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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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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] A "washed" through laundry HTC Diamond

Hello,
by a rediculous accident I forgot my HTC Diamond in the pocket of my jeans when running the laundry :-(
Afterwards, I opened the cover, took out the battery and let the phone dry out for 2 days. Now I've put it back together, and connected it to the charger. The "ring" is flashing, so the battery is charging but the phone itself is not starting and the display remains completely black, not even the vibration kick on starting...
Is there anything I could do? Or perhaps there is a chance to get out some photos I have shot earlier, would also be something...

ive heard that taking apart your phone and leaving the parts in rice can help (because the rice absorbs moisture)

Off topic:
I read one Desire went through a washing sequence in a washing machine in Desire spesific forum and now this?
Is this a new hobby? I mean... washing smartphone

darkman088 said:
Or perhaps there is a chance to get out some photos I have shot earlier, would also be something...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the photos are on your micro sd card, you may be able to plug that into an adapter and plug it into your PC and gain access to them that way. Just be sure that micro sd card is thoroughly dry before doing so.

WORKING !!!
Hello,
thanks for the replies... This morning the phone booted!!! I was able to download the photos!!! But the screen has stains, obviously the remaining water.
PLEASE advise on how to dry that thing completely !!!
I think that I'm gonna pass on the rice thing.
@aaa - YOU ARE A JUNKA$$ !!! You think that's really funny?!? Especially when I'm currently TIGHT on budget and need the money for other things and the next phone is planned no earlier than Christmas... I'm hesitating whether you're a real human being...

You can dry it completely in an oven for three hours at thirty degrees or so. I've done this three times. If you have a fan forced oven, just turn the fans on, that'll be enough.
A safer way (if you can obtain it) is to leave the phone for 24 hours in a bowl of dessicant silica gel. You'll often get a small packet of silica gel when buying new electronics or other moisture-affected things. That small packet is enough, just put it in an airtight bag and leave it for 24 hours.
The next step would be disassembly and a thorough swabbing with denatured alcohol, but that's pretty extreme and only needed when the device isn't booting.
Some LCDs are hard to get moisture out of, some are not. Leaving the phone with the silica gel for longer will have a better effect. As the previous poster mentioned, rice also works (quite well), but takes longer than silica.
Good luck with it!

Another thin that will absorb moisture is common table salt. Take the phone apart very carefully. Remove battery first, make sure you're grounded as well.

Hello everybody.
thanks a lot for the numerous advices...
Unfortunately, I have more to report...
The phone dried out and booted 2 or 3 days later, as I said. The stains on the display disappeared as by magic one day later.
Everything was fine for a week until I launched the camera 2 days ago. The backlight of the display went off and came back only after removing the batter for 15 minutes.
Now the backlight is going off pretty often, sometimes it requires to remove the battery 1-2 times before it starts working again and yesterday it happened that it got activated again when I got a call...
Any ideas please?

And also the phone keeps overheating from time to time without real load (GPS or wi-fi) which dries out the battery. But I had this problem also before the laundry

Sounds like that moisture in the LCD unit left a bit of residue and is shorting the backlight somewhere.
Only option there would be to disassemble and swab the LCD boards and cables/connectors with denatured alcohol.
Alternatively, a new LCD unit should fix the problem if it persists, just make sure you alcohol swab the connectors before plugging them back in
Someone also mentioned drying out in salt before. While that does work, salt is extremely corrosive on solder and SMCs, so I wouldn't recommend that route.

i heard hair dryers are the bomb at the screen moisture, just take off all that you can and blow dry it.

I just don't understand your refusal on using white rice. It have saved countless phones.
Uncooked white rice is VERY mosture negative. Just put layer of rice, put your phone on it, cover it completely with white rice, seal it in. Ziploc could work too.
In a day or two your partially dry phone will be bone-dry. If it was soaked still you could first try to shake out water as much as can, soak it in distilled water to remove minerals, then white rice it for 3 to 5 days.

