Develop Bugs

Water Damage?

How can I tell if my warranty is going to be turned down for water damage? I have never had it in the water before, but the sticker on the back has the red crosses it.

I'm pretty sure that circle goes all dark red if you get water on it
Sent from my AMOLED Incredible

jimbub said:
I'm pretty sure that circle goes all dark red if you get water on it
Sent from my AMOLED Incredible
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You are right. the sticker will go all red or all pink depending on who made it. its suppose to have the X's in it.

sorry, didn't notice I posted that in the Dev forum...thanks for moving.

Wouldn't you know if you get your phone wet? I think you already know the answer to your question here I mean tray now.
Sent from my HTC Droid Incredible using XDA Premium app

In the retail stores we typically don't go by the liquid indicators because frequently they're inaccurate. We usually look for signs of corrosion, condensation or just plain liquid in the device.

A good way to dry your device out is to put it in a sealed ziplock bag with some rice...it works! Revived my girlfriend's iPhone and camera after both became submerged when a water bottle broke in her purse.

The "sticker" is the same litmus paper you use in chemistry- it changes colors with the presence of moisture. When I worked for a regional wireless carrier in my area and someone came in for a warranty replacement, that was the first thing we checked. There are usually 2; one in/around the battery compartment and one on the battery itself. I've also noticed lately some manufacturers put them under the phones housing. I've seen them change just from having your phone in the bathroom when you take a shower. Also, if it gets wet but all seems well, you're not in the clear yet. Sometimes it'll be ok at first but will eventually creep through the phone and corrode terminals/connections. Hope this helps. Its against my religion to use paragraphs.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA Premium App

Aren't most insurance things covering everything except lost or stolen phones?
Sent from my Incredible with the XDA Premium App.

keith.mcintyre26 said:
The "sticker" is the same litmus paper you use in chemistry- it changes colors with the presence of moisture. When I worked for a regional wireless carrier in my area and someone came in for a warranty replacement, that was the first thing we checked. There are usually 2; one in/around the battery compartment and one on the battery itself. I've also noticed lately some manufacturers put them under the phones housing. I've seen them change just from having your phone in the bathroom when you take a shower. Also, if it gets wet but all seems well, you're not in the clear yet. Sometimes it'll be ok at first but will eventually creep through the phone and corrode terminals/connections. Hope this helps. Its against my religion to use paragraphs.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA Premium App
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The iPhone 3 is notorious for being overly sensitive to humidity; simply having your phone on you while you're sweating can get the sensor wet, as can having it in a humid environment such as a steamy bathroom. I haven't heard of anything quite this bad with other manufacturers, but the locations of the moisture indicators was also suboptimal; of the 4(?) in the phone, one is inside the headphone jack, while the other is next to the charging port.
I Am Marino said:
Aren't most insurance things covering everything except lost or stolen phones?
Sent from my Incredible with the XDA Premium App.
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Well...the thing about insurance is they want to pay out as little as possible. I've heard of some mobile insurance companies not covering moisture damage. Make sure you read the terms of coverage carefully before you start paying for something that may not help you at all.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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

Water damage sticker?

I had my phone apart to cool down.(it was getting pretty hot) and I was drinking some water. Something happened where I coughed a little up and a drop hit the exact spot where the water damage sticker is. Not the one on the batter but the one underneath. Does anyone know where I could buy a replacement sticker? All the repair parts sites I know don't have parts for our phone yet. Any help would be greatly appreciated because I need to send it back to T-mobile because the touch screen isn't responsive half the time.

Sounds like a well thought out story to me. None the less, ebay is your friend.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

I've checked ebay. There is no need for me to make up a story. I'd admit if I did water damage my phone in any way because I can fix water damage. I repair cell phones for my job.

