of bad news but, sounds like its toast.. you can try though. Continuing to take it out of the rice and turning it off/on wont help.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

dkcalf said:
Ok guys...so my phone turns on and does function properly...problem is,,,the touchscreen doesnt work...should I put it back into the rice?
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You should have taken it apart and left it in the rice for a couple days as soon as it got wet. Now it really doesn't stand much of a chance. You screwed up bro.
You can still try though.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Agh...well I didn't have anything like a screwdriver available. Oh well, time to get a new phone.