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dropped my phone in the toilet,... DOH

okay, i soaked my phone in isopropyl alcohol, then placed it into damprid (a descant, like rice) for almost 52 hours now, the phone functions properly, my speaker will not work, and there is water between my digitizer and lcd.
I am going to place it back in the descant for now, but ive seen no improvement in the amount of liquid between the digitizer and lcd as of yet so it's doubtful i will.
I would like to take my digitizer off and attempt to remove the excess water. ideas? I do have alot of experience in working on small electronics (i fix computers and small electronics for a living), ie. ipods, other phones. just not the thunderbolt, any ideas suggestions? links to a good tear down procedure?
Thanks
-SPIFF

Word of advice...keep it powered off till the liquid is removed, it may screw your digitizer ribbon up or worse.
Here's a really good teardown/repair video.... Good luck!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3rjgVsSWxQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App

I would recomend making sure that you have removed all of the water before putting the battery back in your Thunderbolt. Water conducts electricity and you can fry some of your components.

I would try putting it in the oven for a bit on warm, it might help dry it out.
When my wife washed my flip phone years back, it had water under the screen for a couple of months before it finally all dried out.

nrfitchett4 said:
I would try putting it in the oven for a bit on warm, it might help dry it out.
When my wife washed my flip phone years back, it had water under the screen for a couple of months before it finally all dried out.
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This can work but be real careful or you'll melt it. I say warm it up and shut it down and then place it in. It should help remove that trapped water

altimax98 said:
This can work but be real careful or you'll melt it. I say warm it up and shut it down and then place it in. It should help remove that trapped water
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I think my oven on warm is between 125-150 degrees, cool enough that I can take a plate out without mitts.
Here's a chart of plastic melting points:
http://www.machinist-materials.com/comparison_table_for_plastics.htm
I would just let it cool before doing anything with it.

Ooo not good did the rice trick already?
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App

Just take it apart and dry it out, I don't think baked thunderbolt would be a worthy dinner..
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App

Wow, thats ****ty.

Use a hair dryer to heat it up?

Do you do this work for a job or hobby?
If its your job you should know better than to use isopropyl alcohol, it leaves noticeable residue, go get some denatured alcohol and take the thing apart.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA Premium App

Did you try wiping three times?

adrynalyne said:
Wow, thats ****ty.
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HA!
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

sklobopes said:
Word of advice...keep it powered off till the liquid is removed, it may screw your digitizer ribbon up or worse.
Here's a really good teardown/repair video.... Good luck!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3rjgVsSWxQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I would do. You can buy a new screen for cheap, the digitizer costs a little more but if you don't have insurance (like me) it would not be a bad idea.

303bonefish said:
Did you try wiping three times?
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lol. just shot chocolate muscle milk out my nose and on my shirt. thanks.

microwave, popcorn setting, 6 minutes... works for me every time.

Throw it in dryer with dry close put it in a pocket with velcrow or a zipper
Omgadroid is Linux only

Rice. Wife dropped her BB in the pool last year and we where able to save the phone for another month (and get her data off) by placing it in a bag of white rice for a few days. That stuff sucked all the moisture right out of the phone.
We did find random rice pieces for a while falling out of the phone after it started working though! lol

Rice will do the trick.
Hubby left his Droid Eris in his pocket, so when his pants went into the washer, so did the phone, for a full cycle.
When I transferred the clothes into the dryer I hear a suspicious clink clank...
Took the phone apart, stuck it in rice. After a few days I tried powering it up with the original battery and no dice, so I tried a different battery and voila!
There were some water spots under the screen, but they eventually went away and you can't tell anymore what it went through at all.
The original battery actually started to work again as well, just needed a little longer in the rice and hubby has been using it with the phone since then. All this happened in March or April 2010, can't remember exactly.
Our phones are pretty tough little devices. I have been trying to get hubby to upgrade, but he is stubborn and won't part with his phone lol!

If you do get the liquid out of the screen, please repost and let us know how you did it.

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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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!

For those that drop your Galaxy S III in water

I know there are guides ALL over the internet, but I wanted to let you guys know what worked for me.
I tried the rice thing at first, and while power was restored, I wasn't able to get any audio, and sound in and out of the phone on calls was either non-existent or distorted and popping.
So what I did was take the phone completely apart. Purchase some 91% Isopropyl Alcohol (although 99% is recommended, because 91% has water content, so use 91% AT YOUR OWN RISK) and a generic toothbrush.
I submerged all parts in the alcohol and brushed every connection, board, chip, and plug vigorously in the alcohol.
After that, I removed the parts to a clean towel and use canned air to blow all of the remaining liquid dry, the best I could. The canned air will ice up after prolonged use so you may need to do this is two steps. Also, make sure liquid CO2 does NOT come out the nozzle (e.g. hold the can right side up, not sideways or upside down). The cold CO2 could damage components, possibly.
Once that was all done, I placed all components into a tupperware container in rice, to draw out any remaining moisture. After about 24-36 hours, I reassembled the device and BAM 100% functional. Longer time in rice may be necessary depending on how precise you are with the liquid removal after the alcohol bath and brush.
Once again, this actually worked for me. If you have any questions, feel free ask away.

