Develop Bugs

Dropped in water, send, windows and back buttons no longer work

I got my new Rhodium (AT&T Tilt 2) on Monday, and I love it. Unfortunately, I was stupid and left it in my shirt pocket while i bent over a bowl of water. Predictably, it fell in. It seems to be working fine as far as making and receiving calls, and there is no problem with the touch screen. The problem is that three of the buttons on the bottom don't work - the send, windows, and back buttons.
I'm willing to take any suggestions. I'll have to end up replacing it anyway, and the warranty's void because it got wet.

If the sticker is white, your good to replace, but try a can of air duster blown around the keys. Or take the battery out and apply a SMALL DROP of rubbing alcohol blowing it out as soon as it seeps in, making sure it evaporates throughly befor reinstalling battery. And blow away from screen.

This may have been the wrong approach, but I basically took a hairdryer and blew straight over the keys that weren't working in hopes that drying under them would cause them to work again.
It worked. Phone appears to be working better now, though it's a bit crackly when I use my bluetooth headset.

Tanalark said:
This may have been the wrong approach, but I basically took a hairdryer and blew straight over the keys that weren't working in hopes that drying under them would cause them to work again.
It worked. Phone appears to be working better now, though it's a bit crackly when I use my bluetooth headset.
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That's good. This is my suggestion: even though the keys are working now, leave the device out in the sun (even better if in a bowl of rice) for a day or two. It'll absorb all the residue that could do damage later on.

yes,a hairdryer or just sun shine can save your device,i suguest you£§d better turn off it before it is dry

Thanks for the advice, guys. So, how long should I leave this thing to dry before I can use it again?

Not the same phone, but I had my HTC Shadow completely immersed in a glass of water. It dried in two days, and resumed working perfectly.
(The sticker was still white, so it would not be under water hazard treatment for warranty).

much better to use compressed air or a vacuum than a hair dryer. The heat and air forces the water into places as a vapor that it cant get to as a liquid. The bag of rice works well as well. You can also put over a heat register in your house that has the fan going to move away evaporated moisture. Contact cleaner also works well as it evaporates and takes some of the dirt and moisture with it.
You are a lucky person to be able to save it. Congratulations

Hey alright it works. the alcohol is more of a last resort thing, but I like the rice idea, gonna go buy some silica gel cat litter just for this purpose.

Phone went for a swim...

Dropped my Evo in the lake over the weekend. It filled up with water and died immediately. I was able to take it all apart and blow it out with compressed air til it was all dried up. The phone now boots fully and everything appears to work (sending this from my Evo!) except for the camera. Neither front or back works and I don't have insurance so Sprint totally turned me away. Does this sound like an easy fix? The camera turns on but the picture is all fuzzy and I can't actually take a photo or video. I found replacements on eBay for around 20 bucks but don't know if that will fix it. Any thoughts?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

it's possible that the compressed air messed up some of the solder on the MotherBoard... i don't know much about phones (mainly work on PC's) but if it's anything like a pc there is a motherboard and the solder could have been weak and the compressed air blew it right off...
or maybe there is still some moisture... if that is the case... i have heard of a couple of solutions... open the phone back up and submerge it in a bowl of rice. let it sit over night... put back together see if that works.
if not... i have heard that dipping it in a bowl of WD-40 and letting it dry over night works...
i have never tried the latter but have used the former once...
as far as replacing the camera itself... i wouldn't know sorry

Replacing the camera modules should be pretty easy. The rear camera module in particular sometimes has a tendency to come loose on its own, so it shouldn't be too much work to remove it. The front camera module should also be pretty easy, though you'd need to do more disassembly to take that out. I would look up the various teardowns of the evo that are available online for details on doing that.
As for whether it will fix your issue; you won't really know until you try. That's one of the things that kinda sucks about water damage, it's not going to do the same thing with every device, that's why in general people usually don't even bother trying to fix water damage and either live with the damage or get a replacement.

