[Q] Dropped Epic in Toilet - Epic 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Dropped it in toilet drunk, got it out. Noticibly slower, many things FC, some keys don't work.
Already have 2 insurance claims this year, can't get a replacement that way. How can they tell it's water damaged? I noticed a pink sticker thing on the battery, is this some sort of water damage indicator? I have a spare battery if thats the only thing that would alert the techs to this being my fault.
If I took it in with a different battery after odinging to stock would they just think it crapped out on me due to no responsibilty of my own?

That suck man.... here's a link about the water indicator's..... and I think the reps would look for corrosion over the indicators because if they get the phone before it rusts then they can dry it out correctly......
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1147570

Yeah, looks like I'll have to take it to them and play dumb, and if they mention the water damage and refer me to asurion who I don't think will do more than 2 claims in a year, I'll just pull the cancel card, bring up the 2 100 dollar rebates that I never got and get a nexus s for 250

this is the third time i've heard about the epic being dropped in water and it still worked(ish) freaking incredible! kudos samsung

I could be mistaken but I thought TEP allowed you more claims than just 2 a year, maybe quite a few more. Good luck.

xopher.hunter said:
this is the third time i've heard about the epic being dropped in water and it still worked(ish) freaking incredible! kudos samsung
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Click to collapse
Me as well. Someone dropped theirs in a pot of Tomato Soup and it still worked. If you havent , let it dry without battery,back cover, also remove SD. You may get lucky and have a full functioning phone again. If that doesn't work, try saying you work construction and phone got damp from being in your pocket while working. My touchscreen broke and I took it to get repaired. At first the tech said I was screwed because of a hairline crack in the plastic around the screen. I explained that it failed before that. So, I was extra friendly. I started talking about upcoming phones,etc. Well, he ended up giving,me a new screen, keyboard, back cover. Only my motherboard was original. Paid nothing. If you don't have insurance, be cool and don't get upset. I bet $35 gets you a new whatever needs to be replaced...maybe some extras like I did
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

I think it will dry out, it was running fine for a bit, all keys working, not going slow, then it started going slow and a few keys stopped working. Decided to just go ahead and get the nexus s, CM7, oh yeah...

"Three claims within any consecutive 12 months with a maximum replacement value of $1000 per claim" http://shop2.sprint.com/en/services/service_repair/phone_protection_services.shtml

Yeah, you do get three claims but I figured dry out and sell the epic if I get it working 100% keep a claim in case I drop the nexus, and enjoy cm7
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

Ha. Dropped mine in the toilet 2 weeks ago. Seriously had it out of the water within 1.5 seconds. Left it in rice overnight. Worked on bootup the next day. But after about an hour it went kaputz. Had to use assurion.
Posted via Premium XDA app from my Samsung Epic 4G.

I sat this one in rice a few hours, then let it sit by a fan all day, reoodined stock ec05. Gonna give it a few days to make sure it still works fine and sell that bad boy.
I don't miss my hardware keyboard one bit.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

My girl dropped her EVO in the toilet, dead. I dropped mine in a sink full of water, it actually sat there for about 3 full seconds until i reailzed what the splash was. Pulled it out, set it next to a little portable heater for a few hours and to my astonishment it still worked perfectly. Some water must have gotten in the screen as it is a little blury in a small spot but other than that I'm still using it like it's new. If you've ever taken one of these apart, it is easy to see how hard it would be for water to fully get inside the case.

Son spilled soda all over mine. I cleaned it up and dried out battery. That was 7 months ago and it works like a champ. I am getting a galaxy s 2 when they hit the u s.
Sent from my Epic on Midnight or my Galaxy Tab rooted (feels naked without a ROM)

Reading this thread laughing then yesterday I fu#$*!!! Dropped my sh!{+^!! On the ground. It didn't get a scratch. Anywhere. Not on the seido case. Not on the glass. So yea. That's. My. Story.
cake or pie?

Try the rice trick. I'm a service tech and see water damaged phones all the time. Truth be told, we'll replace it for you and not send you through Asurion if you're nice enough to us.

