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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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well you want to put in rice, so that the moisture is gone

rice it for sure. but warranty WILL not cover it UNLESS the tabs on the battery and phone are white (It might not have gotten wet if it was in your pocket)
if they are still white, or if your phone is white and battery red (then buy another battery) and get to the store and tell them you don't know what is wrong with it. The only indication that it is water damaged is if it is red and those tags are notoriously faulty so you could always argue your way through it if you have an account in good standing.
best of luck.
I know someone who "claimed' that insurance was supposed to be added to the phone when he got it and noticed that the person didn't do it properly (the guy was new so it helped his cause) and the manager of the cor store told him that they'd do a courtesy replacement and charged him the 125$ for a new device.
you could go that route should you need too...

I don't have access to rice at the moment... Would it do any good even if I absolutely can see no water anywhere in/on the phone?
Am I doing my phone any harm/potential harm by trying to turn it on every once in a while, or should I just let it be for a few days?

Take the phone apart and focus the strongest fan you have on it over night. It's probably best to not turn it on for awhile. Maybe if you focus a blow drier on it for perhaps several hours, air will find flow through the small openings within the case.
You may not be able to dry some parts of it unless you do a complete dismantle, but that may require special tools
Consider shipping it to get repaired only as a last resort, as I've read some bad reports about that.

Rice or some other dessicant is the way to go - it will pull moisture out. Also, turning it on (even putting the battery in) is bad - you are powering circuits and possibly creating shorts where water is present. You may have already done permanent damage.
If you get electronics wet, the best course of action is to remove the battery and put it in a bag of rice for a few days.

Now that You have the phone apart get an alcohol pad and gentley scrub the main board. Sometimes when liquid touches the main board you will get a white looking residue. If you see anything like that simply wipe it off. I dropped my phone into a trash can at a very popular teriyaki restaurant here in Las Vegas my phone was submerged into a deep bath of teriyaki sauce. I quickly pulled the phone from the can and wiped it down vigorously. I was excited to see that it was initially working unfortunately this was not the case by the time I got home. The phone would not turn on for a whole week, until I decided that I was going to open her up. I found a tutorial on line describing a complete break down of the captivate. Upon opening it I found I was able to see exactly where the teriyaki had interacted with the electronics due to the remnants of an oxidized white film that was present on various parts of the main board. I grabbed a alcohol pad out of my first aid kit and began wiping it down to remove all of the white stuff,put the phone back together and to my surprise it turned on. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info guys.
How would I go about getting to the "main board"? Taking out the battery and looking inside it only reveals where the battery connects, where the SD card and sim cards can go... I'm assuming if I remove the little screws around that fixture I can get to the "main board"?
I think I can see some minor corrosion around where the sim card connects, but I think I *should* be able to clean that with some alcohol.
The phone seems to be working fine (I've yet to put my SIM back in it, though, so no idea if the corrosion around there is affecting it at all). I just booted it up and was able to get on the web (wifi), run apps, everything just fine. Didn't get the flashy screens I mentioned earlier. However, if I plug in the USB charger, it still gives me the temperature error. I didn't keep it plugged in, however it did make me realize something:
The errors I was getting before, where the screen went all wacky, only happened if the phone was plugged in to the wall. Is it possible my battery is busted, or do you think the USB charger is busted? Remember that port was open when it happened.
Any thoughts? New battery? Or do you think I won't be able to charge the phone via USB charger any more?

jmusso said:
I don't have access to rice at the moment... Would it do any good even if I absolutely can see no water anywhere in/on the phone?
Am I doing my phone any harm/potential harm by trying to turn it on every once in a while, or should I just let it be for a few days?
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yes you are, because if there is water or moisture internal, it can short circuit, also rice will help dry up the phone completely

jmusso said:
Thanks for the info guys.
How would I go about getting to the "main board"? Taking out the battery and looking inside it only reveals where the battery connects, where the SD card and sim cards can go... I'm assuming if I remove the little screws around that fixture I can get to the "main board"?
I think I can see some minor corrosion around where the sim card connects, but I think I *should* be able to clean that with some alcohol.
The phone seems to be working fine (I've yet to put my SIM back in it, though, so no idea if the corrosion around there is affecting it at all). I just booted it up and was able to get on the web (wifi), run apps, everything just fine. Didn't get the flashy screens I mentioned earlier. However, if I plug in the USB charger, it still gives me the temperature error. I didn't keep it plugged in, however it did make me realize something:
The errors I was getting before, where the screen went all wacky, only happened if the phone was plugged in to the wall. Is it possible my battery is busted, or do you think the USB charger is busted? Remember that port was open when it happened.
Any thoughts? New battery? Or do you think I won't be able to charge the phone via USB charger any more?
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If you've never taken apart a smart phone before, and reading your first question, I'm going to assume that's the case, then I strongly advise you not attempt it unless you are willing to either A) buy a replacement after you break it or B) invest time/money into repairing mistakes you've made. This phone is not as difficult to disassemble as some, but I wouldn't want to break that $150 amoled screen.
No, removing the screws will not simply get you to the mainboard. It's more complicated and nuanced than that.

I'm a new user so I can't post the link but if you google Tech Republic Captivate tear down [/B]there is a website that will show you step by step how take the phone apart. There are two screws under the clip you pull down to take the back cover off. Be careful when pulling it back to expose the screws. I tugged on it pretty hard with no problems, but I imagine it could be broken if you pull too hard. Good Luck! It's actually really easy to take apart and the various ribbon connectors on the main board are really easy to unplug and plug back in after cleaning it.

So what do you guys think I should do if I'm still getting the battery error with the thermometer and yellow caution sign? Buy a new battery? Or do you think its the USB jack? Has anybody seen this before - the battery was working fine as long as it was not charging.
I'm trying to decide between a) buying a new battery, or b) buying a wall-mounted battery charger since the USB won't charge the phone.
Anybody have any experience?

Meguro2006 said:
I'm a new user so I can't post the link but if you google Tech Republic Captivate tear down [/B]there is a website that will show you step by step how take the phone apart. There are two screws under the clip you pull down to take the back cover off. Be careful when pulling it back to expose the screws. I tugged on it pretty hard with no problems, but I imagine it could be broken if you pull too hard. Good Luck! It's actually really easy to take apart and the various ribbon connectors on the main board are really easy to unplug and plug back in after cleaning it.
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I think you need to be careful about who you encourage to dissect their device. This guy asked how to get to the mainboard. Clearly, he hasn't opened a smart phone before. Telling him it's "actually really easy" is disingenuous at best. Performing smart phone repairs properly requires experience. I'm certainly not suggesting that noobs not try to fix their phones, only that they are made fully aware of the risks.

My Captivate was fully submerged in dirty water. I followed some instructions online and it's been working fine for over a month now. If your water-detection stickers are already red anyway, and rice isn't working, I recommend it:
1) Remove battery, SIM card, SD card
2) Submerge in a bowl of distilled water and gently agitate. This helps clean the insides. Distilled water (not spring water) does not conduct electricity.
3) Next, submerge in a bowl of high-quality rubbing alcohol (~95% pure) and gently agitate. Rubbing alcohol displaces water, removes corrosion, and evaporates quickly. (It's also flammable, so have good ventilation and no open flames nearby)
4) Leave it out to dry for two days or until it no longer smells of alcohol.
BTW I wouldn't dry it too close to a radiator, the heat may damage it.

jatkins09 said:
If you've never taken apart a smart phone before, and reading your first question, I'm going to assume that's the case, then I strongly advise you not attempt it unless you are willing to either A) buy a replacement after you break it or B) invest time/money into repairing mistakes you've made. This phone is not as difficult to disassemble as some, but I wouldn't want to break that $150 amoled screen.
No, removing the screws will not simply get you to the mainboard. It's more complicated and nuanced than that.
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Not really. Once the screws are removed..including the two hidden by the battery cover lock slider...you can carefully pry the cover apart using your fingernail to get to the the internals. I have done it several times and am no expert by any means. Just don't yank like you are opening a present on Christmas morning.
Although I am mystified by the op stating they have no access to rice?! That should always be the second thing one does after a moisture incident...right after pulling the battery and sim. I guess in this case a trip to the store with a couple bucks may have pushed that to step three though..
sent from my captivate disguised as an i9000 running cyanogen

[Q] Battery Leakage

I woke up this morning and found my phone was mildly wet on the bottom. I slid open the keyboard to make sure it wasn't wet everywhere and it wasn't. After I dried off the bottom and started using it it began getting wet again. When I opened the battery cover to investigate I found the source of the liquid and immediately pulled the battery out. There is now discoloration on the battery and inside the battery hutch. The battery appears to have stopped leaking this liquid but it has only been an hour. I am obviously concerned that this has damaged my phone. The phone was working though when I checked my email and discovered it was wet.
When I researched it said Lithium ion batteries aren't supposed to leak but this is the only explanation I can come up with. The phone wasn't near water and since the top half of the phone wasn't wet, this must be the case.
Is my phone damaged?
Can I use the old battery from the TP2 (both batteries say RHO160 on them)?

