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Just fixed a water damaged phone by bathing it in Isorpopyl Alcohol...

Just for the record, I'm not sure if this will consistently work but I thought it good to put this on record for anyone else who is at wits end with a water damaged cellphone. I dropped my phone in a river and it stopped working (Touch Pro 2). Well, actually it went in well I was swimming and forgot it was in my pocket.
I let it dry off with a hair dryer, but it was still squirrelly with the input. It would repeat certain characters. Also it would not charge from USB. It was basically unusable so I figured I would try soaking the main board in Isopropyl Alcohol (perhaps remove whatever it is that is shorting out the mainboard). I let the mainboard (without the screen) soak overnight in a sealed tupperware container (so the Alcohol wouldn't evaporate). Then I took it out to let all the Alcohol evaporate. Put it all back together a few hours ago and, violla, it works perfectly. No repeated inputs, no other problems.

Wow, That was lucky, Congrats

Congrats......
I posted about this last year about water infiltration incidents. It generally goes as follows:
If you drop your phone into water, fruit punch,toilet, etc. First thing to do---
1. Remove battery immediately
2. Open up as much as possible daub dry excess water
3. Submerged in Alcohol (200 proof drinking alcohol is best), Isopropyl or denatured works almost as good. leave 1-2 hours (the alcohol binds to the H20 and prevents the H2O from corroding the metal or electronics)
4. Dry with hair dryer
5. Put in desiccant (enough to submerge) or rice, or millet etc. and leave over night
Hair dry to blow any excess dust.... reassemble and you are done. If it did get water damage that renders the phone unusable then, use white out and white out the water strip back to white and go for replacement.
This method I have used for treating flooding on my underwater cameras for 20+ years and I have been successful 98% of time
Once again, congrats

Very interesting. I've also heard of putting in the fridge as it draws out all moisture?
Sent from Odin on my HTC desire

just fix a water damaged phone by changing the battery

it was a black berry phone soaked in water

Always wondered about that.

Thanks for the tips! I will keep it in mind, though the best way that's working for me right now is paying attention

Nice one, i shall try this on my damaged nokia =D

I can relate. I once jumped in the mediterranean with my phone in my pocket.
The SE k750i was a good phone...

First time I hear about this

what?! that's pretty awesome bro.

Lucky try rice.

That's fascinating. Could've used that info about 6 months ago when I managed to drop my phone into a toilet. Luckily it was unused.

It is nice with some tricks. Ill hope it work for me too xD

This is awesome.. Believe it or not a few years back my GF knocked over a class of water into my open pc.. and yeah it died.. Did a similar method here on the mobo and it worked.. for a while
Shot for the tip, I will keep it in mind

definately adding this to my bag of tricks of fixing electronic devices people bring to me to be fixed.

isopropyl is used for inject printers as well...

I always heard to take the battery out immediately. Rince the phone real good in DISTILLED WATER. Shake out as much water as you can, then put it in the oven on about 150-200 degrees for a couple of hours to dry it out.
I dropped my Nokia 6133 in a puddle of muddy water. Did the above and it worked for another year until I upgraded to a newer phone.

How does this method work for salt water? Dropped my Razor in the ocean a few years ago. Not a good day.
Yes, I said razor! I used to love that phone!
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

Water Damaged Phone

I dropped my phone into the ocean about a week ago. It's been in rice since then. I just took it out and it turns on and shows my home screen and gets data and is receiving texts and stuff, however neither the touch screen nor the four android buttons work. I searched and people were suggesting soaking the phone in alcohol for this. Is your any chance that would fix my problem? Maybe it could be as simple as replacing my phone's screen? Thanks for any help.

What I would do is take the phone apart (remove the backcover, battery and unscrew the screws) locate the digitizer flex cable and blow dry it. There may be water left in the component.
Refer this this video on the disasembly.

Probably a bit late but you want to clean it with de-ionized water or Isopropyl alcohol. To be honest i would have put it in a bowl of either of those instead of rice as soon as i got home. I've personally found the rice trick to be a myth,works just the same as leaving it out to dry. Sea water contains high amounts of salt and drying it will just make the salt crystalise.You need to "Wash" the salt out and the 2 ive suggested wont leave residue on the PCB (info from my mum who is an electronics teacher)

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.
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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!

[Q] Advice on water damage. Pics.

So, my girlfriend had her Moto G in her purse and a water bottle opened and got her phone wet. I completely. disassembled the phone and dried everything out with a hair dryer. There is still a section of the screen that has a weird mark on it and the screen will appear to flicker every so often. I know for a fact the connection is dry so what else could it be? She's using my Nexus 4 for now. Eeeekkk. She's clumsy and that phone is glass all around!!!

supremekizzle said:
So, my girlfriend had her Moto G in her purse and a water bottle opened and got her phone wet. I completely. disassembled the phone and dried everything out with a hair dryer. There is still a section of the screen that has a weird mark on it and the screen will appear to flicker every so often. I know for a fact the connection is dry so what else could it be? She's using my Nexus 4 for now. Eeeekkk. She's clumsy and that phone is glass all around!!!
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spot could be because water maybe got into the lcd itself? Or maybe the digitizer is right up against it

T10NAZ said:
spot could be because water maybe got into the lcd itself? Or maybe the digitizer is right up against it
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Thanks. Any way to fix?

it's probably because you used a hair dryer to dry the phone

supremekizzle said:
So, my girlfriend had her Moto G in her purse and a water bottle opened and got her phone wet. I completely. disassembled the phone and dried everything out with a hair dryer. There is still a section of the screen that has a weird mark on it and the screen will appear to flicker every so often. I know for a fact the connection is dry so what else could it be? She's using my Nexus 4 for now. Eeeekkk. She's clumsy and that phone is glass all around!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In theory it can be fixed, but it's very hard to do and you may end up destroying the lcd. You may have gotten water between the layers of the lcd and it won't dry easy and even if it does it will probably stay as a permanent blob due to the minerals in the water.
The way to fix it is to open the lcd itself and separate the layers until you reach the blob, then wash it gently with 99% alcohol and dry gently with warm air. I've done this several times, but few it didn't end well, depends on the lcd itself.
My advice is to disassemble the phone and leave it in an open-air bag of rice and leave in in a warm place for 3 days or so.
As a last resort you can try what I said above, just make sure to note how the layers were put and which side, so you don't mess it that way.
Good luck.