Try the rice trick. I'm a service tech and see water damaged phones all the time. Truth be told, we'll replace it for you and not send you through Asurion if you're nice enough to us.
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That's good to know thanks.
"The greatest respect you can earn is self respect" Louie Simmons

Just dropped mine into the toilet about an hour ago. when i finished getting over the idea that I, too, was now one of those people, i put down the litter box I was about to scoop and fished it out.
Next thing I did was rip the back off and dump the battery, idea being to avoid any shorts caused by water mixed with power on circuit board. It had been in there for like 3 seconds, maybe 4.
I knocked it about for a while to see how much water would pour out - not much! So I let in dry out for like 10 mins, knocked it out a bit again, then put the battery in. First thing I noticed was that it seemed to turn on BEFORE I pressed the power button, something I specifically noticed. Hmmm.
The rest seemed normal enough. I was crazy impressed! Even a small dunk in a toilet (clean, luckily) is not a drop in a shallow puddle.
However, a bit later I needed to boot into recovery, and I couldn't get the freakin' phone to shut off. I mean it would shut off but come right back on again. I was thinking, water drop in the power button or worse a permanent short.
When I took the back off I saw that the camera had moisture inside of it. I remembered when this happened to a telephoto lens of mine recently and I extended the lens all the way as I walked. The lens casing heated in the sun and the moisture came out through the uh, rings? of the fully-extended lens.
So imagining that if the water could get in, it could get out, I broke out the hairdryer. It's a small one I've used for putting that plastic stuff over windows in the winter. I put it on high and held it like 2 or 3 feet from the back of the phone (cover off) for a while, always moving it to avoid hot spots on the phone. After a min or 2 the moisture was gone. I spent another min waving the dryer over the power button.
Wallah! works perfectly. nice....

bilestoad said:
Just dropped mine into the toilet about an hour ago. when i finished getting over the idea that I, too, was now one of those people, i put down the litter box I was about to scoop and fished it out.
Next thing I did was rip the back off and dump the battery, idea being to avoid any shorts caused by water mixed with power on circuit board. It had been in there for like 3 seconds, maybe 4.
I knocked it about for a while to see how much water would pour out - not much! So I let in dry out for like 10 mins, knocked it out a bit again, then put the battery in. First thing I noticed was that it seemed to turn on BEFORE I pressed the power button, something I specifically noticed. Hmmm.
The rest seemed normal enough. I was crazy impressed! A small dunk in a toilet (clean, luckily) is not a drop in a shallow puddle.
However, a bit later I needed to boot into recovery, and I couldn't get the freakin' phone to shut off. I mean it would shut off but come right back on again. I was thinking, water drop in the power button or worse a permanent short.
I took the back off and while noticed the back camera had moisture inside of it. I remembered when this happened to a telephoto lens of mine recently and I extended the lens all the way as I walked. The lens casing heated in the sun and the moisture came out through the uh, rings? of the fully-extended lens.
So imagining that if the water could get in, it could get out, I broke out the hairdryer. It's a small one I've used for putting that plastic stuff over windows in the winter. I put it on high and held it like 2 or 3 feet from the back of the phone (cover off) for a while, always moving it to avoid hot spots on the phone. After a min or 2 the moisture was gone. I spent another min waving the dryer over the power button.
Wallah! works perfectly. nice....
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Click to collapse
If anything goes wrong I'm sorry to say it was because you rushed it all. You more than likely should have had it drying days not minutes and you never use a dryer. But, I'm knocking on wood, good luck!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

I suppose one has to know the rules before you can break them. I have some experience with electronics and circuit boards, and have a feel for how much heat I could safely apply to the thing. I tried to indicate this in the original message by writing that I kept the dryer a few feet away from the phone, that it is a small dryer, and that I always kept it in motion. Oh and that I performed this maneuver over a period of a few minutes.
If anything goes wrong I'm sorry to say it was because I dropped it into a toilet. The age old tried and true blow dryer method, when properly applied, wouldn't be a problem.