Best bet for a fix is to take out the battery and submerge the phone in distilled water and let it soak, slight aggitate the water.
That should remove any deposits on the board. The problem with normal water is it has all kinds of crap in it that get left behind if you just let it air dry.
Than take it out and stick it in a bag of uncooked rice to 3 days to dry it out.
Power on and test.

Bielinsk said:
Best bet for a fix is to take out the battery and submerge the phone in distilled water and let it soak, slight aggitate the water.
That should remove any deposits on the board. The problem with normal water is it has all kinds of crap in it that get left behind if you just let it air dry.
Than take it out and stick it in a bag of uncooked rice to 3 days to dry it out.
Power on and test.
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Click to collapse
Not a bad idea, although it's kinda scary to try that! If you do, I would also get some of that computer duster air and dry it again gently. I used my wife's hairdryer on mine as well, and then the rice trick.
I wonder if electrical parts cleaner would work as well?

Replacing the camera modules are easy I did mine when I replaced my digitizer......bought this EVO for 20 bucks on Craigslist paid like 60 in parts not a bad deal
Sent From My "DECK'D out SAVAGE of an EVO" Using XDA Premium

Thanks for all the input guys, I really appreciate it! It now seems as though the camera is working properly, for now. If I start to have further issues, I will use your suggestions to try to fix. Thanks again! Looks like I may have really dodged a bullet here!

Dropped in pool, touchscreen unresponsive

I inherited a G2 that had been dropped in a pool. It was dried out with the bag of rice trick and seems to work except for the touch screen.
The previous owner was able to restore to stock and it boots fine, screen looks good, clear picture with no flaws.
However the touch screen is completely unresponsive so I am unable to proceed past the sign up page.
I took it to the lab here at work and hosed it down with isopropyl alcohol, spraying it into every hole and port I could find and then placed it in a desiccant chamber.
My question is, if this procedure doesn't resurrect it, what would you do next? Replace just the digitizer or the whole screen assembly? Can I get the whole screen assembly so I don't have to do the heat gun trick to take it apart?
I have completely torn down a couple of G1s and reassembled them and have replaced a couple iPod batteries and screens so I am fine tearing it apart if need be.
The phone was free to me so I can afford to spend a few bucks on it in my ADD attempts to fix it.
Thanks for any info on what you would try replacing first.

Just as a bit of information for anyone searching. The alcohol seemed to do more damage than good. Now the LCD screen is all dicked up and the touch screen still doesn't work. I am hoping another day in the dryer will help but I think I ruined it.

when using alcohol. weaken it down to about 25%, otherwise it's a bit harsh on stuff
if you are just cleaning a straight circuit board only, like a motherboard, then full strength is fine.

Dilute it with deionized water or what?
sent from XDA app

Yeah you'd want to use deionized, otherwise the ions will mess everything up.
-Nipqer

Should still dry out tho, straight alcohol evaps super quick, just put it in the dessicant chamber again. Id check the ribbon cable from the mobo to the screen first...could be loose or even have some crap on the pins from the chlorine
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium

ptesmoke said:
Should still dry out tho, straight alcohol evaps super quick, just put it in the dessicant chamber again. Id check the ribbon cable from the mobo to the screen first...could be loose or even have some crap on the pins from the chlorine
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
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I tore it down to the frame, pulled the LCD and cleaned in between that and the digitizer with a lens cloth.
I cleaned every connection I could get to with De-Oxit cleaner and a q-tip.
Put it back together and the LCD now has those damn lines down the right hand side like I have seen others complain about.So I guess tonight I will tear it apart again.
I don't recall anyone ever answering what caused the lines down the side of the screen, they weren't there before i tore it apart and cleaned it all up.

Well after fooling around with the phone tonight I am thinking cleaning the LCD screen with a microfiber cloth was a bad idea. Apparently they are way more fragile than I thought.
So now I need to decide if a $65 LCD and digitizer from eBay are worth the cost for a phone that may be completely trashed anyways. I am super curious to see if I can fix it, but dont want to throw money into a pit. I could get a whole G2 phone off eBay for about $200. If I even needed another phone. Which I dont.
Decisions, decisions.