It's weird. I woke up today and it was completely gone. Either the drop of water that was in there migrated to somewhere else in the phone, or it evaporated. Thanks for the help.

Dropped S6 in water.

Yep. My daughter was in a rush to get into the pool and old dad forgot to take phone out of my pocket.
This happened a few weeks ago. I kept it in a bag of rice for 3 days and no luck.
I've since got another new S6 but was wondering if there's anything I can do in hopes of reviving it.
Thanks

Its a gonner.
The rice trick is a lie, its just as stupid to me as when batteries are dead to put them in your armpit to "recharge them" for that last little bit of juice.
The truth is, if you have a removable battery, the first thing you do is PULL that battery and LEAVE it out, which you and I dont. But when theres juice flowimg to the board when water hits it, it super cools very hot and tiny solder points on a board which causes fractures and most of the time complete breaks. Some people get lucky and only suffer from fractured joints from being able to pull the battery out and allowing joints to cool quickly. But with a sealed battery you are basically doomed from the time it hits the water OR if your lucky enough and it just got splashed or dunked for a second it didnt allow enough time to pull in water and your usually safe.
To those people who couldnt fire up their phone it is because water was shorting their phone, and once the water was evaporated if the joints didnt get damaged the phome fores up again. They say its the rice, I say its physics.
The roce thing is a joke, and it "only works" cause YOU the individual who thought the phone was thirsty didnt get it wet enough
;:EXAMPLE< THIS WILL DESTROY YOUR COMPUTER ONLY CONTINUE KNOWING YOUR COMPUTER WILL NO LONGER RUN AGAIN, I SUGGEST ALL PRECAUTIONS WHEN WORKING WITH ELECTRICITY AND AM NOT LIABLE FOR ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO YOU OR YOUR PROPERTY.>
I have PROOF of this theory if you thing im lying. Grab and old DESKTOP with an easily removable motherboard and remove it. I HAD ONE FROM 1998 THAT HAD WINDOWS 2000 ON IT. Again make sure its NOT been on, preferable one that has sat in your closet for years. Pull the motherboard and ram and cpu, places where water can get lodged, and soak the motherboard for 10 minutes. Dry it off as much as you can and bake it in the sun for a day, two just to be safe.. That night plug everything back in and it will fire up. It more than likely will run just fine, unless you didnt let it get hot enough to evaporate the water while in the sun. In the same test let the computer run for about 20 minutes, enough time to get everything nice and warm.
Then quickly turn the pc ocr and UNPLUG it and LIGHTLY with a cup of cool water slowly drizzle it on the motherboard and you should start to hear cracking noises. Again the next dry pull it out and you will notice cracks in solder joints. And youll nitce that it never works again.
Maybe ill make a youtube video as I have another old pc.
The point it hot joints dont like cold water. So its all up to how fast water got in if any, most of the time if your phone is sealed properly its just outside on the screen and casing.

Even if it did revive, it's days would be numbered anyway. You could eBay it for water damage/parts only and probably recoup a couple hundred bucks.
Edit: My opinion on the rice is that it only helps dry out the phone slightly faster if left completely sealed airtight and buried for like a week. If there's going to be damage, it has already been done as was stated above.

See...rice works great with humidity or direct contact with water, my problem with rice on a phone is it is not in direct contact with water. NOW if you said you coverd the phone in rice in a SEALED container and threw that out in the sun? Yes I could understand the rice absorbing water faster
Now i am no genuis...ive just done a lotttt of research in my time. And I do a lot...of testing hahaha

I dropped mine in the sink under running water and it shorted out. Put it in rice for 5 days and it started working eventually. Still working flawless to this day. So rice is not totally a lie unless that was just a coincidence. All I know is that my phone is still working after water ****ed it up
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk 2

GoBears said:
Even if it did revive, it's days would be numbered anyway. You could eBay it for water damage/parts only and probably recoup a couple hundred bucks.
Edit: My opinion on the rice is that it only helps dry out the phone slightly faster if left completely sealed airtight and buried for like a week. If there's going to be damage, it has already been done as was stated above.
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Is there any way they could pull any of my info off there of I sold it on ebay?

Gytole said:
See...rice works great with humidity or direct contact with water, my problem with rice on a phone is it is not in direct contact with water. NOW if you said you coverd the phone in rice in a SEALED container and threw that out in the sun? Yes I could understand the rice absorbing water faster
Now i am no genuis...ive just done a lotttt of research in my time. And I do a lot...of testing hahaha
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I'm glad you clarified your earlier post. In certain cases, the rice trick does work. It does absorb humidity and draw wetness to itself. However, like you stated, it usually cannot magically pull moisture out of trapped jointed components.

hank3fan said:
Is there any way they could pull any of my info off there of I sold it on ebay?
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I'm sure if they really wanted to, they could. I doubt anyone would go through trouble. Have you tried hooking it to a computer lately and see if there's a response?