[Q] Phone in water question.... - General Questions and Answers

So someone dropped my phone in the water a month ago and she didn't say anything and I turned my phone on and of course it went glitchy on me ... restarting, working, then restarting on its own, etc, etc.
I put it in rice, let it sit for awhile and it didn't work.
Fast forward a month later, it seems to be working well, EXCEPT, the battery doesn't hold the charge well at all.
Now would this be an actual battery issue or the phone itself discharging the battery quickly?
Can't find a local place to sell me a battery so thought I'd ask her before ordering online.
Thanks.

It could very well be a short circuit inside the phone which "eats" up your battery, i had a w910 with that issue once, and of course a new battery didn't help at all. Notice if the phone is unusually heated while in stadby or in use

Well the battery drops from 100% to 93% in the span of 15 minutes maybe.
I don't see how the battery could be the issue, since it's encapsulated pretty well, but I thought I'd ask here just in case.
You probably are right, some kind of short circuit going on.
The phone doesn't run TOO hot, but it's relatively warm, can't figure out how it was before now. lol

If you've dropped it in water then I would suspect its the phone and not the battery is the problem. Modern lithium batteries are well encased in plastic so its hard to damage them with water. Get your phone checked out by an expert before you go buying a new battery.
P.S I suprised the rice thing didnt completely fix it! It worked twice for me

More than likely a short within the phone somewhere.

Try to take it apart via youtube videos.. see if you can spot something yourself.
Might as well since its not covered under warranty anymore anyways

Scarecrow Legion said:
More than likely a short within the phone somewhere.
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I agree. Turning a phone on after it's gotten wet is the worst thing you can do. The person who dropped your phone in the water and then didn't have the courtesy or guts to tell you should fork over the money for a replacement.

Put it in the microwave like that insane SIII owner did.

BretonGirl said:
I agree. Turning a phone on after it's gotten wet is the worst thing you can do. The person who dropped your phone in the water and then didn't have the courtesy or guts to tell you should fork over the money for a replacement.
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Yup, my friend's cleaning lady.
Then she said she THOUGHT it was her employer's phone (my friend). lol wtf?
So I asked her if that made it alright to not say anything even if it was her employer's phone? lol
Anyways, taking $20 off each of her next 5 visits to my friend's house for cleaning.
Of course she cancelled last week. lol
Aw well, wasn't really wanting to get a new phone, love the Vibrant, but may have to get a new one.
Thinking about an S2.

Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
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Moving to Q&A

I have had batteries that got damaged by water. So you can't rule that out without testing, i.e. new battery or borrow one from a friend.
Also, I have found that silica gel sealed with the device in a tupperware container will sometimes fix problems that rice won't. You can find it at hobby/craft stores in kits used for drying flowers.
I have also had success doing this:
As mentioned by a poster earlier, search youtube or the web for dis-assembly instructions. Look for corrosion and burnt areas, clean with isopropyl alcohol and dry thoroughly. re-assemble and test.
Good luck.

While batteries are well encapsuled, its not water entering the battery that damages it, but the battery being discharged below safe values due to a water short circuit.
Discharging it too low, damages it permanently, causing it to loose capacity.