Watered down dinc2. Help please

Hi all, I have a dinc2 and it was dropped in water. It was removed very fast and put In rice. Thought I saved it but it started wigging and only goes to htc screen. I am able to volume down w/ power and get to hboot menu but that's about it. I plug in to comp and it doesn't recognize it. I have the htc sync on my comp. But nothing. Don't have ins. So I would like to get it running. Any and all help appreciated. Thanks, hp
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App

Unfortunately there is not much else you can do for water. Maybe let it sit on a window seal in the sun with the back off. Just to try to get any remaining water out. More than likely it will not come back.
Are the water marks turned pink?
Sent from my ADR6350 using xda premium

homephysician said:
Hi all, I have a dinc2 and it was dropped in water. It was removed very fast and put In rice. Thought I saved it but it started wigging and only goes to htc screen. I am able to volume down w/ power and get to hboot menu but that's about it. I plug in to comp and it doesn't recognize it. I have the htc sync on my comp. But nothing. Don't have ins. So I would like to get it running. Any and all help appreciated. Thanks, hp
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Give it a week...happened to my inc1 and after a week it all worked perfectly.
Sent from my ADR6350 using xda premium

homephysician said:
Hi all, I have a dinc2 and it was dropped in water. It was removed very fast and put In rice. Thought I saved it but it started wigging and only goes to htc screen. I am able to volume down w/ power and get to hboot menu but that's about it. I plug in to comp and it doesn't recognize it. I have the htc sync on my comp. But nothing. Don't have ins. So I would like to get it running. Any and all help appreciated. Thanks, hp
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
What happens when you get in recovery? Something like a failure to mount certain partitions?
Sent from my ADR6350 using xda premium

I have also had a similar experience with my Eris. I left it on a radiator with the back off and battery/ SD card removed for 24hrs and it came up fine even though my water markers were all triggered. Still works today.
Good luck!

Hi thanks for the replies. The water marks are not pink. When at the recovery window the recovery goes to the htc white screen. The crc calculates. Its been more than a week. The only reason I thought there might be some hope is because it does go to the recovery window. I also notice small pin holes in the back cover. Maybe a master reset or some hope. Thanks again for the help. hp
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App

if the water marks are not turned you can file a warranty claim but that is risky due to not knowing what is inside the phone. The outter marks are harder to turn than inner water marks.
Try just letting it dry out like myself and others have said. You do not want to screw things up more messing with it vs letting it work its self out.
Sent from my ADR6350 using xda premium

Thanks man. I don't have insurance on it. But I do appreciate all the responses.
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App

homephysician said:
Thanks man. I don't have insurance on it. But I do appreciate all the responses.
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Well if the water marks aren't pink...go to Verizon, play dumb and say it won't turn on?
Sent from my ADR6350 using xda premium

thanks but...., i and now you all know it has water damage. for me to go in to verizon and play dumb would be deceitful. the phone is expensive but not worth lying about. i have to face an all mighty God some day, and possibly sooner than later. its just not worth the risk to me. but i do thank you all for the suggestions. be blessed and happy new year to all. hp

Not sure if it's been a week, but there could still be water in it. I dropped my old iPhone in the toilet, and by the time got it out, the screen was flickering and it was resting randomly. I took it entirely apart and found lots of spots where water reached. Dried them all out, and it still works fine to this day.
At this point, you have nothing to loose, so I'd sit down at a clean table with some small screwdrivers and start tearing it down. I'm sure there are diagrams on the web showing how it comes apart. In addition to water, because of the time that has elapsed, look for spots of corrosion - light green to white dust or flakes. If you see any, you can try brushing it away with a small paintbrush. If the water has all dried up and it's still not working, there has to be a short (or several) somewhere. You might get lucky, and like I said, you have nothing to loose.