I had this problem with my Touch Diamond. Everything worked, but while i was trying to dry it I broke one of the battery "hinges" but the phone still worked after except only with black screen. The best thing to do probably is just leave it for a couple of days and hopefully your phone will be back!

XXCoder said:
I just don't understand your refusal on using white rice. It have saved countless phones.
Uncooked white rice is VERY mosture negative. Just put layer of rice, put your phone on it, cover it completely with white rice, seal it in. Ziploc could work too.
In a day or two your partially dry phone will be bone-dry. If it was soaked still you could first try to shake out water as much as can, soak it in distilled water to remove minerals, then white rice it for 3 to 5 days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly what ive said. ive read everywhere that rice is one of the best solutions out there

Like was said before you most likely have some corrosion on a few contacts, if you have about 6 bucks you can spare you can get residue free contact cleaner in an aerosol at radio shack or any electronics store and save yourself having to scrub each contact and connector. Just tear the phone down down spray all the contacts and connectors with contact cleaner let it sit for a few then spray it down with air duster to get any thats get under the resistors, in the connectors, etc that hasn't dried; let it sit till you're positive everythings dry and put it back together. Does the same thing as alcohol just alot less scrubbing.
Sent from my i897 w/Andromeda 3, Suckerpunch kernel, & 1.3Ghz OC using Tegrak.

Hello,
thanks for narrowing the problem down.
But for me it looks like something different, because:
1) I have been using the phone for 1 week without any problems and it got screwed after I've launched the camera app for the first time
2) The backlight works when I power on the phone. But its stop is event-triggered, like when I launch the sound or video player or when I get a call... Similar events would trigger the backlight back on.
Perhaps reflashing the software could fix that?
I went to a shop today and put another battery. The phone booted, anyway without any backlight, twice...
At least the device is still alive.

There probably was a tiny water bubble and it messed with phone when you turned camera on.

darkman088 said:
Hello,
thanks for narrowing the problem down.
But for me it looks like something different, because:
1) I have been using the phone for 1 week without any problems and it got screwed after I've launched the camera app for the first time
2) The backlight works when I power on the phone. But its stop is event-triggered, like when I launch the sound or video player or when I get a call... Similar events would trigger the backlight back on.
Perhaps reflashing the software could fix that?
I went to a shop today and put another battery. The phone booted, anyway without any backlight, twice...
At least the device is still alive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
remove the back cover and battery from the phone, and put everyting in a bowl of rice for a day,. should fix everything,

XXCoder said:
There probably was a tiny water bubble and it messed with phone when you turned camera on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either that or a short in the cameras circuit from corrosion, either way i'd pull it apart before it gets worse and check it out.
Sent from my i897 w/Andromeda 3, Suckerpunch kernel, & 1.3Ghz OC using Tegrak.

[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!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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

Repairing Damaged Screen on OnePlus One

Around May 2016, I jumped into a pool with my OPO in my pocket. About 10 seconds afterwards I realized what I had done, and pull the phone out of my pocket. The screen wouldn't turn back on, and it started continuously buzzing. Eventually it stopped and I tried to dry it off best I could. Blowing out what water I could and stupidly purchased a bag of rice I kept it submerged in for awhile. Nothing worked of course.
Eventually I took it apart. The battery glue was so sticky, the battery started to distort as I tried to pry it away from the body of the phone. I figured at that point, it was pretty much destroyed. But I took it apart and used some alcohol to clean up some of the parts. At that point I just decided to order a new phone since I already had it for about 2 years anyway.
But now I want to get it working again to recovery some data and images.
I purchased a replacement battery, soaked the main board in alcohol, cleaned up some of the connectors, etc. Reassembled it, and to my surprise it worked again! Well, except the display. But the digitizer still worked, the capacitive buttons worked, and I could hear sound even. Seemingly everything worked but the display. I can even see the backlight come on sometimes but with no actual picture and some noticeable water marks. I was even able to fiddle around with the digitizer, unlock the phone, connect it via USB, and recover some of what I wanted. However, I was hoping to get the display working so I could recover additional data.
So I purchase a screen assembly (display, digitizer, and front body) off ebay. But same problem, I see the backlight come on sometimes, but no picture. I tried cleaning all the contacts again and re-seating them several times to ensure all connections were okay. Still, no picture on the display.
So I thought maybe I could have ended up with a bad display off eBay. So I ordered another. Still the same issue.
What could I do? Is there anything in particular I should try that might help? Is it the daughter board maybe? That might be easy enough to replace.