Very strange. Can't you just swap it out at a Sprint location?

ummm get that switched out immediately. new battery, new phone, whatever...just get it taken care off. That ain't good at all.

I can't just go to a sprint store because I don't live in the US heh. My phone is unbranded so I'm waiting for HTC to respond.
The phone is still working fine but I'm using the battery from my TP2 and it's been working since early afternoon yesterday. I'm still worried it might start acting up though, fingers crossed.

I have 5 Arrives (five members of the family, each with their own......I really do like the phone). One of our phones gets excessively hot when charging via USB from a computer (but not when charging via the wall plug). How were you charging it?
Even still, I suspect there is some sort of power management issue in some of them phones.

I was charging from the wall plug, not from USB. The only time my phone gets warm is if I'm playing games on it for over an hour .

What happened to your battery mate. My phone also heats up a bit more these days and I am interested in what to expect.
Cheers,

Water Damaged Phone, Help!

Hey!
So On Saturday I dropped my phone down the toilet by accident, i removed it from the toilet, after about 5-10 seconds, and it was still on, it seemed fine, so I was like ohh okay...i dried it ect ect and it was working fine, but some parts of the touch wasn't working so I left it on as i could not switch it off. On that night i dried it with the hair dryer as well, didn't work, so wrapped it in a towel and but it in the boiler cubard to keep warm for around 12 hours maybe more...tried to switch it on and it didn't work again.
the day later (Sunday) decided to take it apart, and dry the insides, still wasn't working, but the notification light is on and sometimes flickers so i slept with it under my pillow as it would keep warm over night, on Monday, i put the charger in and the screen came on to that battery charging screen for around 5-6 seconds and it said it was on 0%....the notification light was still on.
I Put the phone in some rice in a box, wrapped it in a towel and left it in the boiler cubard again until Wednesday, afternoon....
what can i do?? will this work?? how much would it cost to get fixed?
is the touch screen broke? do i need new battery? ect ect
THANKS!

Best thing to do if you get a phone wet is turn it off and leave it off for at least a week. The problem is that moisture gets inside the phone itself and just takes time to evaporate. If you turn it on or leave it on after water gets in you run the risk of shorting something out and killing the phone (which is what sounds like happened). As far as repairing it is concerned, might as well get a new one, it'll cost less.

your phone should survive just give it some time in the rice, my brothers samsung ace went through something similar and he put it in rice and it was fine after a day buried in it, there is videos of the moto g submerged in water for a while and still works fine
good luck

[Q] LG G2 dropped in clean toilet

Happened for half a second and then I pulled it out really quick. Took it out of my case, turned off the phone, rebooted it, rebooted it again. Seemed to work fine. A little while later it indicated headphones were plugged in where they weren't Said uh-oh, desperately and stupidly) actually plugged in headphones to solve the problem, pulled them out, turned off phone and turned it on again, worked fine, problem went away. Went to the movies, felt it vibrate once during the movies, tried to get on it after movie, wouldn't turn on. At all. Nothing happens when I plug it in.
Currently letting it sit in a bag of rice like I probably should have done in the first place. Obviously can't remove the battery and opening it up seems to be more work than it's worth. So i guess my questions are 1) am I screwed and 2)How long should I REALLY keep it in that bag? I've heard anywhere from overnight to a whole week just to be safe.

c0ntinuity said:
Happened for half a second and then I pulled it out really quick. Took it out of my case, turned off the phone, rebooted it, rebooted it again. Seemed to work fine. A little while later it indicated headphones were plugged in where they weren't Said uh-oh, desperately and stupidly) actually plugged in headphones to solve the problem, pulled them out, turned off phone and turned it on again, worked fine, problem went away. Went to the movies, felt it vibrate once during the movies, tried to get on it after movie, wouldn't turn on. At all. Nothing happens when I plug it in.
Currently letting it sit in a bag of rice like I probably should have done in the first place. Obviously can't remove the battery and opening it up seems to be more work than it's worth. So i guess my questions are 1) am I screwed and 2)How long should I REALLY keep it in that bag? I've heard anywhere from overnight to a whole week just to be safe.
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First of all in the first place you shouldnt have used it because it could have even caused short-cut in the motherboard.
Now keep it in that bag of rice for 1-2 days that would be enough.
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Free mobile app

Okay, clean water is better than dirty water. However, tap/toilet water has mineral impurities which tend to make the water conductive, thus allowing short circuit conditions to occur. You're probably screwed as something obviously caused your device to stop working. Now, (most) components can tolerate being shorted once, maybe twice, provided currents remain low and brief. You might be lucky.
Next time, rice right away. Also, leaving the battery in is not a good idea, no matter how difficult it is to get to. Plus, removing it will allow you to perform a visual inspection.