Your honesty is much appreciated! Fraudulent warranty claims affect all of us.
If you still haven't gotten it working I recommend a bath in rubbing alcohol for about 30-40 seconds. The higher the alcohol percentage the better, I prefer the 90% stuff. Then another overnight sit in rice. Do both of these with the back cover and battery both removed.
I know it sounds a bit strange to put it in liquid but the alcohol will dilute the water and make it evaporate much faster. The rice will further accelerate this process. I have done it before with great results and at this point you can't do much more harm to it if it isn't even turning on.
Best of luck!
Sent from my Incredible 2 HD using XDA App

cstone1991 said:
Your honesty is much appreciated! Fraudulent warranty claims affect all of us.
If you still haven't gotten it working I recommend a bath in rubbing alcohol for about 30-40 seconds. The higher the alcohol percentage the better, I prefer the 90% stuff. Then another overnight sit in rice. Do both of these with the back cover and battery both removed.
I know it sounds a bit strange to put it in liquid but the alcohol will dilute the water and make it evaporate much faster. The rice will further accelerate this process. I have done it before with great results and at this point you can't do much more harm to it if it isn't even turning on.
Best of luck!
Sent from my Incredible 2 HD using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Take your battery out if you do this.. just sayin...
Sent from my Mikrunny'd Vivo_w

faehsemc said:
Take your battery out if you do this.. just sayin...
Sent from my Mikrunny'd Vivo_w
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Click to collapse
VERY IMPORTANT! I probably should have put that in caps in my post. It was in there though.
Sent from my Incredible 2 HD using XDA App

My friend spilled milk all over her phone, and it wouldn't turn on. I told her to put it in alcohol, and a month later it still works, if a little funny sometimes. But yes, it is important to remove the battery, and the sd card. And let it sit for a while afterwards.

cstone1991 said:
VERY IMPORTANT! I probably should have put that in caps in my post. It was in there though.
Sent from my Incredible 2 HD using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Do you know what alcohol does to the LCD screen...
It left a permanent color band pattern on my 6800.
If you are going to put alcohol any where near it I would do it with a Q-Tip with the covers removed.
Find an old tire compressor, the 12V type and modify the intake of the compressor to connect a suction tube to it.
Swab the area around the components with a soggy Q-Tip (avoid running any on the LCD screen) and work it in with an old tooth brush (make sure the toothbrush is very clean, you don't want to smear any fluoride residue on the solder mask of the circuit board).
Then power up the pump and suck up the excess residue.
Wen prepping the unit, you may want to open all of those ribbon cable clamps.
That's the first place corrosion wants to grow.
Just be sure to handle those cables with care.
The copper traces within them is very thin.
If there is any corrosion on the contacts of the cables, lightly use a pencil eraser on them by holding it flat on a surface add rubbing in one direction away from the main part out to the end.
Good luck...

cac2us said:
Do you know what alcohol does to the LCD screen...
It left a permanent color band pattern on my 6800.
If you are going to put alcohol any where near it I would do it with a Q-Tip with the covers removed.
Find an old tire compressor, the 12V type and modify the intake of the compressor to connect a suction tube to it.
Swab the area around the components with a soggy Q-Tip (avoid running any on the LCD screen) and work it in with an old tooth brush (make sure the toothbrush is very clean, you don't want to smear any fluoride residue on the solder mask of the circuit board).
Then power up the pump and suck up the excess residue.
Wen prepping the unit, you may want to open all of those ribbon cable clamps.
That's the first place corrosion wants to grow.
Just be sure to handle those cables with care.
The copper traces within them is very thin.
If there is any corrosion on the contacts of the cables, lightly use a pencil eraser on them by holding it flat on a surface add rubbing in one direction away from the main part out to the end.
Good luck...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm... I never thought about that but I can definitely see how damage to the screen is possible. I have never seen it happen to phones that I or anyone I know have tried it on but I have never tried it on a touchscreen phone, which could definitely be different.
Thank you for posting a much safer method!
Sent from my Incredible 2 HD using XDA App

Nexus on water (help)

