[Q] Screen dead spots after a dunk - EVO 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I dunked my phone in water but rescued it quickly and dried it out. The phone mostly works except for two dead spots where the W and S keys are in portrait mode. (When I press each of these keys, they register either or both of the letters next to them on the keyboard.) I have the same problem whether using the stock or swype keyboard.
I will dry the phone out more, between uses to see if ridding the phone of any excess moisture helps.
Any ideas on the problem and solution?
I don't have TEP. Given that the phone is rooted and probably has wet damage indications, would Sprint repair the screen or digitizer if I paid the $35? The phone is five weeks old.
If not, would self-repair with a digitizer bought off the internet likely fix the problem? Or is the problem likely to be elsewhere upstream of the digitizer?
TIA

dynamicpda said:
I don't have TEP. Given that the phone is rooted and probably has wet damage indications, would Sprint repair the screen or digitizer if I paid the $35? The phone is five weeks old.
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No, they won't. Once it hits liquid, the store won't touch it at all.

entropism said:
No, they won't. Once it hits liquid, the store won't touch it at all.
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Thanks for the reply. I dried it a few hours more with the dessicant and the problem seems to have fixed itself. We'll see if it stays fixed.

dynamicpda said:
Thanks for the reply. I dried it a few hours more with the dessicant and the problem seems to have fixed itself. We'll see if it stays fixed.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, these screens don't do too well with the least bit of water/moisture on them. As long as you dried it thoroughly you should be in the clear. Glad to hear it worked out

Taking a shower and streaming pandora not a good idea then?

Out of curiosity, where is the moisture indicator sticker on the Evo?

SolsticeZero said:
Out of curiosity, where is the moisture indicator sticker on the Evo?
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There is a few of them that I know of. One is on the battery, another on the back under the battery cover and a third buried somewhere in the phone.

dynamicpda said:
Thanks for the reply. I dried it a few hours more with the dessicant and the problem seems to have fixed itself. We'll see if it stays fixed.
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Click to collapse
Usually, and I mean usually, these things are dried for a couple of days. With batteries pulled.
Get access to a real desiccator with something like Drierite, have them suck all the all air out with a water aspirator, and leave it in for a few hours.
That ought to do it.

I went Jet Skiing with my EVO a while back, and got it completely soaked. The phone went completely dead, so I took out the battery and let it dry. After drying in the sun for a while, I turned it on, and it was able to boot, but my entire screen was a different color with blotches of water marks. I tried drying it out in the sun some more, putting it in rice, you name it. Nothing worked, but it ended up fixing itself after a few days. The water marks just slowly went away, now it is completely back to normal. I hope its the same case with yours. My EVO has the OLED screen, not the Super LCD.

Has nobody here learned the "bag of rice" trick? Put a handful or two of dry rice into a ziplock bag. Take your battery out of your phone, leave the cover off and put all of it in the bag of rice. Leave it for 24 hours. It's worked for everyone I know almost every time.
Now, jetskiing with your phone might be a bit much, but it'll fix a phone dropped in a toilet and rescued fairly quickly.

The dead zone problem came back and now I have discovered it is a whole strip running up and down the length of the screen pass through the W and S keys in portrait mode; if I use the phone in landscape mode with the keyboard on that side, the whole lower strip of keys do not work. (The temp solution is the type in landscape on the other side.)
I drove to the market the moment it happened and got instant rice to dry it out in. Later I got Damp-Rid from Home Depot.
I haven't seen a real dessicator since chem lab back in college. I do have a food saver vacuum sealer.... if i could find the missing hose part I lost!
One other problem with the display is it being washed out and streaky (vertically) sometimes upon boot. This started happening BEFORE the dunk; I'm still seeing it from time to time. Rebooting once or twice usually fixes it.

Man I hope your phone recovers! Stories like this make me sad.
Sent from my Full Android using XDA App

nabbed said:
Usually, and I mean usually, these things are dried for a couple of days. With batteries pulled.
Get access to a real desiccator with something like Drierite, have them suck all the all air out with a water aspirator, and leave it in for a few hours.
That ought to do it.
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Click to collapse
nabbed, that's brilliant. i've been using Damp-Rid, your aspirator idea led me to use the Food Saver system to speed the drying proces. I stuck the phone and damp rid dessicant in a FS food container and sucked all the air out. I'll leave it overnight and see what happens.

LearnIIBurn said:
Man I hope your phone recovers! Stories like this make me sad.
Sent from my Full Android using XDA App
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I use to laugh at phone who dunked their phone until it happened to me, I understood. We love our phones too much; it's a constant part of our lives.
Boundaries must be drawn!

xHausx said:
There is a few of them that I know of. One is on the battery, another on the back under the battery cover and a third buried somewhere in the phone.
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I lost the official red battery. Been using replacements. And I didn't pay attention to the moisture indicators before the accident, so I don't know any color changes. I just see several red stickers on the red plastic inside the phone. The only obvious water indicator is a slightly opaque plastic chamber that seems to have a rubber gasket around it. It's located to the right of the camera. When the phone was wet you could see water sloshing inside. Now that the phone is largely dry, you can see a few small droplets. It doesn't seem to have another purpose other than to hold water.