orificium said:
Around May 2016, I jumped into a pool with my OPO in my pocket. About 10 seconds afterwards I realized what I had done, and pull the phone out of my pocket. The screen wouldn't turn back on, and it started continuously buzzing. Eventually it stopped and I tried to dry it off best I could. Blowing out what water I could and stupidly purchased a bag of rice I kept it submerged in for awhile. Nothing worked of course.
Eventually I took it apart. The battery glue was so sticky, the battery started to distort as I tried to pry it away from the body of the phone. I figured at that point, it was pretty much destroyed. But I took it apart and used some alcohol to clean up some of the parts. At that point I just decided to order a new phone since I already had it for about 2 years anyway.
But now I want to get it working again to recovery some data and images.
I purchased a replacement battery, soaked the main board in alcohol, cleaned up some of the connectors, etc. Reassembled it, and to my surprise it worked again! Well, except the display. But the digitizer still worked, the capacitive buttons worked, and I could hear sound even. Seemingly everything worked but the display. I can even see the backlight come on sometimes but with no actual picture and some noticeable water marks. I was even able to fiddle around with the digitizer, unlock the phone, connect it via USB, and recover some of what I wanted. However, I was hoping to get the display working so I could recover additional data.
So I purchase a screen assembly (display, digitizer, and front body) off ebay. But same problem, I see the backlight come on sometimes, but no picture. I tried cleaning all the contacts again and re-seating them several times to ensure all connections were okay.
What could I do? Is there anything in particular I should try that might help? Is it the daughter board maybe? That might be easy enough to replace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since the whole thing involves water,there might be several parts which are damaged. I suggest get your device checked from a professional repair shop.

I was hoping I can learn more about what a professional repair shop might do to diagnose the problem.

orificium said:
I was hoping I can learn more about what a professional repair shop might do to diagnose the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have multimeter and knowledge of hardware?

Just toss it away after transferring the files.
It's not worth the hassle, trust me.
I repair OnePlus One's everyday and the water-damaged ones take way too much time.

Mr.Ak said:
Do you have multimeter and knowledge of hardware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I do. I've done many laptop repairs and repaired a few smartphones in the past but never dealt with water damage like this before.

DevSquad said:
Just toss it away after transferring the files.
It's not worth the hassle, trust me.
I repair OnePlus One's everyday and the water-damaged ones take way too much time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have any advice as to what my next steps would be after having tried two replacement screens. Literally everything works on the phone except the screen doesn't light up. Even the digitizer works. Well I can see the backlight come on sometimes, but no pixels. I've cleaned an re-cleaned the connectors many times using 91% isopropyl alcohol.
Is there any particular resistance or continuity I can check that might indicate what component is bad? Information about the pinouts somewhere?

Maybe there's another part of XDA or another forum that goes more in-depth into smartphone repair? If anyone has any recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Water Damage Boots To Black Screen

So I've had this phone water damaged. I left it in rice in a very hot room for maybe 4 months. It boots into recovery and download mode fine and the screen works well. But when i boot it normally after flashing fresh Stock Firmware (It didn't boot before just stuck on splash). I plug phone into charge and the Samsung charger plug sound plays. That means its actually loaded into Android. Any ideas how to fix this?
I thought of replacing the LCD but since Download and Recovery shows up fine then it shouldn't be it?