Hey people. I have a situation here. I dropped my phone getting out of my truck yesterday and it was pouring rain, just my luck!in Vegas pouring rain. Anyway, I had no idea my phone was on the ground until about 20 or so minutes my girlfriend found it and told me about it. I immediately took it apart and put it in a bowl of rice. This morning I turned it on to see of it worked, it booted up fine. When it got to the lockscreen I couldn't unlock it. Only the right third of the screen worked .I could pull the notification drawer down but that's really it. So it put it back in rice. Now my question is, should I leave it in another day ,2 or more? Am I just screwed or can I still rescue it? Its so sad. On a serious note though, how can I go about to at least back up my stuff or can I not do that. If there is really anything I can do, please help me. The screen has no water damage, and I was under the impression that the whole screen has to stop functioning, not just a part of it. Thanks in advance, and I will check this thread later tonight since I don't have a phone and wont be home until tonight. Thanks in advance for any help/advice. Extra info, phone is rooted running CNA the black theme version by daxmax. I have a backup of aokp, I don't know if that is relevant or not.

Had that problem with an old Android when I dropped it in water. One side wouldnt work for a few hours so I tossed it back in rice. The screen eventually started working again so I assume it was still wet and needed to dry some more.

Put it back into the rice and don't touch it, the more you turn it on, the more damage it does, let it dry first, and open up your phone to wipe dry any water you see if you are comfortable with it.
Beamed from my Grouper

That's bad. My gio had a water damage before, now my screen has some water spot and my volume button is completely broken. After 6 months now my vibration doesn't work anymore. I suggest u to sell it if u found no error, because they maybe will have some problems in the future. Just my suggestion
Sent from my GT-S5660 using xda app-developers app

I must express a word of caution before trying my method of cleaning PCBs. As I do not know how sensitive the components are on the GNex board, some research/googling of certain components may be required. This is a general cleaning practice for water damaged PCBs.
You can try cleaning the motherboard with isopropyl alcohol. 70% or higher. Get an old toothbrush, clean that first, the get a shallow tray and submerge the board. Gently brush the board all over and pull it out. Next, get a hair dryer with a cold setting and blow cold air on it for a few minutes until the alcohol has evaporated. This helps clean out any water spots and corrosion that the water may have caused. Just make sure all the alcohol has evaporated. This will also help with getting any water that may be hiding and reeking havoc in small spaces.
Assemble and see if it helps.
Lastly, you attempt this at your own risk, I am in no way responsible for any damage or further damage caused by this method.

warglock said:
I must express a word of caution before trying my method of cleaning PCBs. As I do not know how sensitive the components are on the GNex board, some research/googling of certain components may be required. This is a general cleaning practice for water damaged PCBs.
You can try cleaning the motherboard with isopropyl alcohol. 70% or higher. Get an old toothbrush, clean that first, the get a shallow tray and submerge the board. Gently brush the board all over and pull it out. Next, get a hair dryer with a cold setting and blow cold air on it for a few minutes until the alcohol has evaporated. This helps clean out any water spots and corrosion that the water may have caused. Just make sure all the alcohol has evaporated. This will also help with getting any water that may be hiding and reeking havoc in small spaces.
Assemble and see if it helps.
Lastly, you attempt this at your own risk, I am in no way responsible for any damage or further damage caused by this method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will be better if you use 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, it dries faster and 70% Isopropyl Alcohol usually leave water marks. Just that 91% Isopropyl Alcohol is kinda expensive.
Beamed from my Grouper

Isopropyl alcohol is fairly cheap a couple dollars at your local pharmacy for a 500ml bottle to save a 350+ dollar phone seems pretty worth it to me. That said do not use anything less than 90% if you want to splurge you can also go the route of pure distilled deionized water (this can get rather pricey). I'd suggest disassembling your gnex as far as you feel comfortable and use the methods described by others above. Do not use any heating implement to dry anything as there is a high likelihood of warping or otherwise damaging electronic components (principally the PCB)

Well thank you all for your input, it seems my Nexus survived. I took it out of rice this morning and it was working again like a charm. No water marks, vibration works fine, and smooth sailing so far. I have taken or apart before, but I don't trust myself to clean it and mess with the motherboard. As long is it works I am happy, just ordered a new housing though, since it got a nasty scuff from dropping it. RICE is amazing is all I can say
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium