Hello,
I am looking for the best place to send my Note 20 Ultra to get the data recovered after receiving liquid damage and suffering corrosion.
Background:
A few days ago my Note 20 Ultra had a large amount of water enter the inside of the phone. The glue holding the back glass onto the front had come undone and allowed water to get into the interior of the phone. After letting the phone dry off the phone initially went into a boot loop only reaching the Android Recovery screen, later after that the screen became inoperable only showing a snowy static.
I attempted to take the phone to BestBuy, but as soon as I mentioned liquid damage, they wouldn't touch it. I then took it to Ubreakifixit. they removed the motherboard and connected it to a separate screen and power source, they said that due to the corrosion they were getting an overheating error and were unable to back anything up.
The overheating oddly seems encouraging because that tells me that if it were placed in the freezer or had a heatsink attached to it, it could stay cool long enough to get the data off of it. I understand that corrosion can be irreversible, however I have read accounts of people using 91% alcohol, ultrasonic cleaners, or even resoldering certain parts to get it working again.
What place will do whatever is necessary to try to get the data back (if it can be gotten back)?
Would shipping it back to Samsung be the best bet?
Thanks!
I used 190 proof grain alcohol on my note 10 plus to clean it out once. I soaked the motherboard and lightly cleaned it with a q tip. It worked pretty well. Your mileage may vary but at this point it's worth a shot.
Related
Hi all i would just like to share my experience with this case..Last week i had the unfortunate accident of dropping my Samsung galaxy s phone in the toilet at home...
The phone fell out of my pocket and straight in too the pan and finally landed in the u-bend.
The phone was in total water submersion for not more that 3-5 seconds..my heart fell to the floor...
I quickly grabbed the phone from the toilet..turned phone off and removed the battery..water was all inside the phone.
I shook the phone and lots of water came out..my thoughts at this time was phone was well and truly buggered.
I proceeded to dry the phone on my radiator at home..sim-card,sd-card,battery and back plate all removed to aide drying.
Left the phone to dry for a full 24 hrs...before attempting to turn phone back on.
There was condensation inside the phone which all dispersed after 24 hrs. of drying out the phone.
And the big moment arrived of putting the phone back together to see if it would ever work again....
My heart was pounding at this time hoping and willing the phone back to life..pressed the power on button and the phone came to life.
Apart from having to do a reset on the phone and re-installing all my apps there has been no problem with the phone working 100%.
Phone has been working for well over a week now with no problems.
How lucky was I??...Im not saying that the Casemate Toughcase is the be all and end all in cases but im sure it went some way in helping reduce the damage that would have been caused by water ingress in to the phone.
happy case hunting...
Ewwww That Dirty Samsung Galaxy S
Lol..must add the water in toilet was clean...
The tough case was not the parameter influencing the luck in this case. As long as the rear speaker hole is not sealed, the water will always have a way inside the phone, no matter how many shock protection layers you have o the phone.
And generally speaking, tap water is not dangerous for the electrical parts of low voltage powered devices (like watches, phones and so on). The main issue with phones dropped in water is that the water will infiltrate in the optical dispersers of the LCD screen and on the screen connectors, generating blurry pictures or no picture at all.
I've learned something from your experience ... the water will not go in between the OLED screen and the digitizer .. which is a GOOD thing.
Great! I'm glad your SGS survived!
just take more care of it, ok? and don't drop it on Sea Water!
any waterproof supplies for galaxy s?
alex.bacer said:
any waterproof supplies for galaxy s?
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Zip-lock bag?
I've almost fell from my seat reading the end of your story. I am glad to read that everything went Ok. But does the phone smell .... hmmm different?
Truly lucky.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
There are better ways to change the colour of the phone
Update phone still working a OK two and a bit weeks on...
I have toughcase as well. Not the prettiest case, the phone loses it's "luxury" feeling, but you can certainly throw around the phone no problem.
I dropped my Galaxy S (with Tough Case) today, it fell directly on my hard tiles floor at a height around 70cm. I was really freaked out! I picked it up and it was still there like nothing happened (no crash, no slow, no reboot, no nothing) really happy that I chose this case!
thanksss a lot for content
I dropped my phone into the ocean about a week ago. It's been in rice since then. I just took it out and it turns on and shows my home screen and gets data and is receiving texts and stuff, however neither the touch screen nor the four android buttons work. I searched and people were suggesting soaking the phone in alcohol for this. Is your any chance that would fix my problem? Maybe it could be as simple as replacing my phone's screen? Thanks for any help.
What I would do is take the phone apart (remove the backcover, battery and unscrew the screws) locate the digitizer flex cable and blow dry it. There may be water left in the component.
Refer this this video on the disasembly.
Probably a bit late but you want to clean it with de-ionized water or Isopropyl alcohol. To be honest i would have put it in a bowl of either of those instead of rice as soon as i got home. I've personally found the rice trick to be a myth,works just the same as leaving it out to dry. Sea water contains high amounts of salt and drying it will just make the salt crystalise.You need to "Wash" the salt out and the 2 ive suggested wont leave residue on the PCB (info from my mum who is an electronics teacher)
I thought I would make a quick post to provide some encouragement for those who may water damaged phones. Took mine swimming the other day. Phone fell out of my pocket and drifted down to the deepest end of the pool 8+'. Fortunately I discovered the phone before I got out of the pool.
I ran down to the hardware store and bought a bag of powder dehydration powder used for drawing humidity out of the air. I combined this powder with a bag of white rice in an airtight container (may seem like overkill but this worked much better then the typical prescribed method).
Any how, I removed the battery, took the screws out of the inner housing assembly popped the assembly without completely disassembling. I then wrapped the phone in a couple of coffee filters to prevent any of the powder from entering the phone.
I put the filter wrapped phone in the powder over night, sealed the container and left overnight. When I awoke I had a completely dry phone.
When I attempted to reboot the phone, the phone booted, but the touch screen didn't work.
After watching a video on Youtube (disassembly guide) I completely disassembled the phone. Working with 99% Iso alcohol and some small brushes, I completely cleaned the interior of the phone assembly including the main board, all connectors (paying very close attention to the pin assemblies). I found quite a bit of white corrosion inside the pin assemblies for the connectors and on much of the components. I assume this was residual chlorine from the pool water. After thoroughly cleaning all components, board etc. I carefully reassembled the phone per the instructions in the video.
Once the phone was buttoned up and recharged, I rebooted the phone. The phone booted right up. Everything worked perfectly, with the exception of the camera (wouldn't focus right). I disassembled the in housing again and took the camera out again. After inspecting, I realized I hadn't cleaned the interior of the plastic cover that protects the camera. After booting again, camera worked perfectly.
I would highly encourage anyone who mistakenly immerses their phone in water to at minimum use the powder and rice mixture w/partial disassembly. This worked exceptionally well compared to simply removing the battery and placing in rice.
If your patient and willing to follow directions, I found the thorough disassembly and cleaning process to be quite informative and rewarding, and I got a working phone out of the deal.
Don't recommend getting your phone wet, but if you do, take the initiative and try this yourself. Feel free to msg me if you have any questions
Good to hear that home solutions is still a viable way to fix electronic problems.
How long was it in the water for? I would have figured there was no way that phone would come back to life. Good to know.
Makes no difference if it was 10 seconds or 10 minutes. It doesn't get "wetter" being in longer.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
mine got wet 9 months ago and the op's steps that they took were similar to what I did and I can confirm that you can save your phone. My phone even got plugged in to the charger before i realized it was wet. Thanks op for posting this to help others out.
Hall, that cant be entirely true. Granted, either way is bad, but you can have more corrosion build up if it sat longer. Will 10 minutes do that much corrosion? still doubtful, but still can effect the phone differently. Also, depending on the case, it could take a little longer to access deeper in to the phone.
Sent from my MIUI powered S3 thanks to StrumerJohn and using Tapatalk 4. Respect My Authoritah!
BurningDog said:
How long was it in the water for? I would have figured there was no way that phone would come back to life. Good to know.
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Sorry for the late reply. Phone was about 9' deep for about 10 minutes. It was completely water logged. Funny thing was screen was still operational when I pulled from the water. I immediately pulled battery to prevent shorting.
I tend to think the amount of corrosion is relevant to the depth of water invasion and the amount of chemical or other component in the water. Mine was full of white corrosion. Under a magnifying glass I could see it everywhere. Any place i found it, I scrubbed with a fine brush and alcohol, specifically around the pins in the connectors. Be careful not to bend any though.