I'm not sure posting about your attempts to alter your liquid damage indicator onto a public forum is a good idea William.

poeticsoul44 said:
I've checked ebay. There is no need for me to make up a story. I'd admit if I did water damage my phone in any way because I can fix water damage. I repair cell phones for my job.
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Yet your vendors can't supply you.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Bleach them a couple times and ur good to go Use a qtip drop a drop on it sit and wipe it with a paper towel and do it again. This used to work back in the day idk if the stickers are different now I did this to my iPhone a couple years ago
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

funziebear said:
Bleach them a couple times and ur good to go Use a qtip drop a drop on it sit and wipe it with a paper towel and do it again. This used to work back in the day idk if the stickers are different now I did this to my iPhone a couple years ago
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
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If you rub the sticker while it is wet it will start to pill away from the phone. I have seen people bring in their phones to my store and you can tell when they tried to fix the indicator.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=water+damage+sticker&_frs=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m359

That's the worst luck EVER!!! I mean, a single drop of water just HAPPENED to fall directly on the water damage sticker, AND your screen stopped responding?!?!???
Well, it's a good thing you repair cell phones for a living, you can fix the damage yourself without filing a warranty claim and causing higher prices for the rest of us
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

guys i have my phone Liquipel which makes my phone waterproof with no case

what you could do is look and see if the water sticker on the battery is the same if it is just use that one

Buy an OEM Battery. Swap stickers....

tri4life said:
Buy an OEM Battery. Swap stickers....
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Shouldn't even need an OEM battery as Tmo only switches out the main piece of the phone without the battery or cover.

Phone got wet, worked fine, now acting up.

Using AOKP.
So my phone got pretty wet recently (over a week ago). It seemed to work OK immediately afterwards but the past 2 days its been acting up. As of right now, I cant answer or make any calls. I can see calls come in but when I slide the icon to answer it, it locks up and reboots almost instantly. It only does it when I go to answer the call, not if I hang up on the incoming call. Its like its having a problem switching over to the live call. The same thing happens when I try to dial out. Once I put in the number to dial, and hit the call icon, it locks up and reboots.
The next issue is the auto-dimming of the display stopped working. I can manually adjust it but it wont adjust by itself. I can live with that.
The last issue is with USB, it doesnt seem to recognize the connection anymore. My computer sees the phone, but it doesnt talk to it. I can live with that too, just pointing it out.
Its acting as if its a software problem but I dont know the phone works internally when answering a call. I tried to wipe and restore an old Calk ROM and the same problem happens. I also tried a different Phone.apk dialer with no luck. Im pretty sure its hardware related, but is there anything I can reset? Or is the phone garbage now?

I would try a 1 click stock rom

Water is a creeping beast, the short-circuiting is the immediate effect, that goes away when it dries obviously.
Then the moisture corrodes the components inside. That's why you'll see problems a week or two later; what you are describing sounds like classic liquid damage.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

You should've soaked the phone in isopropyl alcohol, left it out in the sun or inside a bag of rise instead of continue use. Welcome to phoneless ville, population: you

rovar said:
You should've soaked the phone in isopropyl alcohol, left it out in the sun or inside a bag of rise instead of continue use. Welcome to phoneless ville, population: you
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NEVER USE ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL!!
You are supposed to use denatured alcohol.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

squshy 7 said:
Water is a creeping beast, the short-circuiting is the immediate effect, that goes away when it dries obviously.
Then the moisture corrodes the components inside. That's why you'll see problems a week or two later; what you are describing sounds like classic liquid damage.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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Thanks, thats pretty much what I was thinking. I have a back up EVO so no "phonelessville" for me.

Don't know what I was smoking I should've said to use this: (Or similar)
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...KHCMDN11H0000000_nid=J6J3N30DN8beCLNXKDTJMNgl

Open it up clean the entire board with alcohol and a toothbrush. Leave no trace of corrision. Remove any liquid indicators. Then bring it to an asc location. They will replace it if they don't find the corrosion. If anything looks burned your s.o.l.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

If you remove the liquid indicators they will simply hand your phone back. They know you are trying to "trick" them. And obviously Samsung has them so the would have been on previously. Tamper evident ya know... also the bleach trick doesn't work. They have solutions to test for that. As well as the papers not being actually white anymore. Its now a faint yellow
sent from my BAD A$$ Epic touch

So, besides the battery, where are the water indicators?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2

I also had water damage to mine. Phone was completely submerged for a couple seconds. Let it dry out and all that good stuff. Phone worked flawlessly for about 4-5 months, then the power button wouldn't work. So what everyone says about water damage getting you sooner or later is true.