bilestoad said:
Just dropped mine into the toilet about an hour ago. when i finished getting over the idea that I, too, was now one of those people, i put down the litter box I was about to scoop and fished it out.
Next thing I did was rip the back off and dump the battery, idea being to avoid any shorts caused by water mixed with power on circuit board. It had been in there for like 3 seconds, maybe 4.
I knocked it about for a while to see how much water would pour out - not much! So I let in dry out for like 10 mins, knocked it out a bit again, then put the battery in. First thing I noticed was that it seemed to turn on BEFORE I pressed the power button, something I specifically noticed. Hmmm.
The rest seemed normal enough. I was crazy impressed! Even a small dunk in a toilet (clean, luckily) is not a drop in a shallow puddle.
However, a bit later I needed to boot into recovery, and I couldn't get the freakin' phone to shut off. I mean it would shut off but come right back on again. I was thinking, water drop in the power button or worse a permanent short.
When I took the back off I saw that the camera had moisture inside of it. I remembered when this happened to a telephoto lens of mine recently and I extended the lens all the way as I walked. The lens casing heated in the sun and the moisture came out through the uh, rings? of the fully-extended lens.
So imagining that if the water could get in, it could get out, I broke out the hairdryer. It's a small one I've used for putting that plastic stuff over windows in the winter. I put it on high and held it like 2 or 3 feet from the back of the phone (cover off) for a while, always moving it to avoid hot spots on the phone. After a min or 2 the moisture was gone. I spent another min waving the dryer over the power button.
Wallah! works perfectly. nice....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That there is a true success story lol. Good job man, glad to hear we didn't lose another phone to the evil toilet monster!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

Related

A terrible terrible thing happened this morning..