That small chamber your talking about is the speaker. If you play music and put your finger over it, you'll lose almost all sound.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Why dont you have insurance? You a retail $450 phone rooted and no insurance.

entropism said:
No, they won't. Once it hits liquid, the store won't touch it at all.
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That is only if you don't have TES.
Also, to buy a new screen it costs $100, even if you have TES or not. Sucks major balls.

letshaveDEX said:
That is only if you don't have TES.
Also, to buy a new screen it costs $100, even if you have TES or not. Sucks major balls.
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I think you mean TEP, and no it is not $100 for a replacement screen. For a non liquid damaged phone it is Free with any ESRP or TEP on the account.
IF, any customer has not been paying the $4 for ESRP or the $7 for TEP the repair fee is $35 for screen repair with the option to add TEP after repair...but again...not for liquid damage. Liquid damage is something we do not repair around or for, we consider the phone Damaged Beyond repair and set you up with the # and website for Asurion insurance for the replacement.
The plans changed around 4 months back.

letshaveDEX said:
That is only if you don't have TES.
Also, to buy a new screen it costs $100, even if you have TES or not. Sucks major balls.
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OK, let me clarify: Like I said before, if you have TEP or not, the STORE will not touch a liquid damaged phone. You can order a replacement phone through Asurion for $100 if you do have TEP, you're ****ed if you don't.

Related

i just dropped my tilt 2 in water...

yea i can't believe it happened... my question is i have flashed a cooked ROM before and all and now i am running spb mobile shell with a custom theme from mobilecustoms.... i do have a warranty on my phone... do you think i can get away with replacing my phone?? i notice that my sleep/wake button does not work and the vibration feeling is very low... so do i need to flash to a the stock ROM? can i leave it the way it is and bring it to them? does insurance even cover water damage??? any help is MUCH APPRECIATED. thanks!
Take the battery out. Put the battery and the phone in a bag of rice for 2 days. After that the phone should work fine. My wife did this with her Blackberry and it worked fine after a couple days.
Typically insurance doesn't cover "water" damage as they can tell you did it. On the battery and on the inside of the phone there are 2 stickers than turn red when they get wet. So once you take it in and ask, they will crack open the phone. Never hurts to ask though.
drhuggybear said:
Take the battery out. Put the battery and the phone in a bag of rice for 2 days. After that the phone should work fine. My wife did this with her Blackberry and it worked fine after a couple days.
Typically insurance doesn't cover "water" damage as they can tell you did it. On the battery and on the inside of the phone there are 2 stickers than turn red when they get wet. So once you take it in and ask, they will crack open the phone. Never hurts to ask though.
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really rice? lol. ahhh i dont have any rice at the moment lol. ive been meaning to buy some as well... anyways yea the stickers i noticed that.... but if i were to bring it in and they saw how my phone was modded but using spb mobile shell, does that void the warranty?
toawkanavngthded said:
yea i can't believe it happened... my question is i have flashed a cooked ROM before and all and now i am running spb mobile shell with a custom theme from mobilecustoms.... i do have a warranty on my phone... do you think i can get away with replacing my phone?? i notice that my sleep/wake button does not work and the vibration feeling is very low... so do i need to flash to a the stock ROM? can i leave it the way it is and bring it to them? does insurance even cover water damage??? any help is MUCH APPRECIATED. thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shame to hear about your Rhodium
Covering it with rice is a common practice to absorb the humidity
I don´t remember where but I´m sure in general section I read a thread regarding solving water probs.
Hope you can save it
And don´t forget to vote!
Are you sure insurance doesnt cover water damage? I thought warranty didnt, but insurance covers from what I know any incidents. U might want to double check that. And as for SPB Mobile shell no they wont care about that.
And if the rice idea doesnt work, then take the phone and put it under direct sunlight for 4 hours with the screen facing down and no battery or battery cover. If you are in winter where you live, then do not put it outside, but keep in a warm room with direct sunlight shining thru for about 4 hours. My Ex's daugther did the same with her pantec and the rice didnt work, but my idea did
orb3000 said:
Shame to hear about your Rhodium
Covering it with rice is a common practice to absorb the humidity
I don´t remember where but I´m sure in general section I read a thread regarding solving water probs.
Hope you can save it
And don´t forget to vote!
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Click to collapse
thanks! the sleep/wake button comes and goes... other than that it seems like its still working good.... . ill see what happens though... i wanna see if my insurances covers it....
AngelDeath said:
Are you sure insurance doesnt cover water damage? I thought warranty didnt, but insurance covers from what I know any incidents. U might want to double check that. And as for SPB Mobile shell no they wont care about that.
And if the rice idea doesnt work, then take the phone and put it under direct sunlight for 4 hours with the screen facing down and no battery or battery cover. If you are in winter where you live, then do not put it outside, but keep in a warm room with direct sunlight shining thru for about 4 hours. My Ex's daugther did the same with her pantec and the rice didnt work, but my idea did
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Click to collapse
u made a good point... now that i think about it i think ur right about the warranty and insurance. even if i have a modded theme from spb mobile shell? if so that would be great! but i hard spl my phone from before... is there a way of them finding out? do i need to do the whole rice thing or place phone in direct sunlight??? that sounds a good idea . should i call a rep or just go to the at&t store?
Sunlight + Rice.
I dropped my old phone into water (completely immersed), but was workign after 2 days of drying.
As for the hacked shell, unless you modified you ROM (HardSPL?) you're OK.
Warranty does not cover water damage, but insurance should.
Rice seriously? LoL
Thats just a silly old myth.
As somebody who has opened up many phones before, I know for a fact that it's just a silly myth people believe in.
Think about it, is the rice going to magically suck the water out of the phone through the tightly sealed housing.
Rice is not going to do anything.
What you need to do is order is some torx screws off ebay and read a disassembly tutorial so that you can dry out your phone the proper way.
http://forum.smartphonejunkie.com/f498/touch-pro-2-basic-disassembly-pictures-56k-warning-192003/
I went snorkeling with my Touch Pro
When I took it back to the service, first thing they looked at is the stickers and told me its water damaged and that warranty is now gone. Firstly, I gave it lots of sunlight, then got a new battery, then opened the whole thing up. Yep, it took me a while but it was cool to have a look inside. What I found is that water did not really hurt it, but salt did. Using a cotton bud and pure alcohol I cleaned up all contact and solder points on PCB.
It works finenow, except the screen has visible marks, almost like dead pixels, where salt ate it away.
Rice seriously? LoL
Thats just a silly old myth.
As somebody who has opened up many phones before, I know for a fact that it's just a silly myth people believe in.
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Click to collapse
Have you ever tried it? If you haven't then how can you be so condesending about it?
As someone who has done this and seen it work ... I believe in it. The phone was not opened. Was not put in direct sunlight but kept in a drawer in a ziploc baggie full of rice. 2 days later it powered on and ran for almost a year before we upgraded my wife to another device. I would bet that if I pulled it out of the drawer and charged the battery it would probably still work but who wants to use a blackberry
As with anything, your milage may vary but it worked fine for me.
kmx said:
Rice seriously? LoL
Thats just a silly old myth.
As somebody who has opened up many phones before, I know for a fact that it's just a silly myth people believe in.
Think about it, is the rice going to magically suck the water out of the phone through the tightly sealed housing.
Rice is not going to do anything.
What you need to do is order is some torx screws off ebay and read a disassembly tutorial so that you can dry out your phone the proper way.
http://forum.smartphonejunkie.com/f498/touch-pro-2-basic-disassembly-pictures-56k-warning-192003/
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Click to collapse
If the housing was really tightly sealed it wouldn't get enough water into it to break the thing. The rice trick won't work if it was anything othan than plain water, but it generally works well for water spills.
kmx said:
Rice seriously? LoL
Thats just a silly old myth.
As somebody who has opened up many phones before, I know for a fact that it's just a silly myth people believe in.
Think about it, is the rice going to magically suck the water out of the phone through the tightly sealed housing.
Rice is not going to do anything.
What you need to do is order is some torx screws off ebay and read a disassembly tutorial so that you can dry out your phone the proper way.
http://forum.smartphonejunkie.com/f498/touch-pro-2-basic-disassembly-pictures-56k-warning-192003/
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Click to collapse
Yes, make sure you add spices, and brown rice for extra flavor.. Seriously, get a clue. It's a dessicant. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiccant
The rice also helps speed up evapouration since it can absorb moisture in the air surrounding the device and it's readily available. You can use absorbing gel used by people like photographers instead if you want, but you can't cook and serve it with your meal afterwards (just kidding).
In fact, you don't need to use rice or any other material at all - take out the batt and leave it to air dry opened, but this can take over a week or two, even longer if the humidity is high.
PS. I read elsewhere an alternative to rice is to submerge it in alcohol, let the alcohol absorb the water then take it out and let the alcohol evapourate....
I also have to admit that it worked for me. The most important thing about water is to try and vacuum it up out of the phone. Hot air just forces it into places it may not have been. I then put it in a jar with rice for about a week. When all was said and done it worked fine. I may have worked anyways but I figured I had nothing to lose.
toawkanavngthded said:
thanks! the sleep/wake button comes and goes... other than that it seems like its still working good.... . ill see what happens though... i wanna see if my insurances covers it....
u made a good point... now that i think about it i think ur right about the warranty and insurance. even if i have a modded theme from spb mobile shell? if so that would be great! but i hard spl my phone from before... is there a way of them finding out? do i need to do the whole rice thing or place phone in direct sunlight??? that sounds a good idea . should i call a rep or just go to the at&t store?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont know about the hard spl, the SBP mobile shell is not tinkering with it, custom roms, or hard spl might, insurance I dont know, but if anything I would get a stock rom for your carrier, and if you do a search there is a spl reversal which can lock your phone back. And you dont put it under direct sunlight in the rice bag. If rice didnt work, then you put it under direct sunlight screen down in the open air.
As for person who said "mythical" rice. I beg to differ, as someone said it does absorb moisture that is in the air. Rice is not solid, its a grain which any science nut would know is poreous, which just like carbon can adsorb and absorb moisture in the air, hence putting a wet phone in a ziplock bag would indeed remove water and water vapors due to evaporation.
But also take something else into account, the rice idea only works for a certain amount of time, to the person who said they left it in the rice for a week, sorry the rice didnt get rid of the water, normal sequence of water drying did, you could have taken that same phone and left it on your kitchen counter that long and it would have worked just the same.
And as a side note. Salt works too, its just too fine to put a phone into it. And I never thought of the alcohol trick, maybe I'll try that with a phone I could careless about, til then not a chance.
Lastly, anyone who buys bagels by the dozen, if they give you a bakers dozen, get a salt bagel and leave it in the bag with the bagels, helps keep the rest of the bagels fresh
We now return you to our regularly scheduled program, already in progress LOL!
Don't cook the rice first!
thank you all for ur responses. the night i dropped my phone i just took out the battery and just wiped everything as dry as i can. i had to charge my phone that night and so i did it anyways... the next morning it charged fine and everything was working fine... that night my sleep/wake button started functioning correctly. the only problem i have is that my vibration isnt as strong but its ok. so i guess i got lucky? i have insurance so if anything starts acting up ill try my best to switch it.
If you have insurance (you pay monthly) then it is covered, but there is a $125 deductible I believe. If you do not have insurance and are referring to the 1-year warranty then no, water damage is not covered.
petard said:
If you have insurance (you pay monthly) then it is covered, but there is a $125 deductible I believe. If you do not have insurance and are referring to the 1-year warranty then no, water damage is not covered.
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Click to collapse
My insurance paper says that the insurance co pay is 50 bucks. That being said, if you can go without your phone for a few days, pay the deductible and tell em that you LOST your phone. Asurion does cover the phone if it is lost.
PS. The rice does actually work. I didn't believe it myself, But I had to do that once on my Touch Pro 1 and two days later the phone was completely dry, and worked like a charm.
jmy72 said:
My insurance paper says that the insurance co pay is 50 bucks. That being said, if you can go without your phone for a few days, pay the deductible and tell em that you LOST your phone. Asurion does cover the phone if it is lost.
PS. The rice does actually work. I didn't believe it myself, But I had to do that once on my Touch Pro 1 and two days later the phone was completely dry, and worked like a charm.
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lost phones are an $80 co-pay through asurion, not sure how the other insurance companies are.
*edit*
I've had an experience dropping my Treo 700wx in water. The screen was shot for a couple days (and you could see the receding water). After about 4 days it was working fine with just about everything but I still replaced the phone and the replacement refurbished phone was worse than the original. Basically water damage isn't too bad, just let it dry and don't use it for a couple days. It will shorten its lifespan, but it will still work. At the very least its better than getting a refurbished phone, because in my experience those seem to have more problems.