MoHoGalore said:
So, besides the battery, where are the water indicators?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2
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There are hidden ones inside the device itself
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

elliwigy said:
There are hidden ones inside the device itself
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
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Yup special white strips that turn pink if exposed to water I believe. Or at least that's how the iPhone is lol
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Best thing to use if you can't wait to order denatured alcohol in a waterlogging incedent is liquid rain-x windshield treatment, its only ingredient is denatured alcohol. Otherwise if you use isopropyl make sure is 90% or higher, found at the pharmacy. Regular isopropyl alcohol is almost 30% water. I have 95% iso for larger items cuz its cheap(like $3 for just under a litre) and rain-x is like $8 for about 6oz but it works for detail cleaning contacts and solder points. High grade or denatured alcohol, a hairdryer with a air only setting, and a 98¢ bag of white rice with a gladware container are the best things you can have if you send your electronics for a swim or decide they look thirsty and share your drink with them :thumbup:
We are legion, for we are many.
Sent from the DarkSide of the GalaXy with a MEK device

patrao_n said:
If you remove the liquid indicators they will simply hand your phone back. They know you are trying to "trick" them. And obviously Samsung has them so the would have been on previously. Tamper evident ya know... also the bleach trick doesn't work. They have solutions to test for that. As well as the papers not being actually white anymore. Its now a faint yellow
sent from my BAD A$$ Epic touch
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Not true. I'm run an asc location and I personally have done a.e's on phones with missing or even red liquid indicators. They mean absolutely nothing. They can turn red just from taking a shower with your phone in your bathroom. There has to actually be corrosion or burned circuits on the board to be deemed d.b.r. (damaged beyond repair) which then requires an insurance claim.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

anti-up said:
Not true. I'm run an asc location and I personally have done a.e's on phones with missing or even red liquid indicators. They mean absolutely nothing. They can turn red just from taking a shower with your phone in your bathroom. There has to actually be corrosion or burned circuits on the board to be deemed d.b.r. (damaged beyond repair) which then requires an insurance claim.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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I was wondering about that. Seems like any place where it's humid or moist would trigger the sticker on your phone. It's not a fail-proof idea like they'd like you to think.

-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
Best thing to use if you can't wait to order denatured alcohol in a waterlogging incedent is liquid rain-x windshield treatment, its only ingredient is denatured alcohol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DO NOT put rain-x on your phone!
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/06/st_whatsinside_rainx/
Why would you even think to do that? Plain old denatured alcohol is all you need and it can be found by the gallon at any hardware store.

So, just to follow up. Since the phone was acting pretty crazy the past few days and phone calls were useless, I went ahead and did a full wipe and decided to try out CM 10 since I hadnt checked it out yet. Oddly enough, phone calls are working and the auto dimming feature is working as well. USB still isnt working. I didnt make any changes to the phone other than wiping and installing CM10 and GAPPS. Ill set this up and see how it goes the next few days. AOKP definitely started having some issues anyway, but it was wierd that it had the same problem after restored an old back up of Calk ROM. Maybe its not a brick after all

Water indicator locations on the s3?

Hey guys,
I dropped my s3 in the toilet yesterday... Anyways, I went to a tmobile store and the guy said to do a warranty exchange because the strip under the battery and on the battery were not triggered, they were still white. I went ahead and ordered one while knowing that if tmobile finds the damage I will be charged $130. My question is this: only the bottom quarter of my phone actually got wet. Are there any internal indicator strips in the bottom of the phone?
Thanks guys!

There are no more indicator strips, but if a Tech opens the phone it's possible to find mild discoloration.
B4 you send it back place the phone without battery and back cover in a zip lock bag with some rice. It will draw out any remaining moisture.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

VanillaTbone said:
There are no more indicator strips, but if a Tech opens the phone it's possible to find mild discoloration.
B4 you send it back place the phone without battery and back cover in a zip lock bag with some rice. It will draw out any remaining moisture.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
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I dont think urine will change the strip color lol that sucks i know there is one in the headphone jack

evil1art said:
I dont think urine will change the strip color lol that sucks i know there is one in the headphone jack
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LOL....Actually, concentrated urine will keep the strip white( as will bleach), the ammonia neutralizes the dye lol.

Checkmate Sir! Lol
Tmo Rep: Sir, may I ask why your phone smells like piss?
Reply: You ever seen The Hangover? Yeah, it was one if those nights.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Change it man
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

I can say with 110% assurance urine will change the color of the strip. My drunken friday night, my phone next to me/under my leg, and even worse a girl I'm currently talking to changed the strips and ruined my backlight. She was pretty red too when she found out I utinated on her and her bed. I'd say lol but it really wasn't that funny. Maybe in a few weeks.