As far as components, they seem to be very well sealed. Nothing got into the camera, gyro etc. Speaker and phone jack both needed quite a bit of work, but eventually came clean.
Wouldn't suggest opening a phone for no reason, but it is actually quite interesting to see how small and well designed the components are, as well as to see how and where they are installed, gives one a much better understanding of how these things work.
Should I ever drop a phone in water again, I will certainly feel much more confident about my ability to revive it. Not good for the phone but certainly not a death certificate either. With a thorough cleaning your phone should work just fine again.
Edit: so I read the OP. Excellent job, with the exception of the rice. Leave it out next time. It's time to end the rice myth!
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For the love of God people, stop putting your wet phones in rice. I work at a repair shop and have worked on more water damaged phones than I can remember. Also, I come from a fobby Asian family and have carried(20+ lb bags)/washed/steamed/eaten a lot of rice.
First, rice doesn't just absorb moisture. If it's submerged in it, it will. It doesn't just pull it out of the air.
Second, when you put something wet in a container, or anywhere without good airflow it takes significantly longer for the water to evaporate. Take some wet clothes and put them in a bag. Even an open bag. See how long it takes compared to something like line drying.
Half the time someone leaves their phone in a rice filled container, the phone still has water in it 3-7 days later. The other half the water is gone, but it has accelerated damage from corrosion/rust.
Best thing to do with a water damaged android phone: take out the battery. Put it anywhere with a comfortable ambient temp and airflow, leaving the battery cover off. Leave it as long as you feel comfortable. Install new battery and back up your stuff.
At this point, you may need to clean everything with rubbing alcohol. If you don't feel comfortable doing that yourself, bring it to someone.
Sorry to rant but I'm just so sick of opening up wet phones and having people tell me "but I read it on the internet!"
Spread the word.
rockingondrums said:
Sorry to rant but I'm just so sick of opening up wet phones and having people tell me "but I read it on the internet!"
Spread the word.
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Everything on the internet is true though. Which is why I will now let everyone know. You all owe me money. Depending on your yearly net income.
20k and below. $10
50 - 70k $20
70 - 90k $50
90k and up $100.
You may pay me via PayPal.
This is on the internet. This is true. Good day!
Sent from my MIUI powered S3 thanks to StrumerJohn and using Tapatalk 4. Respect My Authoritah!
Couldn't find solid/non-contradictory advice on this in previous threads, tl:dr version at the bottom.
Putting this in general Q&A because at least the isopropyl alcohol related stuff shouldn't be too specific, but let me know if it would be okay/worthwhile to copy it to the Galaxy S3 subforum (even just the frankensteining part). Thanks.
Okay, my mother dropped her Galaxy S3 4G (International Version) into salt water. The screen or phone turned off immediately, but the battery was left in for half an hour before she got it home. I didn't know it was salt water til later so I ran a vacuum over the outside (safe distance for static) and put it in a bag of dessicant packets and rice for 24 hours and then powered it on – I didn't realise until I plugged it into my computer that it had actually turned on, but the screen and speaker weren't working (bottom buttons may work but I can't be sure – on turning the phone on they light up for a split second but don't seem to at any other time, not sure whether or not touching them was working and am not powering the phone up again til I've got the buildup off).
I managed to make a backup of data using kies before opening the phone up and noticing the white buildup that indicates salt water, which she then confirmed. Really my fault for not asking in the first place.
Interestingly, the water indicator in the battery compartment hasn't tripped, but obviously the white buildup means there's no way its getting warranty replacement. There's a huge payment left on the phone, and I would like to try and salvage it – I've got experience working with electronics (albeit not in this state), and if I can get the right information it will probably be cheaper than out of warranty repair. I've tried using a bit of contact cleaner on the connectors and managed to get a lot of the white buildup off the screen connector, but it hasn't helped.
From some reading, I've learnt that 90%+ isopropyl alcohol can help deal with the buildup, so I'll head out to get some high-purity stuff from an electronics store over the weekend, however as most functions seem to be working fine except the screen, I don’t know if soaking the mobo is going to do anything, and most of the screen's PCB is inaccessible (the glass, screen, and screen pcb are glued together on the S3 and part of the PCB is covered), so it's difficult to get to with swabs etc.