Related

Possibly water damaged Captivate half-working

I may have possibly water damaged my Captivate last night. It was in my pocket when water spilled on my lap, and I didn't immediately take it out. Very stupid of me. The USB port was open so I'm thinking liquid may have gotten into there... Also, there were water beads on the inside of the camera lens.
My recourse was to take it apart and try to let it dry out. Initially it wouldn't do anything upon being plugged in to the charger, so naturally I thought it was bricked. I've let it sit all day on a dry window sill next to the radiator. After putting the battery back in and plugging it in a little bit ago, the phone surprisingly booted up. Here's where I'm at now:
The phone boots normally, however if I plug it in to the charger I get an error stating Battery Temperature too high or something, so charging is paused. Does anybody know what this indicates?
Secondly, after being on for a minute or so, the screen gets screwy. Dark transparent overlays start flashing over everything and it gets unresponsive... I haven't left it on like this long b/c I was afraid something worse would happen - I usually rip the battery out of the back to shut it off.
My phones currently pulled apart and drying in the window sill. Whatever water got on/in it is not visibly there, however I understand some parts might still be wet.
Any advice? Also, I believe the water indicator on the battery and near the pins where the battery dock in the phone are both fine. They're white squares and haven't changed color. Any chance there are other indicators?
The phone isn't insured and I bought it back in August. Would warranty possibly cover this or will they know about the water damage?
jmusso said:
I may have possibly water damaged my Captivate last night. It was in my pocket when water spilled on my lap, and I didn't immediately take it out. Very stupid of me. The USB port was open so I'm thinking liquid may have gotten into there... Also, there were water beads on the inside of the camera lens.
My recourse was to take it apart and try to let it dry out. Initially it wouldn't do anything upon being plugged in to the charger, so naturally I thought it was bricked. I've let it sit all day on a dry window sill next to the radiator. After putting the battery back in and plugging it in a little bit ago, the phone surprisingly booted up. Here's where I'm at now:
The phone boots normally, however if I plug it in to the charger I get an error stating Battery Temperature too high or something, so charging is paused. Does anybody know what this indicates?
Secondly, after being on for a minute or so, the screen gets screwy. Dark transparent overlays start flashing over everything and it gets unresponsive... I haven't left it on like this long b/c I was afraid something worse would happen - I usually rip the battery out of the back to shut it off.
My phones currently pulled apart and drying in the window sill. Whatever water got on/in it is not visibly there, however I understand some parts might still be wet.
Any advice? Also, I believe the water indicator on the battery and near the pins where the battery dock in the phone are both fine. They're white squares and haven't changed color. Any chance there are other indicators?
The phone isn't insured and I bought it back in August. Would warranty possibly cover this or will they know about the water damage?
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well you want to put in rice, so that the moisture is gone
rice it for sure. but warranty WILL not cover it UNLESS the tabs on the battery and phone are white (It might not have gotten wet if it was in your pocket)
if they are still white, or if your phone is white and battery red (then buy another battery) and get to the store and tell them you don't know what is wrong with it. The only indication that it is water damaged is if it is red and those tags are notoriously faulty so you could always argue your way through it if you have an account in good standing.
best of luck.
I know someone who "claimed' that insurance was supposed to be added to the phone when he got it and noticed that the person didn't do it properly (the guy was new so it helped his cause) and the manager of the cor store told him that they'd do a courtesy replacement and charged him the 125$ for a new device.
you could go that route should you need too...
I don't have access to rice at the moment... Would it do any good even if I absolutely can see no water anywhere in/on the phone?
Am I doing my phone any harm/potential harm by trying to turn it on every once in a while, or should I just let it be for a few days?
Take the phone apart and focus the strongest fan you have on it over night. It's probably best to not turn it on for awhile. Maybe if you focus a blow drier on it for perhaps several hours, air will find flow through the small openings within the case.
You may not be able to dry some parts of it unless you do a complete dismantle, but that may require special tools
Consider shipping it to get repaired only as a last resort, as I've read some bad reports about that.
Rice or some other dessicant is the way to go - it will pull moisture out. Also, turning it on (even putting the battery in) is bad - you are powering circuits and possibly creating shorts where water is present. You may have already done permanent damage.
If you get electronics wet, the best course of action is to remove the battery and put it in a bag of rice for a few days.
Now that You have the phone apart get an alcohol pad and gentley scrub the main board. Sometimes when liquid touches the main board you will get a white looking residue. If you see anything like that simply wipe it off. I dropped my phone into a trash can at a very popular teriyaki restaurant here in Las Vegas my phone was submerged into a deep bath of teriyaki sauce. I quickly pulled the phone from the can and wiped it down vigorously. I was excited to see that it was initially working unfortunately this was not the case by the time I got home. The phone would not turn on for a whole week, until I decided that I was going to open her up. I found a tutorial on line describing a complete break down of the captivate. Upon opening it I found I was able to see exactly where the teriyaki had interacted with the electronics due to the remnants of an oxidized white film that was present on various parts of the main board. I grabbed a alcohol pad out of my first aid kit and began wiping it down to remove all of the white stuff,put the phone back together and to my surprise it turned on. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the info guys.
How would I go about getting to the "main board"? Taking out the battery and looking inside it only reveals where the battery connects, where the SD card and sim cards can go... I'm assuming if I remove the little screws around that fixture I can get to the "main board"?
I think I can see some minor corrosion around where the sim card connects, but I think I *should* be able to clean that with some alcohol.