Water damage already... question.

So installing a zagg shield like I have done countless of times, spray shield lightly, install shield, squeegee out bubbles... Phone turned on and booted fine, and than the screen went crazy.
The water indicator at the bottom of the phone does show a slight water mark, so I am out of luck in that department... what's the best way to go about getting a new one? I know sprint does not cover water damage, but with the 7$ insurance can't you just pay a 50$ deductible?
Be careful around water with this thing, my Nexus one and Mytouch never had a issue when installing a shield or getting caught out in a slight rain drizzle.
Anthony
I think the insurance deductible for evo is $150. You can try returning it and say it was doa. They may not check it since you just got it.
Sorry to hear yours got water damaged. I just got the sprint insurance on my evo. But what you're saying is that sprint insurance doesn't cover water damage...correct?
If that's the case since I bought my evo off of ebay, I'm going to buy the squaretrade insurance also.i think they cover water damage.
Sent from my Sprint HTC Evo
pirarre said:
Sorry to hear yours got water damaged. I just got the sprint insurance on my evo. But what you're saying is that sprint insurance doesn't cover water damage...correct?
If that's the case since I bought my evo off of ebay, I'm going to buy the squaretrade insurance also.i think they cover water damage.
Sent from my Sprint HTC Evo
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Insurance covers anything. Warranty does not cover water damage.
Guess I'll run by sprint tomorrow and see what they say....
I think the deductible is actually 100$, but... either way I'll find out tomorrow.
Still can't believe that slight amount of water did that though, I figured it would be sealed up tighter.
Did u squeegiethe water towards the earpieceor what? I don't see how this could happen......
TAKE OUT THE BATTERY NOW. Then put it and the battery in rice for 24 hours and then try it. If it doesn't work then you broke it by leaving the battery in thus far. You can go back and complain and they might give u another for free. Otherwise you have to pay the insurance.
Rennat said:
TAKE OUT THE BATTERY NOW. Then put it and the battery in rice for 24 hours and then try it. If it doesn't work then you broke it by leaving the battery in thus far. You can go back and complain and they might give u another for free. Otherwise you have to pay the insurance.
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Click to collapse
Heh, that was the first thing I did... It's been in the rice ever sense.
Going to try it in the morning and see what happens. If it doesn't work I'll go to sprint and pay the 100$ something, and get a new one. Sucks though for sure.
Blackhalo said:
Heh, that was the first thing I did... It's been in the rice ever sense.
Going to try it in the morning and see what happens. If it doesn't work I'll go to sprint and pay the 100$ something, and get a new one. Sucks though for sure.
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Now I know I am not the only smart one in the world! jk
Where are the water damage indicators on the phone?
Sent from my Sprint HTC Evo
pirarre said:
Where are the water damage indicators on the phone?
Sent from my Sprint HTC Evo
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One on the battery and the other is on the bottom of the phone under the battery.
Blackhalo said:
One on the battery and the other is on the bottom of the phone under the battery.
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Click to collapse
Sprint really took some liberties with the placement of the water damage indicator. It couldn't be any closer to the edge of the battery door without physically being outside the case itself. I managed to get a droplet of water on it already when I was applying my invisible shield so my warranty is essentially shot. Thank goodness I put TEP on immediately after purchasing the phone.
You are supposed to let your phone dry for 24 hrs (if not at least half that). Why would you power it up immediately after applying it is beyond me...
Blackhalo said:
One on the battery and the other is on the bottom of the phone under the battery.
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So the water sensors are those small checkered striped things?
kellte2 said:
Sprint really took some liberties with the placement of the water damage indicator. It couldn't be any closer to the edge of the battery door without physically being outside the case itself. I managed to get a droplet of water on it already when I was applying my invisible shield so my warranty is essentially shot. Thank goodness I put TEP on immediately after purchasing the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You did that by putting the Zagg on? I ordered one of those half price on Monday. I've had them for my iPhones, iPads etc. But for some strange reason I'm having second thoughts about putting it on this phone.
Obviously something was done incorrectly here. The sticker on the bottom of the battery is not a water indicator...mine was red out of the box.
No, it wasn't dredge. It was crosshatched red & white, it looks semi-pinkish. When it gets wet, it's a DEEP red color, can't be ignored.
entropism said:
No, it wasn't dredge. It was crosshatched red & white, it looks semi-pinkish. When it gets wet, it's a DEEP red color, can't be ignored.
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Ok I see now....yeah mine is pink and white checkered look. But when it get activated it gets even more red?
Sent from my Sprint HTC Evo
i just noticed my sensor under battery is pink with red checkers...am i screwed
think with me for a moment, couldn't you cover the wet strip with a small paper cut out and then put some of the cut out self laminate over the whole strip? if these are that temperamental to water such as an invisible shield prep spray then this might be worth doing. ive never done it nore have i seen EVO's strip im just throwing ideas out there.
Zagg good for laptop and ipad type of things I had it on mi iphone and
last me two months or so had it on my hd2 same thing guess carrying it around in your hand make the product stretching or something corners where were perfect starts to peal that's on cellphones
Sent from my EVO using tapatalk

Evo in a Hot Tub :(

Sorry, forgot to put my thread title as a question.
So, this new appartment i'm at has a hot tub and 2 pools available, so tonight we decided to go to the hot tub. I usually take my phone with me to play music as we are sitting around relaxing by the pool or hot tub(speaker is loud enough to put it a fair distance away). This time, being the idiot that I am, i walked into the hot tub with the phone in my pocket, took me a good minute or two before i realized. I realized this, having just turned the phone on two minutes before i went to the pool after swapping batteries, and took it out of my pocket and it wasn't on. Took the battery out immediately and wrapped it in my towel, brought it in about ten minutes later, wiped up remaining water, and put it in to a jar full of rice. Thing is, i had a 3rd party battery in it when it was there, i know the water damage indicator is on the battery(not sure if there are more in the phone). Because i didn't have the default batter in it, in case that it does work(which it probably won't, i can see water under the screen), would i possibly be able to get away with saying it just stopped working? I looked at the ifixit teardown and only saw them point out 1 water damage indicator, on the battery. So XDA, am i screwed or what? From what i looked up sprint doesn't cover water damage, which sucks, what, if they find out, will i have to pay to replace my evo?
I think I would be astounded at HTC's stupidity if the only water damage indicator was on the most easily user-replacable part: the battery. Seriously, there would be absolutely no point in having a water damage indicator if anyone could just buy a new battery, throw it in, and claim that their Evo just somehow stopped working.
If you have insurance, it covers water damage-- but just like loss or theft, you have to pony up for the $100 deductible.
sohr said:
I think I would be astounded at HTC's stupidity if the only water damage indicator was on the most easily user-replacable part: the battery. Seriously, there would be absolutely no point in having a water damage indicator if anyone could just buy a new battery, throw it in, and claim that their Evo just somehow stopped working.
If you have insurance, it covers water damage-- but just like loss or theft, you have to pony up for the $100 deductible.
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Click to collapse
I was guessing there were more, but I was going specifically off of what i remember from the ifixit teardown. Well, that's a bummer, i was hoping it was more like $50, but $100 isn't bad, could be worse :\.
I dropped mine in the water for like 3 seconds this week. I actually called Sprint and they told me as long as I have insurance (which I do) they would cover it. I heard the rice thing works but I didn't try it. What I DID do, was put my phone in the oven at 100F for about 2 hours. I just put a cookie sheet in there and put my phone on a paper towel. I know people say "oh wtf you put it in the oven?!?!" but really......100F isn't a temp that your phone never sees so there really isnt any harm. Anyways, it worked GREAT for me. Pulled all the water out of the screen and out of the camera lens and now it works perfectly.
oh wtf you put it in the oven?!?!
It's a good thing you and your friends don't like to enjoy a slice of toast in the hot tub.
I have a water damage indicator like..RIGHT inside the bottom right side of the back. Just under the battery cover. Does nobody elses phone have one right there?
Also, I've seen pictures of the motherboard of the phone. There is one on there was well.
...in 1943, I killed a drifter.
felacio said:
I have a water damage indicator like..RIGHT inside the bottom right side of the back. Just under the battery cover. Does nobody elses phone have one right there?
Also, I've seen pictures of the motherboard of the phone. There is one on there was well.
...in 1943, I killed a drifter.
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Is it that small piece of tape on the left of the bottom right screw? I dont see anything other than that.
MJStephens said:
Is it that small piece of tape on the left of the bottom right screw? I dont see anything other than that.
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No, its to the right. Not all the way, closer to the middle than it is to the corner. Its a white square with red stripes. I have an 002. Might be different on 003. *shrug*
...in 1943, I killed a drifter.
felacio said:
No, its to the right. Not all the way, closer to the middle than it is to the corner. Its a white square with red stripes. I have an 002. Might be different on 003. *shrug*
...in 1943, I killed a drifter.
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Yeah I found it. There is one on my battery too. The red stripes indicate water damage? Because mine have red stripes haha.
here's what I would try, this worked on my Zune HD when it got soaked in a cup of vodka, and hopefully this works on my friend's samsung phone she just got. Take the phone apart completely, use q-tips to dry it, use q-tips with rubbing alchohol to clear the water and any buildup of crap from the water, then put the individual parts in rice, which will dry it much faster. Afterwards, maybe 2-3 days later, put device back together and BAM! it works! my Zune's been working for 2 weeks now with no problems, and the liquid was under the screen, and my friend's phone, well she dropped it in the toilet yesterday, and it's sitting in pieces yet to be put into rice, too busy right now, will do it later.
A few years ago my friend did a cannonball into the pool and realized mid-air that his phone was still in his pocket. I'll never forget the expression on his face.
Sent from my FROYO'D EVO using xda app
MJStephens said:
Yeah I found it. There is one on my battery too. The red stripes indicate water damage? Because mine have red stripes haha.
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No, all red is a triggered indicator. The red pattern is so that you can't bleach the indicator and lie about what happened.
I have tried the rice thing.. takes too long. My to2 I have dropped in the toilet (fell out of my sweatshirt front pocket while lifting to take a leak) fell in a puddle and a beer poured on it. Stick works great. What I did is present over to 200 degrees. Once presented place phone without battery and back onto middle rack onto if a cloth. Leave for an hour. Check phone to see if water is in screen. Repeat process 2-4 times.
With the rice I had a problem of dust and rice stuck on phone. Hard to get out of cracks. Also you can go to Sprint and say your battery isnt working without your phone if with your phone after you don't the oven trick. They should replace it. If they see that its been water damage tell them you had a lol brother or sister take your battery out and found it like that. They prob will check to see if phone works with new one and should. Good luck.. this saved me plenty of times. The tp2 was from us cellular and did battery exchanges no questions asked.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Your battery might of shorted out. When you put back together charge first because the water drains the charge. If it doesn't work after a charge you need a new battery.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
MJStephens said:
I dropped mine in the water for like 3 seconds this week. I actually called Sprint and they told me as long as I have insurance (which I do) they would cover it. I heard the rice thing works but I didn't try it. What I DID do, was put my phone in the oven at 100F for about 2 hours. I just put a cookie sheet in there and put my phone on a paper towel. I know people say "oh wtf you put it in the oven?!?!" but really......100F isn't a temp that your phone never sees so there really isnt any harm. Anyways, it worked GREAT for me. Pulled all the water out of the screen and out of the camera lens and now it works perfectly.
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i dont know that i ever saw an oven that has a temp below 200
nicholaaaas said:
i dont know that i ever saw an oven that has a temp below 200
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Be smarter than the over....crack the door.
apristel said:
Be smarter than the over....crack the door.
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My oven goes all the way down to 100
Not reccomended but....at my store's service in repair we didnt go off just indicators alone, altho the motherboard one is fairly hard to say it didnt get soaked to.
butt the battery and outside one yes, If you tear the phone down and clean off the corrosion most of the time the phone will function fine after that.
Second benefit is that if there is no corrosion then we normally replace the phone in store anyway.
YMMV
anyway if it cant be saved via standard preventative stuff time to make an insurance claim :-(
Not sure if this method will work for everyone but it worked for my old Nokia phone. I washed it with a load of laundry and dried it in the dryer. Found the phone in the dryer, wouldn't turn on so I pulled the battery and stuck it back in, phone worked great after that.

I'm an idiot ..

as the title says, i was applying the ZAGG invisibleshield wet screen protector to my gnex, had to apply the liquid a couple of times since i didn't position it right in the first try, the phone worked ok for like 1h, after that started freezing, when i take the battery out and reboot, it gets to the enter pin screen then freezes there, sometimes i manage to get to the homescreens, but that's the far i can get , coz it freezes again, i just put it in a bag of dry rice and will leave it for a day or 2, not sure how much liquid got in and if it can be fixed anyways. does anybody have a better suggestion? or any tip i might try? i'm pretty sure the liquid got into the speaker when i was using the squeegee. damn.
Take the battery out. Put the phone in a cup of rubbing alcohol for ~5 min. Take it out. Take it apart and blow dry it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
let us know if the alcohol works. i've always been curious about this. would the alcohol get under the screen and maybe leave some particles or residue behind? esp if theres some glue or something inside the phone that would get dissolved.
neotekz said:
let us know if the alcohol works. i've always been curious about this. would the alcohol get under the screen and maybe leave some particles or residue behind? esp if theres some glue or something inside the phone that would get dissolved.
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Well rubbing alcohol will evaporate REALLY fast. Just make sure everything gets dried before you turn it on.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
I would not dunk my phone in alcohol. Just blow dry it for a while then leave it in rice for a week.
Putting your phone in rubbing alcohol (or any alcohol really) is a bad idea. You know how it is sold in 70% or 90% purity levels? You know what that other 10-30% is? Water. I would put it in rice for a day and hope for the best, take the battery out and put it in the bag as well, along with the back cover.
Had you followed the instructions for the ZAGG invisible shield, you would have taken the battery out and left it out for the installation and another 12-24 hours after installation to avoid an issue such as this. Live and learn though. I've installed them 4 different times and have done the same each time, leaving the battery out for at least 12 hours, though usually closer to 18-20 hours and the first time, a full day.
i dont know why people use those type of screen protection. it gives orange peel feel.
any way, you can always call custom support and told them your phone keep freezing and reboot. they will send u a refurbish one. if your phone is rooted or running other rom, dont do it.
lol dunking your phone in alcohol, have you even done that yourself?
zeke1988 said:
any way, you can always call custom support and told them your phone keep freezing and reboot. they will send u a refurbish one. if your phone is rooted or running other rom, dont do it.
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Yes, commit fraud AFTER posting about it online. If you ever wonder why devices and insurance costs are going up (and then you complain about them), this is the reason right here.
Go to hobby lobby and buy some silica or what ever its called. The stuff that comes in new shoes to collect moisture. Put in a zip lock bag with that stuff for a couple days. It'll works better than rice.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
ddgarcia05 said:
Go to hobby lobby and buy some silica or what ever its called. The stuff that comes in new shoes to collect moisture. Put in a zip lock bag with that stuff for a couple days. It'll works better than rice.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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This and rice will leave tiny particles under the screen unless u rinse it first...... which will negate the whole process anyways. Isopropyl rubbing alcohol will work. Look for the 100% stuff
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
imnuts said:
Yes, commit fraud AFTER posting about it online. If you ever wonder why devices and insurance costs are going up (and then you complain about them), this is the reason right here.
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Phones are getting more expensive because someone returns it after it stops working, after applying a screen protector? Are you sure it's not from the advancements in technology and the increasing demands for rare minerals.
Please tell us more
Sent from my HTC One X
imnuts said:
Had you followed the instructions for the ZAGG invisible shield, you would have taken the battery out and left it out for the installation and another 12-24 hours after installation to avoid an issue such as this. Live and learn though. I've installed them 4 different times and have done the same each time, leaving the battery out for at least 12 hours, though usually closer to 18-20 hours and the first time, a full day.
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i turned the phone off and took out the battery for the installation, but i powered it on like 30min after that, i didn't a warning anywhere where it said to leave it for additional time off, plus all these people on youtube apply it without even turning the phone off.
i didn't do the alcohol trick though, as my phone didn't fall into a swimming pool, i'm kinda hoping the amount of liquid the entered was not that big, plus it's not water, it's that special solution that comes with the screen protector, it usually has a bigger density and also evaporates quicker than water, so i'm hoping the corrosion won't be big. anyways, it's stilll inside a closed bag of rice, it's been in there for ~21hrs , will keep it maybe for an additional day just in case. the problem is i powered the phone on when it started freezing a couple of times, instead of putting it right away to dry.
Phones are not getting more expensive due to "insurance fraud". Load of crap.
The simplest reason is because we pay.
Good luck with your phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Rubbing alcohol? I presume you're trying to make sure the guy's phone dies completely so he can get a new one.
rayiskon said:
i turned the phone off and took out the battery for the installation, but i powered it on like 30min after that, i didn't a warning anywhere where it said to leave it for additional time off, plus all these people on youtube apply it without even turning the phone off.
i didn't do the alcohol trick though, as my phone didn't fall into a swimming pool, i'm kinda hoping the amount of liquid the entered was not that big, plus it's not water, it's that special solution that comes with the screen protector, it usually has a bigger density and also evaporates quicker than water, so i'm hoping the corrosion won't be big. anyways, it's stilll inside a closed bag of rice, it's been in there for ~21hrs , will keep it maybe for an additional day just in case. the problem is i powered the phone on when it started freezing a couple of times, instead of putting it right away to dry.
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The "special" liquid is just water and soap...
zeke1988 said:
i dont know why people use those type of screen protection. it gives orange peel feel.
any way, you can always call custom support and told them your phone keep freezing and reboot. they will send u a refurbish one. if your phone is rooted or running other rom, dont do it.
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XO screen protector here with no orange peel, and feels much smoother than a dry apply. You were saying?
The rubbing alcohol has drying properties. It evaporates very quickly and takes the water residue with it
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
justin94 said:
This and rice will leave tiny particles under the screen unless u rinse it first...... which will negate the whole process anyways. Isopropyl rubbing alcohol will work. Look for the 100% stuff
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
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Consumers can't buy 100% pure alcohol, even if you could, I still wouldn't use it as alcohol isn't that chemically different from water, so it would still be bad for the internals of the device.
ChongoDroid said:
Phones are getting more expensive because someone returns it after it stops working, after applying a screen protector? Are you sure it's not from the advancements in technology and the increasing demands for rare minerals.
Please tell us more
Sent from my HTC One X
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Click to collapse
UltraBoykj said:
Phones are not getting more expensive due to "insurance fraud". Load of crap.
The simplest reason is because we pay.
Good luck with your phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
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People returning phones that they knew they had broken and voided the warranty is why companies make it that much harder to get warranty replacements now. You think that Sprint, VZW, and Asurion raised the cost of insurance plus the deductible just to make extra money? How naive are people? I also like the fact that three different people suggested returning the phone after it almost certainly had water damage. If the water set off one of the indicators in the phone, then the OP would be screwed and get charged full retail for the replacement.
i agree with the rubbing alcohol theory, it helps against possible future corrosion issues, but as my phone didn't fall into a swimming pool or washing machine i didn't want to go extreme on it, so i picked the rice method, looked all over for silica gel bags, i know i have them somewhere ,but couldn't find them, so i only ended up with the rice method. i took the phone out now, after being 25 hrs in the rice package, it powered up well, got passed the pin screen (where it used to freeze) with no problems, and so far so good, tried the speaker it worked, also tried calling myself from another phone and in-call speaker is also working. will keep an eye on it, hopefully i won't have any wifi or signal issues (like other people reported), my only fear is corrosion on the long run, but getting it to work now with no issues would satisfy me at the moment.
edit: the water indicator still looks like this , so hopefully not a lot of liquid entered..

