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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?
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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?
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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?
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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.
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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] Broken Power Button...

I searched the forums for this issue, but seems like no one else has experienced this yet..!? I'm not sure how it happened, but just 2 days ago, my power button stopped responding. In other words, no matter how much pressure I put on it, or how long I hold it, my tablet will not turn on or wake up from sleep..! I'm not even sure how it happened. I just left it near on the floor propped up near my night stand earlier this week and the next morning I noticed I had a tough time turning my tablet on... (However, I did notice before this that sometimes my power button was way too sensitive and would ask if I wanted to power off the tablet, when all I did was press it for a second to put it to sleep. Guess, that was signs of eminent failure?)
And it's definitely a hardware and not a charging problem, since I can make my tablet turn on by removing it from the dock for a few secs and then reconnecting it, but obviously this is not acceptable. And other than that I don't know how else to turn it on...
I bought my tablet from Amazon, so I can't take it back to any store. Has anyone here had this problem before and tried to repair it themselves? Or has anyone at least tried to send their tablets in for repair to ASUS after unlocking the bootloader, rooting and loading a custom ROM? How did that go for you?
Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

amazon has a superb return policy - at least here in germany - should be no prob in the US - just call them so they open a RMA for you - or send it to asus directly.
good luck
cheers

power to the button
d0ubl3_d1zzl 3 said:
I searched the forums for this issue, but seems like no one else has experienced this yet..!? I'm not sure how it happened, but just 2 days ago, my power button stopped responding. In other words, no matter how much pressure I put on it, or how long I hold it, my tablet will not turn on or wake up from sleep..! I'm not even sure how it happened. I just left it near on the floor propped up near my night stand earlier this week and the next morning I noticed I had a tough time turning my tablet on... (However, I did notice before this that sometimes my power button was way too sensitive and would ask if I wanted to power off the tablet, when all I did was press it for a second to put it to sleep. Guess, that was signs of eminent failure?)
And it's definitely a hardware and not a charging problem, since I can make my tablet turn on by removing it from the dock for a few secs and then reconnecting it, but obviously this is not acceptable. And other than that I don't know how else to turn it on...
I bought my tablet from Amazon, so I can't take it back to any store. Has anyone here had this problem before and tried to repair it themselves? Or has anyone at least tried to send their tablets in for repair to ASUS after unlocking the bootloader, rooting and loading a custom ROM? How did that go for you?
Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
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Click to collapse
My power button was giving me the power off / restart reboot which had been driving me crazy. Took the back off and investigated. The actual power button mechanism is flimsy and not well put together. After attempts with tape, with brief success the reboots returned. Today I looked again and took of the small bit of plastic with the silver button on it and noticed it was not central. Carefully peeled off the silver power button and attached it in the centre. Applied some tape and another piece in the plastic physical button mechanism to help it spring back. The result is my power button feels perfect and no more reboots so far.

Buster99 said:
amazon has a superb return policy - at least here in germany - should be no prob in the US - just call them so they open a RMA for you - or send it to asus directly.
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Click to collapse
jennies said:
..Today I looked again and took of the small bit of plastic with the silver button on it and noticed it was not central. Carefully peeled off the silver power button and attached it in the centre. Applied some tape and another piece in the plastic physical button mechanism to help it spring back. The result is my power button feels perfect and no more reboots so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input, guys. Glad to hear I'm not the only one and that it seems to be something I can try and fix on my own... I was mostly worried it was well known problem and ASUS wouldn't repair the devices that were tampered with or had unlocked bootloaders, but looks like they may not be thoroughly checking that. And my return window from Amazon expired in late June, so I figured it wasn't worth going through them anymore, but I've never had to that before, so I'm not sure...

jennies said:
My power button was giving me the power off / restart reboot which had been driving me crazy. Took the back off and investigated. The actual power button mechanism is flimsy and not well put together. After attempts with tape, with brief success the reboots returned. Today I looked again and took of the small bit of plastic with the silver button on it and noticed it was not central. Carefully peeled off the silver power button and attached it in the centre. Applied some tape and another piece in the plastic physical button mechanism to help it spring back. The result is my power button feels perfect and no more reboots so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What kind of tape did you use?

Got the Power Button Working...
trevor7428 said:
What kind of tape did you use?
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Click to collapse
I just pulled off the back (it has pressure pins, so i just use my nails, 'bcuz i don't have the plastic tool..), the Power Button is a 'lil switch, the top metallic part is held to the bottom part by a transparent piece of tape, if its not centered, just carefully remove it and place in the center.. If it the tape have enough glue to hold it back, You can use to same piece of tape to hold it back together.. If not, You can use a standard hmm (don't remember the name..) transparent tape to do the job... Hopefully the button keeps in place for while....

[SOLVED] TF300 wont turn on

So I was applying my xtremeguard wet screen protector today on my TF300.
I tried to use as less water as possible, and squeezing the water out towards the edges, and collecting the residue with a microfiber towel.
About half an hour later, I turned it on, and the touch screen didnt appear to work, will it was working if I pressed like 10 times on the 1 spot, but it wasnt very responsive. Turned it off again for a little while and went to turn it back on now and it is not powering on
When I plug into charge the orange charge light does not appear on the power button, only on the dock. It appears to be completely dead...
I tried holding the power button for more than 60 seconds, still nothing.
I even took off the back to see if there was any water under there, but nothing, completely dry.
Can anyone tell me what my best plan of action is?
If I take it back to the retailer they only offer a repair since it is outside of 28 days of purchase, and even then thats likely to take weeks
Cheers guys

i guess the water somehow went inside the tablet, looks like the way asus glues the tablet with the screen (at the edges) are bad, i feel like you can easily let water go inside it. so... i know you were careful, but...
you don't see water in there, you see it's dry, well because it got dry, remember just a little water can cause electronics to die
i hope you can return it and get a new one , or maybe you could try leave it there for a few days, then try to turn it back on again

Leave charging for a couple of hours and see if it turns on, if not try to return it.
Good luck.

Op make sure the proximity sensors are not being covered by the screen protector. That's what happened to mine... then I realized they've sent me a screen protector made for the tf201 not tf300.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk 2

Hi all, it is working!
In my desperation, I removed the back cover from the device, and placed the whole tab in a casserole dish filled with rice overnight... After I came back to it and tried to switch it on, it would still not switch on.
That was it, I was at the end of my tether and was just about to put the back cover back on and take it back to the retailer for an exchange/repair. I noticed that there were a couple grains of rice underneath the gold cover on the back with the small yellow warranty sticker on it.
I shook the device from side to side to try and get the rice out (not a good idea leaving that in there if it was going back for repair) and the bloody gold cover came off, along with halfing the warranty sticker in 2 at this point I was about to cry because I knew i'd never get it repaired now.
Low and behold when the gold cover came off I noticed the connector that connects the battery to the motherboard. Curious, I unplugged it for a second and plugged it back in then tried to power the tab on.....
IT WORKED!
It may have just been a case of the battery shorted out with that little drop of water and it needed to be disconnected and reconnected before it allowed power on again to the rest of the components..
So its back together and everything is working fine now, charging and everything

thanks
mcall_r said:
Hi all, it is working!
In my desperation, I removed the back cover from the device, and placed the whole tab in a casserole dish filled with rice overnight... After I came back to it and tried to switch it on, it would still not switch on.
That was it, I was at the end of my tether and was just about to put the back cover back on and take it back to the retailer for an exchange/repair. I noticed that there were a couple grains of rice underneath the gold cover on the back with the small yellow warranty sticker on it.
I shook the device from side to side to try and get the rice out (not a good idea leaving that in there if it was going back for repair) and the bloody gold cover came off, along with halfing the warranty sticker in 2 at this point I was about to cry because I knew i'd never get it repaired now.
Low and behold when the gold cover came off I noticed the connector that connects the battery to the motherboard. Curious, I unplugged it for a second and plugged it back in then tried to power the tab on.....
IT WORKED!
It may have just been a case of the battery shorted out with that little drop of water and it needed to be disconnected and reconnected before it allowed power on again to the rest of the components..
So its back together and everything is working fine now, charging and everything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!!!! Very useful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for posting...in Switzerland and took my tablet out of suitcase and nothingwor
Found your fix and it worked...love the internet!!?

Nexus 5 won't power on after screen replacement

My Nexus 5 got squished such that the screen was badly cracked and the digitizer stopped working. I still like this phone, so I ordered a replacement screen+digitizer (and battery too) and tools to replace them.
Everything seemed to go fine at first. After getting the old screen out I attached the new one and I wanted to test it before putting everything back together so I set the motherboard and charger board in place and connected all the cables without screwing everything down. I turned the phone on and it worked. The screen+digitizer worked and it looked like my phone would live.
Then I screwed everything back together and it wouldn't turn on. I mean I would push the power button and nothing at all would happen. So I took the back cover off and unscrewed everything and tried again and it powered on again. So I started putting it back together one piece at a time and what I think I've narrowed it down to is that when I put on the small cover over the motherboard (iFixit calls it the midframe but I'm not sure that's right -- sorry can't post link) and screw in the top-right screw (as viewed from the back -- it's the one above the volume control) then it won't power on. I assume something is shorting out. I don't even actually have to screw in that screw. If I squeeze that corner a bit, it won't power on.
Any advice? Thanks in advance.

I think I got it. Since the front camera was near that screw I tried taking it out, then putting everything else back together and the phone worked! The front camera had fallen out during disassembly. So I watched a video on how to replace it and found out you have to stick the tab coming off the camera underneath the rubber tab attached to the frame. I did, put everything back together and it works.
Thanks for reading.

Samsung s7 bootloop issue, i tried almost everything...

I'm fairly tech savvy in regards to PC's but im not too familiar with phones. My grandma handed me her S7, its stuck in a bootlop, keeps turning on and off. I put maybe 2-3 hrs of troubleshooting into this, I managed (somehow) to do a system restore with Odin and finding the correct firmware and I also did a system update. Problem remains. Not sure what to do from this point forward. Im assuming it's hardware related although Im afraid to tinker with the battery because I don't exactly know what to do. For whatever reason the phone works somewhat normally ONLY when it has a full charge.

i'd be inclined towards thinking the battery is dying or faulty if it works ok when it's fully charged.
what would be worth doing would be to completely flatten the battery, then leave it switched off and charging for a LONG time, say overnight, ideally with the original charger and cable, or at least a high quality, branded charger and cable.
In the morning, unplug it, switch it back on, and if it doesn't say 100%, plug it in again and leave it until it does say 100%. see if it behaves any differently.
if not, the hardest part of replacing the battery is getting the glass back off the thing. your first try at it, you will likely crack the glass whatever technique you use, replacement glass isn't expensive on ebay. watch a few youtube videos of people removing the glass to get the idea.
once the glass is off, you just need a screwdriver to get inside it, and a plastic spudger to disconnect the battery connector from the board.
the battery is glued to the screen assembly, some guides say to soften the glue with heat. i prefer to drip some isopropyl alcohol along the top of the battery, then let it spread behind it. that should make the glue lose its stick, and the battery should come away easily enough with a plastic spudger.