You need to pull the battery asap after water exposure. The phone needed to come apart right away. Perhaps the mobo has conformal coating but the connectors do not have any protection.
You need to pull the whole thing apart, inspect and dry it completely.
Its long term prospects aren't good.

blackhawk said:
You need to pull the battery asap after water exposure. The phone needed to come apart right away. Perhaps the mobo has conformal coating but the connectors do not have any protection.
You need to pull the whole thing apart, inspect and dry it completely.
Its long term prospects aren't good.
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Click to collapse
It's been dried for a whole 2 or 3 months in rice and a hot room. Phone boots fine now but only to Download mode or Recovery mode. Screen doesn't work past splashscreen when booting

blackhawk said:
You need to pull the battery asap after water exposure. The phone needed to come apart right away. Perhaps the mobo has conformal coating but the connectors do not have any protection.
You need to pull the whole thing apart, inspect and dry it completely.
Its long term prospects aren't good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been a few months after it's been water damaged I havent run it since BTW

Hamisxa said:
It's been a few months after it's been water damaged I havent run it since BTW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean you tore it down right away?

blackhawk said:
You mean you tore it down right away?
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Click to collapse
No I mean i tossed it in rice for 2 months in a very hot room and left it there. I tried to take the back off but it started crackling so I didn't try to take it further. I thought the battery might blow up.

Hamisxa said:
No I mean i tossed it in rice for 2 months in a very hot room and left it there. I tried to take the back off but it started crackling so I didn't try to take it further. I thought the battery might blow up.
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Click to collapse
The battery won't blow up unless you get it really hot. You can't leave water in these devices at all, every minute counts especially if it has a battery.
Sorry but the rice method doesn't cut it.
My Buds case fell in my coffee and sunk to the bottom. Fished it out and tore it apart on the spot. Flushed with RO water, then rinsed with anhydrous isopropyl alcohol using centrifugal force to get as much of the alcohol off (no compressed air in the car) then let it dry.
Amazingly it still is working a year latter; I got lucky, but I was also acted fast and did the right things.
Aside from nose diving it into my full cup of coffee.
I wouldn't invest to much money into this device. Water damaged electronics are insidiously unpredictable and there's no time limit to when it will fail again even if you do manage to get it working.
Dirt minimum; take it apart and carefully inspect it. Pull the micro ribbon connectors and inspect the contacts. Make sure they're completely dry.
Anhydrous isopropyl alcohol (99%) can be used to displaced water. Be careful around LCDs if present as it can poison the liquid crystals.

Exactly the same story with a smartphone at work. The phone starts into recovery with no prolem, the display is working fine. But when I start the system it only shows me the "Samsung Galaxy A51" lettering, "Secured by Knox" and the "Powered by Android". After booting the display remains black but the device gives a feedback when pressing the volume up/down buttons.
Is there any way to reinstall the whole OS? Or maybe authorize the Fingerprint of my PC to check if there's any display output via scrcpy?

Folsense said:
Exactly the same story with a smartphone at work. The phone starts into recovery with no prolem, the display is working fine. But when I start the system it only shows me the "Samsung Galaxy A51" lettering, "Secured by Knox" and the "Powered by Android". After booting the display remains black but the device gives a feedback when pressing the volume up/down buttons.
Is there any way to reinstall the whole OS? Or maybe authorize the Fingerprint of my PC to check if there's any display output via scrcpy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could one of many possible damaged contact surfaces or shorted/open surface mount devices including cpu or ram flat packs or mobo traces. Even after the water is gone if it wasn't promptly removed* damage will continue to surface long after the incident.
You need to tear it apart asap. Even a few minutes may be too long.
Water damage electronics are insidious failures waiting to happen.
Cut your loses.
*prompt removal is no guarentee but greatly improves chances of success.