So this morning, still half asleep I dropped my TP2 into the toilet while it was on. I grabbed it out of the toilet, and removed the battery as fast as i could (while a string of expletives came out of my mouth), let it sit under a lightbulb for a few hours.. then put it in a bag of uncooked instant rice, and left it in my warm car for most of the afternoon.
I never have been a very patient person so after about 8 hours of drying off, i put the battery back in and tried it. Phone boots up fine, everything seemed to work.. could see some moisture on the inside of the lcd still. Seemed I got lucky.. till i tried the keyboard. Some keys don't do anything, some make random crazy strings of letters.. oy. Took the battery out again, and it's back under the light bulb (sick of cleaning rice dust out of my phone).
Anyway, i'm wondering if anybody's had a keyboard on a phone screw up like that and work properly after completely drying out? I've had a few computer keyboards that screwed up like that but worked fine after drying a few days so i really hope the keyboard comes back, especially with USED tp2s still going for over 200 bucks on ebay.. yikes. Touchscreen works fine, was able to send a text no problem using the stylus.. but man i miss the keyboard!
Sorry for the novel.. any input would be appreciated!
if you can, take it fully apart so you can dry the back of the keyboard directly
as you said, i've had PC keyboards that worked after drying, but i always had to take them apart to properly dry the innards
Urgh!
I feel for you! I sit in the bath and surf and read on my TP2 and I am so careful! But accidents can happen!
Was the toilet water, err, fresh? I would suggest always leaving things with the battery out and in a warm place for at least 24hrs, as tempting as it is to power it up.
The keyboard membrane may dry out over a few days, I would suggest you don't use it for a few days.
Let us know how you get on.
aerotec said:
Urgh!
I feel for you! I sit in the bath and surf and read on my TP2 and I am so careful! But accidents can happen!
Was the toilet water, err, fresh? I would suggest always leaving things with the battery out and in a warm place for at least 24hrs, as tempting as it is to power it up.
The keyboard membrane may dry out over a few days, I would suggest you don't use it for a few days.
Let us know how you get on.
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately no, had a lil liquid waste in it.. i'm thinking about getting some rubbing alcohol to swish the phone around in.
to defaultdotxbe:
I would but i don't have the proper screwdriver, looks like a tiny little allen key type deal
meadams314 said:
Unfortunately no, had a lil liquid waste in it.. i'm thinking about getting some rubbing alcohol to swish the phone around in.
to defaultdotxbe:
I would but i don't have the proper screwdriver, looks like a tiny little allen key type deal
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Click to collapse
Rubbing alcohol isn't absolutely safe. It's only 70% alcohol, for one thing, and the rest is water. So you're actually putting more water INTO your phone when you use it, even though the alcohol helps it to evaporate faster.
I tried cleaning my old BlackBerry keyboard and trackball with rubbing acohol. The keyboard went nuts for a while. Eventually, after many days, it settled down, but now the trackball has a distinct tendency to bounce -- send two clicks instead of one, which is a drag when you click Delete and it instantly sends the Confirm click as well!
There's probably something better than alcohol, like ether, but I dunno where you'd get it.
meadams314 said:
Unfortunately no, had a lil liquid waste in it.. i'm thinking about getting some rubbing alcohol to swish the phone around in.
to defaultdotxbe:
I would but i don't have the proper screwdriver, looks like a tiny little allen key type deal
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Click to collapse
its a torx 5, i have this screwdriver: http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hard...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
EWAdams said:
Rubbing alcohol isn't absolutely safe. It's only 70% alcohol, for one thing, and the rest is water. So you're actually putting more water INTO your phone when you use it, even though the alcohol helps it to evaporate faster.
I tried cleaning my old BlackBerry keyboard and trackball with rubbing acohol. The keyboard went nuts for a while. Eventually, after many days, it settled down, but now the trackball has a distinct tendency to bounce -- send two clicks instead of one, which is a drag when you click Delete and it instantly sends the Confirm click as well!
There's probably something better than alcohol, like ether, but I dunno where you'd get it.
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Click to collapse
most stores carry 91% alcohol too, and and some places will have 99%
although im always hesitant to put more liquid into the electronics, lol