The phone seems to be working fine (I've yet to put my SIM back in it, though, so no idea if the corrosion around there is affecting it at all). I just booted it up and was able to get on the web (wifi), run apps, everything just fine. Didn't get the flashy screens I mentioned earlier. However, if I plug in the USB charger, it still gives me the temperature error. I didn't keep it plugged in, however it did make me realize something:
The errors I was getting before, where the screen went all wacky, only happened if the phone was plugged in to the wall. Is it possible my battery is busted, or do you think the USB charger is busted? Remember that port was open when it happened.
Any thoughts? New battery? Or do you think I won't be able to charge the phone via USB charger any more?
jmusso said:
I don't have access to rice at the moment... Would it do any good even if I absolutely can see no water anywhere in/on the phone?
Am I doing my phone any harm/potential harm by trying to turn it on every once in a while, or should I just let it be for a few days?
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yes you are, because if there is water or moisture internal, it can short circuit, also rice will help dry up the phone completely
jmusso said:
Thanks for the info guys.
How would I go about getting to the "main board"? Taking out the battery and looking inside it only reveals where the battery connects, where the SD card and sim cards can go... I'm assuming if I remove the little screws around that fixture I can get to the "main board"?
I think I can see some minor corrosion around where the sim card connects, but I think I *should* be able to clean that with some alcohol.
The phone seems to be working fine (I've yet to put my SIM back in it, though, so no idea if the corrosion around there is affecting it at all). I just booted it up and was able to get on the web (wifi), run apps, everything just fine. Didn't get the flashy screens I mentioned earlier. However, if I plug in the USB charger, it still gives me the temperature error. I didn't keep it plugged in, however it did make me realize something:
The errors I was getting before, where the screen went all wacky, only happened if the phone was plugged in to the wall. Is it possible my battery is busted, or do you think the USB charger is busted? Remember that port was open when it happened.
Any thoughts? New battery? Or do you think I won't be able to charge the phone via USB charger any more?
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If you've never taken apart a smart phone before, and reading your first question, I'm going to assume that's the case, then I strongly advise you not attempt it unless you are willing to either A) buy a replacement after you break it or B) invest time/money into repairing mistakes you've made. This phone is not as difficult to disassemble as some, but I wouldn't want to break that $150 amoled screen.
No, removing the screws will not simply get you to the mainboard. It's more complicated and nuanced than that.
I'm a new user so I can't post the link but if you google Tech Republic Captivate tear down [/B]there is a website that will show you step by step how take the phone apart. There are two screws under the clip you pull down to take the back cover off. Be careful when pulling it back to expose the screws. I tugged on it pretty hard with no problems, but I imagine it could be broken if you pull too hard. Good Luck! It's actually really easy to take apart and the various ribbon connectors on the main board are really easy to unplug and plug back in after cleaning it.
So what do you guys think I should do if I'm still getting the battery error with the thermometer and yellow caution sign? Buy a new battery? Or do you think its the USB jack? Has anybody seen this before - the battery was working fine as long as it was not charging.
I'm trying to decide between a) buying a new battery, or b) buying a wall-mounted battery charger since the USB won't charge the phone.
Anybody have any experience?
Meguro2006 said:
I'm a new user so I can't post the link but if you google Tech Republic Captivate tear down [/B]there is a website that will show you step by step how take the phone apart. There are two screws under the clip you pull down to take the back cover off. Be careful when pulling it back to expose the screws. I tugged on it pretty hard with no problems, but I imagine it could be broken if you pull too hard. Good Luck! It's actually really easy to take apart and the various ribbon connectors on the main board are really easy to unplug and plug back in after cleaning it.
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I think you need to be careful about who you encourage to dissect their device. This guy asked how to get to the mainboard. Clearly, he hasn't opened a smart phone before. Telling him it's "actually really easy" is disingenuous at best. Performing smart phone repairs properly requires experience. I'm certainly not suggesting that noobs not try to fix their phones, only that they are made fully aware of the risks.
My Captivate was fully submerged in dirty water. I followed some instructions online and it's been working fine for over a month now. If your water-detection stickers are already red anyway, and rice isn't working, I recommend it:
1) Remove battery, SIM card, SD card
2) Submerge in a bowl of distilled water and gently agitate. This helps clean the insides. Distilled water (not spring water) does not conduct electricity.
3) Next, submerge in a bowl of high-quality rubbing alcohol (~95% pure) and gently agitate. Rubbing alcohol displaces water, removes corrosion, and evaporates quickly. (It's also flammable, so have good ventilation and no open flames nearby)
4) Leave it out to dry for two days or until it no longer smells of alcohol.
BTW I wouldn't dry it too close to a radiator, the heat may damage it.
jatkins09 said:
If you've never taken apart a smart phone before, and reading your first question, I'm going to assume that's the case, then I strongly advise you not attempt it unless you are willing to either A) buy a replacement after you break it or B) invest time/money into repairing mistakes you've made. This phone is not as difficult to disassemble as some, but I wouldn't want to break that $150 amoled screen.
No, removing the screws will not simply get you to the mainboard. It's more complicated and nuanced than that.
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Not really. Once the screws are removed..including the two hidden by the battery cover lock slider...you can carefully pry the cover apart using your fingernail to get to the the internals. I have done it several times and am no expert by any means. Just don't yank like you are opening a present on Christmas morning.
Although I am mystified by the op stating they have no access to rice?! That should always be the second thing one does after a moisture incident...right after pulling the battery and sim. I guess in this case a trip to the store with a couple bucks may have pushed that to step three though..
sent from my captivate disguised as an i9000 running cyanogen