Water resistance question

Hey all, new owner here. So I spilled some ginger ale on my phone, not a lot, but I thought well hey, this phone is water resistant, I'll rinse it off. So I rinsed it off in cold water, and put it under and inch or so for cool factor for a minute or so. I then dried it off, and shook it to get the water out of the ports. All seemed fine, but an hour or so later I went to use it, and the screen wouldn't turn on. The back/recent lights came on, and the blue notification light came on for a bit too with more prodding, also the screenshot combo seemed to work, and seems to have taken a picture of the lock screen. I let it sit for another half hour or so, at which point I tried power/volume down or up, can't remember, either way it rebooted. Finally it's on now, I use it for a bit, and it does the same thing. I let it sit another 10 mins, and do the button combo again. This time it seems to stay on. I charge it that night, and unplug it once it's charged and turn it off. the next morning I turn it on, 92% battery left. Weird. Using it through the day today it doesn't seem to be draining extra fast or anything. Is this anything anyone else has encountered? Should I be worried?
Needless to say I'm a little scared to test water resistance any further right now...

speedyink said:
Hey all, new owner here. So I spilled some ginger ale on my phone, not a lot, but I thought well hey, this phone is water resistant, I'll rinse it off. So I rinsed it off in cold water, and put it under and inch or so for cool factor for a minute or so. I then dried it off, and shook it to get the water out of the ports. All seemed fine, but an hour or so later I went to use it, and the screen wouldn't turn on. The back/recent lights came on, and the blue notification light came on for a bit too with more prodding, also the screenshot combo seemed to work, and seems to have taken a picture of the lock screen. I let it sit for another half hour or so, at which point I tried power/volume down or up, can't remember, either way it rebooted. Finally it's on now, I use it for a bit, and it does the same thing. I let it sit another 10 mins, and do the button combo again. This time it seems to stay on. I charge it that night, and unplug it once it's charged and turn it off. the next morning I turn it on, 92% battery left. Weird. Using it through the day today it doesn't seem to be draining extra fast or anything. Is this anything anyone else has encountered? Should I be worried?
Needless to say I'm a little scared to test water resistance any further right now...
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Looks like it is not ginger resistant only water.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

speedyink said:
Hey all, new owner here. So I spilled some ginger ale on my phone, not a lot, but I thought well hey, this phone is water resistant, I'll rinse it off. So I rinsed it off in cold water, and put it under and inch or so for cool factor for a minute or so. I then dried it off, and shook it to get the water out of the ports. All seemed fine, but an hour or so later I went to use it, and the screen wouldn't turn on. The back/recent lights came on, and the blue notification light came on for a bit too with more prodding, also the screenshot combo seemed to work, and seems to have taken a picture of the lock screen. I let it sit for another half hour or so, at which point I tried power/volume down or up, can't remember, either way it rebooted. Finally it's on now, I use it for a bit, and it does the same thing. I let it sit another 10 mins, and do the button combo again. This time it seems to stay on. I charge it that night, and unplug it once it's charged and turn it off. the next morning I turn it on, 92% battery left. Weird. Using it through the day today it doesn't seem to be draining extra fast or anything. Is this anything anyone else has encountered? Should I be worried?
Needless to say I'm a little scared to test water resistance any further right now...
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Click to collapse
Have to say that in my opinion the phone is really water resistant. Tried it in normal and salt water couple of times exceeding the recommended 30 min. Even use it underwater to take pics and videos. Probably you should dry it very well. After every water situation i noticed that it wont charge until the connector is completely dry. Sometimes the phone says that 3.5 mm jack is in use (can assume that water is fooling the software) Just try to dry it really well and maybe is just a coincidence and your firmware is faulty. Than reinstall using odin and if the problem persist - claim waranty. Good luck

kirilorius said:
Have to say that in my opinion the phone is really water resistant. Tried it in normal and salt water couple of times exceeding the recommended 30 min. Even use it underwater to take pics and videos. Probably you should dry it very well. After every water situation i noticed that it wont charge until the connector is completely dry. Sometimes the phone says that 3.5 mm jack is in use (can assume that water is fooling the software) Just try to dry it really well and maybe is just a coincidence and your firmware is faulty. Than reinstall using odin and if the problem persist - claim waranty. Good luck
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the input

kirilorius said:
Tried it in normal and salt water couple of times exceeding the recommended 30 min
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*facepalmus enormus*

You can make this test.
How to test if your smartphone is waterproof or not, without putting it in the water?