Right.. i havent yet because it just doesnt feel right putting a 650 dollar piece of electronics into liquid. Heh.. Anyway, ran up to the local grocery store and all they carry is 50/50 alcohol/water. Leaning towards just letting the phone dry out now.. it has already been 14 hours since the dip in the toilet, and the water wasn't filthy just had a little pee in it (trust me, i stopped real quick when the phone hit the water, lol)
EDIT: So if it turns out the keyboard is shot, but the rest of the phone is fine.. is there any way of replacing the keyboard? I searched around online but all i could find was replacement lcd/faceplate/front keypads.. no keyboards.
Also.. unimportant but I thought it was kind of interesting, the water sensitive sticker on my battery is completely un-touched; looks good as new. However the one on the inside of the phone which couldnt be more than an inch away from the other sticker is completely washed out.
EDIT: (again lol) so on second thought.. the water in the 50/50 rubbing alcohol should be purified, correct? I'm really starting to worry about corrosion from the minerals in the toilet water and thinking it might be a good idea to wash it out with the rubbing alcohol. I've seen stories of people who left their phone underwater for long periods of time without a battery and once it dried out it was fine, one guy put a test phone under water for 3 days, then dried it out and it was fine. So that begs the question- take a risk on corrosion but let the phone dry out quicker OR get all the minerals/salts out of the phone but risk more water damage and deal with a longer drying time..
Note that Walmart sells 90% rubbing alcohol, and many pharmacies stock 99%.
(I don't have an opinion if washing your phone in this is a good or bad idea; just wanted to let you know where you can find it).
So after reading probably a couple hundred different "i dropped my phone in the toilet, ran it through the wash, or jumped in the pool with it in my pocket" stories and their outcomes...
Decided to put the phone back into a sealed container of uncooked rice (only because I couldn't find any silica gel) and leave it in a warm area overnight minus the battery. It'll have spent 30 hours drying in a desiccant come noon tomorrow so I'll fire it up and again and see what happens.
To condense everything I've read in the past 4 hours: Water + electricity +electronics = bad, remove the battery immediately (duh). Let it dry, do not turn it on (you'd be surprised how many people turn it on right after towel drying, and leave it on till it fries). Taking the phone apart and cleaning with alcohol and a q-tip seems to help, as does completely soaking the phone in alcohol; however I saw quite a few people who said their LCD quit working after the alcohol bath so I'd use it as a last resort only if even after extensive drying the phone still won't work (might as well give it a shot then, right?) ...just try to keep it away from the lcd.
Anyway, gonna try the TP2 around noon tommorow.. I'll let ya know how it goes.
this is horrible, its like my worst night mare, but i just recently switched to at&t and specifically didnt get the iPhone because i am a very strong windows mobile user lol, but anyway, im selling my tp2 that i had, almost perfect condition, but if i can get it apart, i would sell you the keyboard, i didn get a sale on ebay, but i dont think the guy is gonna pay ((, but ill keep in touch, i hope all goes well
thesyntax said:
this is horrible, its like my worst night mare, but i just recently switched to at&t and specifically didnt get the iPhone because i am a very strong windows mobile user lol, but anyway, im selling my tp2 that i had, almost perfect condition, but if i can get it apart, i would sell you the keyboard, i didn get a sale on ebay, but i dont think the guy is gonna pay ((, but ill keep in touch, i hope all goes well
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Cool, I'll have to take you up on that if the keyboard doesn't return to normal. Coming up on 20 hours now it's been drying in rice at not quite 100 degrees.
Just checkin up on ya before I go to school. I'll be checkin the thread all day, im really interested to hear if you get it working again, if so, I think this post thread should stay in the archives as "Opps..."
Well it's been 30 hours.. crossing my fingers and powering it up...
Still some signs of moisture inside the lcd, but definately less than yesterday.. phone still boots up properly. Keyboard still doesnt work.. when i press the buttons i can hear water inside it. Thinking the rice doesn't work as well as silica gel would so today at work i'm gonna see if i cant find a few big packets of silica gel to let the phone sit in. Starting to get pretty impatient.. i need my phone!
Starting to seriously think about getting some 99/1 rubbing alcohol and dipping the keyboard in it for a few minutes too..
tempted to just put the battery back in and bring it to work with me.. can use the touchscreen no problem.. but ARGH dont wanna damage my phone!
Sigh.. guess it's going back in the rice and sitting in my car for another baking session I work till 10pm tonight, and go back at 6am tommorow so if the keyboard's still not working by the time i'm off tommorow i'm gonna run up to home depot, get a torx 5 and take the stupid thing apart to dry/clean it better.
Oh I wouldn't "dip" the phone into alcohol if I were you, that can only make the problem worse.. Best thing you can do is open the phone (if you have the appropriate screwdrivers) and try to make it dry with a hair dryer or something like that!
And yeah you should definately try the Silica gel!
Dude I feel so sorry for you, must be harsh to drop your phone into your own piss x'D
atticus182 said:
Oh I wouldn't "dip" the phone into alcohol if I were you, that can only make the problem worse.. Best thing you can do is open the phone (if you have the appropriate screwdrivers) and try to make it dry with a hair dryer or something like that!
And yeah you should definately try the Silica gel!
Dude I feel so sorry for you, must be harsh to drop your phone into your own piss x'D
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Only problems i've seen caused by alcohol is with the lcd.. was thinking about dipping just the keyboard, but yeah.. thinking it might be better to get a torx 5 and take it apart.. water's been in there too long, dont want any corrosion.
meadams314 said:
So this morning, still half asleep I dropped my TP2 into the toilet while it was on. I grabbed it out of the toilet, and removed the battery as fast as i could (while a string of expletives came out of my mouth), let it sit under a lightbulb for a few hours.. then put it in a bag of uncooked instant rice, and left it in my warm car for most of the afternoon.
I never have been a very patient person so after about 8 hours of drying off, i put the battery back in and tried it. Phone boots up fine, everything seemed to work.. could see some moisture on the inside of the lcd still. Seemed I got lucky.. till i tried the keyboard. Some keys don't do anything, some make random crazy strings of letters.. oy. Took the battery out again, and it's back under the light bulb (sick of cleaning rice dust out of my phone).
Anyway, i'm wondering if anybody's had a keyboard on a phone screw up like that and work properly after completely drying out? I've had a few computer keyboards that screwed up like that but worked fine after drying a few days so i really hope the keyboard comes back, especially with USED tp2s still going for over 200 bucks on ebay.. yikes. Touchscreen works fine, was able to send a text no problem using the stylus.. but man i miss the keyboard!
Sorry for the novel.. any input would be appreciated!
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Reminds me of the time my old Ericsson T28 went through an entire wash cycle. The battery was shot, but the phone worked fine once I got a new battery. That was a full 10 years ago, and phones were a bit tougher back then (though still not warranted to be cleaned that way)!
Good luck on the phone. I gather you don't have insurance on the TP2 through your carrier?
Also, if you are willing to extend your contract, you can get a new TP2 for under $200 with a two year extension.
da9th_one said:
why are you updating this tread every few minutes like it's a blog...???
never take you phone into a bathroom people...IT HAS 3 MAJOR WATER SOURCES...!!!
there are 3 places one should never take a phone: bathrooms, beaches, battlestar galactica...
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Hehe there are actually 4 places, because you forgot Chuck Norris! Never take your phone to Chuck Norris, he will roundhouse kick it out of your hands, right back into the toilet xD..
And some other tips that might help the guy with the broken phone:
- Give time for the phone to dry. Don't experiment with putting the battery back on to see if it works as this would risk damaging the phone with a short circuit.
- Be patient and wait. Yes - be patient! Let nature have its way; just leave it in a warm place and let the water evaporate.
- Place it on top of the vent of a cable box, monitor or TV for at least 24 hours (up to 3 days). The low heat emitted is enough to gently dry out the phone.
- Do not under any circumstances heat the battery - it could leak or explode. Lithium-ion batteries are sensitive. If you use an oven or hairdryer, remove the battery first.
- If you use alcohol for the drying process, only do so to the outside, and do not apply heat in any way shape or form, not even the gentlest of heat. Do not connect the battery until the alcohol smell goes away
- And, if it's not stating the obvious, do not put the phone into the microwave. You will fry the components and probably ruin the microwave!
atticus182 said:
- And, if it's not stating the obvious, do not put the phone into the microwave. You will fry the components and probably ruin the microwave!
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I was more worried about a toaster oven...

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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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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Click to collapse
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.

Evo temp..

I recently got water inside my screen. The phone still worked, but you could see the water blur when the screen was on. I turned the phone off, removed the battery, and put the phone on my dashboard with the defroster running hot. Not SO hot, but on the cold-warm-hot dial, I had it just past the mid point of warm, and at 2 of the 4 fan speed settings.
I left it on there for about 30 minutes, and now I've just taken it off. The phone was really hot, (remember, it was also OFF with the battery removed). It wasnt much hotter than it gets on the charger, maybe MAYBE 10 degrees hotter. I can hold it to my cheek without hurting. Just wondering if this is bad for the phone, or if anything could have been damaged. I'm waiting for it to cool back down before I try turning it back on.
Can't really say until you turn it back on. If it turns on and works as it should, no harm done.
posting & replying via the XDA Premium app.
Think of it this way, the phone is used to being hot, but not to having moisture in it
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA App
ok I turned it on and it booted up fine, but the screen is still whacked out looking. Truth is, I installed the new screen protector and used a LOT of the applicator spray to get it just right. I guess it seeped into the speaker and/or sides or wherever and got under the screen.
Should I put it back on the defroster?
When I had my Blackberry, I would put it in a dish full of rice overnight. The rice would extract the moisture. I have not tried it with my EVO, but I would *assume* the same results.
posting & replying via the XDA Premium app.
I had the same issue with my EVO. My kid had been using it as a teething toy and eventually got water behind the screen. I tried heating it up and drying it on heat vents in my house. It didn't work. Ended up paying $100 to get it fixed. Maybe you'll have better luck.
Sent from my grubby hand
jasongthang said:
ok I turned it on and it booted up fine, but the screen is still whacked out looking. Truth is, I installed the new screen protector and used a LOT of the applicator spray to get it just right. I guess it seeped into the speaker and/or sides or wherever and got under the screen.
Should I put it back on the defroster?
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Done that twice. Lol sucks glass seal wasn't good for me.
Well, after 2 hours on the defroster, nothing has changed. The brightness continually flickers low to high, and the streaks just make it look like crap.
If this doesnt dry itself out by morning. I'll call sprint. I'm REALLY not wanting to pay $100 for it to be fixed. The evo 3d is starting to look nice..
The evo 3d does sound nice if you can wait that long.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA App
dougjamal said:
When I had my Blackberry, I would put it in a dish full of rice overnight. The rice would extract the moisture. I have not tried it with my EVO, but I would *assume* the same results.
posting & replying via the XDA Premium app.
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Listen to this guy. It works.
biglilsteve said:
Listen to this guy. It works.
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Thank you, Steve. Let's hope it works for the OP, too....Take care...
posting & replying via the XDA Premium app.
The rice did not work. Unless brown rice has different characteristics. I left it in a pan of rice with the cover on, no change at all.
I called Sprint today, they made a ticket up, etc., so either today or tomorrow I'll go to the store. I could hardly understand what the guy was saying, but I did pick up the words "replace" and "$35". It would be nice if it was a new phone, but I'm hoping for at least the screen replaced, with no crazy charges or anything. my back speaker is getting really bad and I had been waiting for it to get worse before I made a claim, hopefully I can get that taken care of as well.
Yes definitely put in a sealed container of rice. Rice absorbs moisture. Better yet, if you have any silica packets out of shoe boxes, toss those in a sealed box with your phone. Both absorb moisture out of things better than trying to evaporate and possibly damage your phone.
I put it in a sealed container of Sprint techs.
I took it in today, they replaced the screen AND the rear speaker, and it was only $35. Very quick and easy, and they even just billed it to my account.
I can tell they scratched the new screen though. I wish I had noticed it before I left.
I told myself that if it was going to be any more than $35, I would just buy the tools off of that ifixit.com site and replace the screen myself.

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.
Click to expand...
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!

Water Damage

We've all seen the various posts of HELP I HAVE WATER DAMAGE. In fact a global search of XDA will net you with a LOT of posts asking for help.
Everything from I dropped it in the snow, to my kid put it in the toilet, and my personal favorite, I was listening to music while in the shower and it vibrated itself into the toilet. :good:
But in all these cases the poster is asking what to do, their beloved device won't power on and they have something "important" that they forgot to back up and need off of the device.
I've seen such things as put it into a bag of rice (usually about a 25% chance of recovery), and wrap it in paper towels. Even 1 suggested to put it in the microwave.
Lets put some of these myth's do rest shall we. Lets start with the microwave. DUDE WTH are you thinking? Electronics, microwave, BAD IDEA! No ten seconds, no 5 seconds, not even 1 second. You are just begging for BAD to happen, DON'T EVEN THINK OF IT!
Wrap the device in paper towels, while YES paper towels are absorbent, they are NOT going to get the water out from the inside of the device, no matter how "open" you have it.
Putting the device in a bag or jar of flour. AGAIN BAD IDEA! While YES flour is very good at pulling moisture it is just going to cake up and actually cause even MORE damage to the device.
Hair dryer, Ok this does have SOME merit, but again heat to an electronic device is not something that you REALLY want. Especially with many devices being made of plastic now days. This will end up with permanent fogging of the glass and render the device virtually unusable.
Rice Rice Baby....duh nah nuh nuh nah nuh nuh, put it in a bag of white rice baby. Rice is a FOOD, while it does react to water well, it is not a very good idea, but then again it is a FAR CRY better then the ones above. This could work, but I would rather leave the device as open to the air as possible and let it air dry for a week then put an electronic device into a bag of rice.
Silica Jell, Silica Jell WILL pull moisture out of the air, and in fact in an enclosed space such as a zip locking bag, they work VERY WELL at pulling moisture out of electronic devices. Now I've heard of complaints about how expensive these little baggies are to the average consumer, but NO they are not.
You say you can't afford to buy silica jell packs? Well why not? Many of you are married, and have had to take that HORRID trip to the shoe store. Instead of just playing with your phone or what ever, while your wife is off looking at some new pumps or heels that she "needs," go up to a store clerk and ask them if they have any of the little bags of silica sitting around. Tell them what you need it for, and 9 out of 10 times you will walk out of the shoe store with not just new shoes for your wife, but a FREE insurance policy for your beloved electronic devices.
Hit up several shoe stores, get yourself a bag full of them. Get them home and hide them away. I prefer to put them into a vacuum seal jar and vacuum seal the jar closed. This does a couple things. It keeps the silica jell from absorbing any free moisture in the air, and often makes it so that little hands won't mess with them. All in all you want about 200 of the little baggies. WHY. Because I told you to, no really the reason is, that some will already be full, and others will not, you just never know for certain.
When that inevitable moment comes that you need to recover from your arse hole brother in law pushing you into the pool with your new device, open that jar up, grab a zip locking type bag, drop your device in it, then cover that sucker with all you can fit. Leave your device in the bag for AT LEAST 3 days with the battery out and all in the bag. let those little insurance policies do their job for you. There is of course a level of failure in this but it is by far more effective then any of the above posted "methods."
I did a personal test over the last 2 weeks with an old HTC Tilt. That dad burned thing has been sitting in my desk for a couple years now BEGGING to have something done to it. Well now it did.
I filled a mixing bowl with water and turned the phone on, and waited for it to get done booting up. Once it was done I dropped it into the bowl and waited 5 seconds. Reached in, grabbed it out and yanked the back off and took the battery out. Put the phone, battery, back and all into a zip locking type bag, and removed the sim card and sd card. Opened up my handy dandy jar of silica jell packs and poured them into the bag.
I zipped it closed and left the phone in there for 5 days. Pulled it out, and looked over the phone. YES the water indicator had been tripped I put the battery back in, put the back on, put in the sim card, and pressed the power button. Then out of no where I heard my phone come to life, and the screen was just fine. The phone has been sitting plugged into a wall socket and left on for 5 days now. So far no issues, not even a speaker issue.
After I pulled the Tilt out of the bag, I decided WHY NOT, and dropped my old Tilt 2 into a bowl of water and did the same thing. And now, it too is sitting plugged in to a wall socket and left on for a couple days. Only issue with it so far is that it OCCASIONALLY has a bit of "static" with certain alert tones.
So here I sit with a 100% success rate for 2 devices intentionally put into what would normally be the end of life for an electronic device.
So do yourself a favor, and get a bunch of those little baggies and save them up for when you need them. I would however recommend replacing the ENTIRE LOT of them every few months, even if you have them vacuum sealed. Why, because i told you to. No, really, it is because everything has some sort of expiration. Better to keep them refreshed then to find out that you didn't change them out 2 years ago and they absorbed all the moisture out of the air in the bathroom where you hid them.
Rice is hygroscopic and works just fine as a drying agent since you're not drying your phone for a month. better than open air.
gel, not jell
I got a cracked up screen, i'm really hoping I don't have to fight water damage... (i know how to replace the glass and I plan on doing it sometime sorta soon)
I think I'd prefer cracked screen to water damage if I had to pick.
Way back when I had a little iPod nano that went into the wash with and old Samsung flip phone the phone died but the iPod survived. I had put them in front of a wall heater, basically equivalent to a hair dryer i guess.
just be smart don't get your phone wet
OH any thoughts on Liquipel? http://www.liquipel.com/
sounds like they use a vacuum to coat everything inside.
I'd be interested to try some of NeverWet's product with my vacuum pump
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7is6r6zXFDc
http://www.neverwet.com/index.php
But it sounds like they aren't in production yet.
Ok. My wife dropped her two week old GS3 in the toilet and few weeks back. She claims it started making weird noises and the screen was flashing. She turned it off and let it dry out in the sun. A couple of hours later she returned home and I turned it on. There was a green hue to the screen.The touch screen was unresponsive. I turned it off and took out the battery, sd card and sim card. I shook the phone and felt some water come out. We put the phone in a zip lock bag filled with rice and a handful of those little descicant packets. Her idea. We let the phone sit there for around 36 hours. We then turned it back on and everything did and still does work fine.
I doubt the rice or packets actually did anything. I think just giving it time to dry was all that was needed. Just my personal experience.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
jjm3175 said:
I doubt the rice or packets actually did anything. I think just giving it time to dry was all that was needed. Just my personal experience.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
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The rice and silica absolutely did something - its the chemical equivalent of vacuuming the moisture out of every nook and cranny. You'll never air dry it as much.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Silca gel does 999x better then air drying,it even takes the moisture from water spots. Do not air dry please. You will build corrosion from water and oxygen on electronic parts
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Saiboogu said:
The rice and silica absolutely did something - its the chemical equivalent of vacuuming the moisture out of every nook and cranny. You'll never air dry it as much.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
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+1
The air in your home has some moisture/humidity already, making air drying much less effective than silica gel or rice.
I guess I should be thankful for my wife's shoe buying habit since I'm the one who paid for the phone lol.
Good thread.
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