[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

Horrible battery life after washing cell phone

My gf washed my phone. It had like 7% or less when it went into wash. Full cycle.
I took battery out, put in rice for like 2 days, then I put it in warm place, on dash of car in sun for 20 minutes at a time in between delivering pizzas, ect....
I throw away the battery, and I use one of my back-up HD2 batteries. I use the external charger to charge it.
I boot it up, and it works! Touch screen, buttons, internet, speaker, camera! EVERYTHING. The screen after 2 days even looks perfect. No discoloration.
One issue.....
Battery drain. It loses like 1-2% battery per minute, even in airplane mode and screen is off. It won't last more than 40 minutes with moderate to low usage.
I plugged it into USB via my pc when it was at 15%. An hour passes, and now it's 3%. I confirm that it is plugged in, and the "charging" animation happens.
It's not the battery, because it's brand new.
What is the issue? Is it a short? Can I fix this? The phone is 100% working condition except for the horrible battery life.
I appreciate anyone's insight into this issue....
I had a similar issue on an older HTC Elf way back in the WM6.1 days(... lol 'way back').
I hope you have insurance and a friend who can sell it that it's not your fault to get you a new phone for free cause this is probably damaged some component inside the phone. Fixing it your self is pretty much impossible since it's not encouraged at all (there is very little support resources) and the manufacturer isn't just going to sell you parts to fix your phone.
If you don't have insurance I wish you the best of luck anyways.
(However I hope I'm wrong about all this, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. :\ )
chrisportela said:
I had a similar issue on an older HTC Elf way back in the WM6.1 days(... lol 'way back').
I hope you have insurance and a friend who can sell it that it's not your fault to get you a new phone for free cause this is probably damaged some component inside the phone. Fixing it your self is pretty much impossible since it's not encouraged at all (there is very little support resources) and the manufacturer isn't just going to sell you parts to fix your phone.
If you don't have insurance I wish you the best of luck anyways.
(However I hope I'm wrong about all this, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. :\ )
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Yeah....no insurance unfortunately...
I know the phone is going for $295 shipped NEW on ebay at the moment, but still...
I don't know if I want a new HD2 or if I should just wait a month or two until the Samsung Hercules comes out.....
You are lucky that your phone is working....it seems there is some short on the board...which is difficult to repair as most of these have 7 layers PCBs....sell it off and get a new one..
nice that it still works.. sounds like a short though if your battery is getting drained.. tough stuff is even if you dry it completely the water leaves residue on the circuitry. even if you get rid of the battery draining, the circuitry is more vulnerable to further damaging all on its own