I've read somewhere on here that rice doesn't help at all and you should just air dry instead. But other than that, thank you for this walkthrough. Very helpful.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

tylerlawhon said:
I've read somewhere on here that rice doesn't help at all and you should just air dry instead. But other than that, thank you for this walkthrough. Very helpful.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
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As an update. yesterday morning when I woke up, my display was dead. Everything else worked including audio, sound, haptic feedback, as far as I could tell.
Phone went back in rice for nearly 36 hours and left in my car, which probably reached over 100 degrees fahrenheit.
Tonight when I got home, display was functional again.
Rice may not be the end all, but it certainly helps wick moisture. The alcohol and scrubbing is necessary for removing the minerals that water leaves behind (which is what conducts and causes shorts); however, I can tell you firsthand, the rice definitely helps.

tylerlawhon said:
I've read somewhere on here that rice doesn't help at all and you should just air dry instead. But other than that, thank you for this walkthrough. Very helpful.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
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That stems from the fact that if you let the phone actually touch the rice it will gum up the insides but like the op said iso and a soft tooth brush.... as for moisture what you need is is calcium chloride of some kind(Damp Rid is the kind you get at walmart but you can get it cheaper at agriculture supply stores). And then you put your phone in some sealed container with the calcium chloride, though, make sure your phone isn't sitting in the damp rid itself...

Ok, another update: phone went all day with no issues. Camera is still a tiny bit foggy, and pictures aren't crystal clear. But I may just replace the cameras, they're fairly cheap.

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?

Dropped Nexus5 in toilet...

So yesterday around midnight clumsy as I am I managed to drop my Nexus 5 in clean toilet water. Fortunately I managed to get it out of there in less than a second so the phone just like "paddled" in the water before it was in my hand again. Well when it was in my hands I quick took some paper and cleaned the outlayers of the phone but unfortunately it took me a few minutes until I managed to turn it off because of non-responsive touch because of the water on the screen. Still, until I turned it off the phone seemed like to work as it always have, perfect.
So when it was turned off I took out the SIM and card holder. I took a cotton swab and cleaned the headset and charger hole and put in it uncooked rice.
Now it's been in the rice for 5-6 hours and I just took a quick look on it (No, I did not turn it on.). I'm put it in again and I am going to leave it in the rice for 20-44 hours more.
How big is my survival chance? Should I try to take the phone and try to blow out the minimal amount of water with a vaccum cleaner? I left the back cover (the one who came with the phone) on but on YouTube it doesn't look like too much of an hassle to get it off. Should I take the back cover off and put in rice again or blow with hair dryer/vaccum cleaner?
And how many hours should it stay in rice?

To be honest... I'd sit it on a radiator as well to let it get hot and really dry out. Then it's probably just a 50 50 chance that nothing is damaged and turn it on and hope for the best

Just open it and dry it.
Half year ago I put the phone in laundry machine and washed like 5 minutes...
Open it up, get parts out, and make sure every part is dry after few hours.
Then put them back, and everything is fine as before
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

K9998 said:
Just open it and dry it.
Half year ago I put the phone in laundry machine and washed like 5 minutes...
Open it up, get parts out, and make sure every part is dry after few hours.
Then put them back, and everything is fine as before
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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I really don't want to open it...I destroyed the case of my former phone that way and it looks like the case for the Nexus is really hard to get off...
By the way I have now vacuumed some small, small drops of water out from the charger hole and the speakers. If I remember right only half of phone got fully in the water since the headphone jack was completely dry. The phone is in a container of rice now and I will leave it there for another 12-16 hours...
Do you really recommend me to try to take of the case?

I believe the back is pretty easy to take off - you can start with a fingernail. And it would certainly increase the drying performance. I think I remember doing it myself. Try iFixit for the Nexus 5 teardown.
Yep, there's a video, but it's really a narrative rather than showing the removal of the back cover. It shows that it's held on with clips with a very small amount on the bottom edge. It's as simple as I thought, and now I've seen it I remember doing it on my old N5 before I exchanged it for a refurbished model.
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+5+Teardown/19016

Worked
I powered it on now. Everything seems to work perfect