Does anyone know for certain whether or not the screen section, which has what I assume is thermal compound, can be soaked in isopropyl alcohol without doing irreparable damage? I have seen entire phones soaked, but the SGS3's screen is attached with glue. If the thermal compound is damaged by this, is it replaceable and if so will regular computer stuff work or do I need something in particular?
Failing this (as it's entirely possible stuff has arced or whatever), I am willing to attempt replacing the screen if I can find a suitable donor, however it's not easy to find 4g versions for parts with intact screens and I don't think we're going to pay out the $170 or thereabouts for a new one any time soon (only way that would happen is if I knew it would work and took the phone for myself, giving her my SGS2).
Will the screen section from an Australian non-4G work, and will it being from a different carrier (unlike the US we don't have carrier specific models) cause problems if I use the 4G mobo? Again, I'd prefer answers from people that know for certain, as even buying phones to Frankenstein the thing back to life isn't cheap.
I assume the speaker is the same thus swappable, right? If not, can it be soaked (I assume not but again seen entire phones soaked).
tl;dr: Intl 4G SGS3 dropped in salt water. Dried, screen and touch aren't working, but phone connects/charges and backup made. White buildup on PCB, so warranty replacement out of the question, want to attempt to salvage or failing that, Frankenstein it together.
1) Can the screen section be soaked in isopropyl alcohol without irreparable damage?
2) Will this damage the thermal paste, if so what do I replace it with? Would scraping it off carefully be possible/work?
3) Will an AU SGS3 non-4G screen assembly from a different carrier (no varied models here) work in it?
4) The speaker is swappable between the two, right?
Would prefer answers from people who know for certain/from experience, if you're not certain please explain your logic (don't want to take unnecessary risks).
Sorry if that sounds pushy, a little bit stressed about this as there are a couple of potential donors on ebay that are ending in the next day or so. Thanks in advance!
So basicly I came back home after work and decided to clean my POCO X3 under the shower (bc it's more effective than just wiping the dust off) and now my camera lens is foggy. That didn't happen before, I've done that few times, so I'm surprised. Anyway, will the seller reject my exchange request or not? Will the warranty cover that case of damage?
hi, the warranty is void, but if you purchased this on amazon within 30 days you can try returning it and then buying it again, otherwise you can try to use a hair dryer and you could maybe be able to fix temporarily the problem
First of all you need to understand the limitations of IP53 and what they exactly mean. The IP53 rating means dust can (and will) get into your phone and it won't affect the performance of the phone. The second part of the rating means that your phone is protected against "accidental" splashes at the phone held at 60° angle at the time of the splash.
No part of this rating involves continuous exposure to falling water. It also does not cover water falling at any angles beyond or below 60° angle.
For you to treat this phone as "waterproof" even though it has the lowest of the ingress protection rating... Is purely wrong on your part. No phone is truly water "proof", they are all "resistant" even the higher ratings. Which means taking ANY phone, this one or any ones of higher IP rating into a shower is a bad idea.
Your warranty is definitely void and the stickers inside the phone will also be red. You can use blow driers and whatever but condensation is usually trapped in a phone once it gets in. It might disappear for a while but it will show up again when the temperature equalizes. Your best bet is open your phone, use isopropyl alcohol and gentle heat to dry the phone and clean the oxidation at the copper contacts.
Or as someone else said. Trick your supplier into buying a damaged piece but that's also unethical. You're cheating someone else into getting a bad phone because you did something stupid with it.
Well thank you for concrete response. According to tricking the seller, I often saw situations where the phone wasn't damaged by the customer on purpose, the device literally had some fabric issues and their repair was rejected so it's nothing new that you have to cheat to get your phone exchanged. Anyway, I didn't open the phone yet. Camera lens cleaned "itself". Trying with hair dryer didn't help, I wanted to open it but had no time, the phone still works fine and I think I won't have to open it yet. I know using the device like that is dangerous but my phone was under the shower for like 10 seconds and I avoided to make contact with the USB C port and headphone jack so I think the only way water could get in was the camera lens itself. If my POCO will screw up later, I'll just try to repair it or buy a new phone. In the conclusion, yeah, I won't get any IP rated phone (no matter how high that rating is) into the water on purpose. Thank you for your advice