Post Water Damage Recovery, Now Bricked

excuse me for the very long title. I being the brilliant human being that i am went into a pool on the day of our independence with my beautiful HOX in my pocket. i sat there for about 5 min, totally sober mind you, then realized what an ass i was. i immediately went inside, shut it off and placed in rice. the next day i turn it on to see if it works and indeed it does. The only visible problem was water under the screen though the screen worked fine. i turned it back off and put it back in rice so as to give the rice ample time to perform its magic. 3 days later i check again and it still works. i decided to switch back to the HOX and things were great. 2 days later however it would randomly shut off and take AT LEAST 30 min before it would turn back on. at the end of the day i took out the sim and threw it back in rice. the next day it wouldnt turn on and thats the way its been ever since. no light when charging ether. ive left it in rice for the past 3 weeks checking every once in awhile but to no avail.
so i know that water damage is the culprit as is my stupidity however im asking to see if there is anything that anyone can think of that might revive my phone? perhaps a batter replacement? or screen replacement? or find out what i shorted? ive taken it apart a little but have held back out of fear of being unable to put back together my already broken phone lol
any help is appreciated. Thank You
No resolution likely
sdonn said:
excuse me for the very long title. I being the brilliant human being that i am went into a pool on the day of our independence with my beautiful HOX in my pocket. i sat there for about 5 min, totally sober mind you, then realized what an ass i was. i immediately went inside, shut it off and placed in rice. the next day i turn it on to see if it works and indeed it does. The only visible problem was water under the screen though the screen worked fine. i turned it back off and put it back in rice so as to give the rice ample time to perform its magic. 3 days later i check again and it still works. i decided to switch back to the HOX and things were great. 2 days later however it would randomly shut off and take AT LEAST 30 min before it would turn back on. at the end of the day i took out the sim and threw it back in rice. the next day it wouldnt turn on and thats the way its been ever since. no light when charging ether. ive left it in rice for the past 3 weeks checking every once in awhile but to no avail.
so i know that water damage is the culprit as is my stupidity however im asking to see if there is anything that anyone can think of that might revive my phone? perhaps a batter replacement? or screen replacement? or find out what i shorted? ive taken it apart a little but have held back out of fear of being unable to put back together my already broken phone lol
any help is appreciated. Thank You
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about you phone. Being an electronic technician, I would say you unfortunately made a fatal mistake by turning the phone on before it was totally dry inside. Almost anything on the circuit boards inside could have shorted or partially shorted while wet. I don't think anyone could guess as to what component is bad now without swapping in known good parts. It might have been damaged considerably before you got the chance to turn it off after the soaking, and there's nothing you could have done after that point, although it seemed to OK for a short time. I'm sorry that I can't recommend any further remedies.
dmech1 said:
Sorry about you phone. Being an electronic technician, I would say you unfortunately made a fatal mistake by turning the phone on before it was totally dry inside. Almost anything on the circuit boards inside could have shorted or partially shorted while wet. I don't think anyone could guess as to what component is bad now without swapping in known good parts. It might have been damaged considerably before you got the chance to turn it off after the soaking, and there's nothing you could have done after that point, although it seemed to OK for a short time. I'm sorry that I can't recommend any further remedies.
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Click to collapse
alright i assumed as much but thank you for the help. i feel like i can finally let go off my HOX
Take it apart and sell for parts. The digitalizer probably works fine.
Sent from my sexy white HTC One X on T-Mobile
You really have to take it apart before putting it in the rice. These things are sealed up pretty good these days.
Might just be the battery. If water got in the pack, it would behave as you described from internal shorting.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Open it
At this point, you have nothing to lose by opening it up and drying it out for a week or 2. At least you'll get out any remaining moisture. You may just get lucky.
Also if there is corrosion, use 99% alcohol to remove it.
Sent from my One XL