[Q] Question about water damage

So my GS3 fell into the toilet last night at about 3am (totally freaked out) and immediately broke it down and put it in rice. Took it out after about 6 hours and it turns on, but the screen doesn't really work. It'll flicker and I couldn't answer a call. Anyways, I'm wondering if T-MO's insurance (Asurion) will cover it? The store isn't open yet and I wanna know like, now lol. If not, does Samsung have a manufacturers warranty or something? If they both cover it, which will cost me less and get me another phone faster?
Well you going to have to pay around 130 if you got insurance. But dropping your phone is totally your fault so ain't no way around paying that money
Sent from T mobile galaxy s3 (24mbs down) 4g network
Rice doesn't work btw. Use 90 percent or more rubbing alcohol as that drives out water. My brother went swimming with his one phone and I put it in rubbing alcohol for like 30 minutes and dried it using a hair dryer and it worked perfectly. Rubbing alcohol is non conductive so it doesn't short anything out plus it dries insanely fast.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
elesbb said:
Rice doesn't work btw. Use 90 percent or more rubbing alcohol as that drives out water. My brother went swimming with his one phone and I put it in rubbing alcohol for like 30 minutes and dried it using a hair dryer and it worked perfectly. Rubbing alcohol is non conductive so it doesn't short anything out plus it dries insanely fast.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
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I've had a lot of luck with both, but when I use rice I don't take it out after only six hours.. it's more of a twelve hour deal.
I used rice every time once swimming and once after the phone went into the washer with my pants.
And to clear up the blow dryer best not to put on any heat cause that may cause damage to the phone... so I've read.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
mt3g said:
I used rice every time once swimming and once after the phone went into the washer with my pants.
And to clear up the blow dryer best not to put on any heat cause that may cause damage to the phone... so I've read.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
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Yes, if you are using a blow dryer use "low" or "cool" as the setting.
I put in a claim and paid $130 for a replacement. Should arrive today. I put it back in the rice for another 12 hours or so and it works. It's not perfect, but it works pretty well. So far I've had a couple random reboots, the sounds chops up every once in a while (only notifications so far, not video/music/calls) and the flash usually flashes real quick when opening the camera app and sometimes instagram. If anyone is interested in buying it, let me know. T-Mo, blue, 16gb
beanboi said:
I put in a claim and paid $130 for a replacement. Should arrive today. I put it back in the rice for another 12 hours or so and it works. It's not perfect, but it works pretty well. So far I've had a couple random reboots, the sounds chops up every once in a while (only notifications so far, not video/music/calls) and the flash usually flashes real quick when opening the camera app and sometimes instagram. If anyone is interested in buying it, let me know. T-Mo, blue, 16gb
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It will be blacklisted since you filed a claim.
Sent from my SGH-T999
You could part it out though. Digitizer, glass, Motherboard/USB, battery back for that guy the other day complaining about his.
Easily get back your $130 just by selling digitizer and glass.
Also, I've used distilled H2O as it is less corrosive. But since you got the new one, this is for anyone in the future that reads.
Woodrube said:
You could part it out though. Digitizer, glass, Motherboard/USB, battery back for that guy the other day complaining about his.
Easily get back your $130 just by selling digitizer and glass.
Also, I've used distilled H2O as it is less corrosive. But since you got the new one, this is for anyone in the future that reads.
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This is also true. Most people are not aware you can separate the digitizer and the glass, so you can undercut everyone on eBay and still make a decent profit.
Sent from my SGH-T999
Woodrube said:
You could part it out though. Digitizer, glass, Motherboard/USB, battery back for that guy the other day complaining about his.
Easily get back your $130 just by selling digitizer and glass.
Also, I've used distilled H2O as it is less corrosive. But since you got the new one, this is for anyone in the future that reads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
joshnichols189 said:
This is also true. Most people are not aware you can separate the digitizer and the glass, so you can undercut everyone on eBay and still make a decent profit.
Sent from my SGH-T999
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Sweet. How would I go about separating everything? Also, how much would each piece go for? And does anybody know of anyone that wants to buy these parts?
beanboi said:
Sweet. How would I go about separating everything? Also, how much would each piece go for? And does anybody know of anyone that wants to buy these parts?
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I thought that there was a teardown floating around here but it might be on one of the other SGS3 variants. Anyways, you could probably YouTube it and find out.
Only advice I could give would be to have a single drink/smoke/chant/whatever to get your nerves calm and have a delicate touch/ The digitizer is extremely important. I once bought a Vibrant from a guy (I needed the motherboard) who was a little heavy handed and cracked it top-to-bottom with almost no effort.
Just check Ebay for prices and unfortunately you can't sell it here on in the forums, but you can sell it in the MarketPlace, if you have all the pre-reqs.
Good luck.

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