[Q] Got my phone wet. Everything still works but charging is unreliable

Hey everyone,
I wish I wasn't here under these circumstances, but yesterday my phone got drenched by the faucet when I accidentally dropped it in the sink. I turned it off right away and tried to dry it by blowing out all the holes/buttons/etc. with canned air. then (maybe stupidly) I turned the phone back on and used it the rest of the day, not really noticing that it wasn't charging when I plugged it in until later when the battery got very low and I plugged it in again and noticed that the charging symbol didn't appear.
Ultimately, what I found DID work, (at least temporarily, sometimes it still stops charging) was turning the phone off, then plugging it in, then turning it back on . When I did this, usb (and wireless) charging work, as well as the USB connection for getting files off the phone on my computer.
It's a bit odd that this is what worked, but so far, it seems to. I'm just not quite sure if there's anything else I can do other than maybe send the phone to LG for repair, or find a local shop that might be cheaper...
Just looking for any suggestions or information anyone may have to help me fix this. thanks in advance!
shorty6049 said:
Hey everyone,
I wish I wasn't here under these circumstances, but yesterday my phone got drenched by the faucet when I accidentally dropped it in the sink. I turned it off right away and tried to dry it by blowing out all the holes/buttons/etc. with canned air. then (maybe stupidly) I turned the phone back on and used it the rest of the day, not really noticing that it wasn't charging when I plugged it in until later when the battery got very low and I plugged it in again and noticed that the charging symbol didn't appear.
Ultimately, what I found DID work, (at least temporarily, sometimes it still stops charging) was turning the phone off, then plugging it in, then turning it back on . When I did this, usb (and wireless) charging work, as well as the USB connection for getting files off the phone on my computer.
It's a bit odd that this is what worked, but so far, it seems to. I'm just not quite sure if there's anything else I can do other than maybe send the phone to LG for repair, or find a local shop that might be cheaper...
Just looking for any suggestions or information anyone may have to help me fix this. thanks in advance!
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You should have not used the phone but put it turned off in a bowl of uncooked rice for a few days. Optional also removed the back and the battery if possible. You will have corrossion now and maybe worse electrical damage.
gee2012 said:
You should have not used the phone but put it turned off in a bowl of uncooked rice for a few days. Optional also removed the back and the battery if possible. You will have corrossion now and maybe worse electrical damage.
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Yeah, I recognize that it was a bad idea... but there's not much I can do about that now. I'm just trying to figure out what my best course of action going forward is.
shorty6049 said:
Yeah, I recognize that it was a bad idea... but there's not much I can do about that now. I'm just trying to figure out what my best course of action going forward is.
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Try to remove the back and battery and place it in a bowl of uncooked rice asap for 2-3 days, this will limit the damage. Your warranty will also be voided i`am afraid as the moisture indicators are colored now.
gee2012 said:
Try to remove the back and battery and place it in a bowl of uncooked rice asap for 2-3 days, this will limit the damage. Your warranty will also be voided i`am afraid as the moisture indicators are colored now.
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what do you think the chances of the moisture indicators NOT being colored would be?
I had the phone inside a bumper case which covers the sides of the phone and the back. Some water got inside the case, but maybe not enough to wet the indicators.. I'd hate to open the phone and then realize they weren't colored. I hate opening phones if possible, but that'd be the only way to know for sure , I guess...
I'm working on getting my hands on a back up phone to use currently , but I hate to see the condition of this one get worse... (my nexus 4 that I was going to use as a backup hasn't wanted to power on in a couple months after I botched Rom flashing attempt and subsequent failure to accept a charge)
shorty6049 said:
what do you think the chances of the moisture indicators NOT being colored would be?
I had the phone inside a bumper case which covers the sides of the phone and the back. Some water got inside the case, but maybe not enough to wet the indicators.. I'd hate to open the phone and then realize they weren't colored. I hate opening phones if possible, but that'd be the only way to know for sure , I guess...
I'm working on getting my hands on a back up phone to use currently , but I hate to see the condition of this one get worse... (my nexus 4 that I was going to use as a backup hasn't wanted to power on in a couple months after I botched Rom flashing attempt and subsequent failure to accept a charge)
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Water goes through the tiniest cracks and openings so i guess the indicators are colored. Only one sure way to find out and that is looking inside the phone. Look on YouTube for a Nexus 5 iFixit dissasembly video.
Opening up the phone doesn't really void the warranty. Breaking something while opening it does. You still had the headphone jack and the usb port open right? That means water got in and tripped the sensors. This is pretty much guaranteed. IMO, those sensors are too sensitive. Just using the phone in a humid place (bathroom while shower is running) trips them.
If everything works fine just try a wireless charger
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
The fact that your charging doesn't work reliably anymore probably means the moisture indicators would be coloured... I've had phones where the water didn't damage it at all and they still were
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

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