Unique Water Damage Problem - AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III

Good evening XDA,
I'll get right to the point - last night my mom's S3 fell out of her purse and sat on our driveway overnight in rain/freezing rain. It was in an otterbox commuter case so it wasn't naked but there are some issues with it now.
1 - the front and rear cameras are both foggy and look terrible when taking pictures/video
2 - the back key doesn't work consistently
I've looked at the water damage markers and they are both white. Do you think Telus will give her a replacement or will they say something about the foggy looking front/rear cameras? Is there anything I should know before I go there?
Also, if I disassemble the phone to try and dry the cameras, will this void my warranty? I couldn't see a warranty void sticker...
I've put the phone in a ziploc bag full of rice so hopefully that helps getting the foggyness out of the camera and if it does, I'll definitely try and get it replaced for her.

You should have put in in rice before you try anything.
Maybe hard-brick the phone and tell them you don't know what happened

Not sure myself, I personally knocked over a cup of tea and I'm fairly sure some of the water got in around the home button.I dried the water immediately, and the phone was powered on, so I just kind of left it. I have driving mode turn on-off randomly for a day, usb connecting even when not connected and randomly and random shutdowns for a month. Seems all fine now.

Related

Dropped phone in water

So it's been raining cats and dogs all day in NY and as I was getting in my car I heard something fall and hit my car as I sat in my car I looked around and saw nothing then checked my hoodie pocket and realized my phone was gone and I said FUCC...then I noticed it laying on it's back half way submerged in a big puddle...so I grabbed it and opened it without flipping it over and wiped away all the water...The white sticker wasn't affected by the water so my warranty is safe I assume and my insurance won't be affected in anyway....The only problem that seems to be occuring is the vibrations are very dim now compared to the earthquake that it used to be....Will the warranty/insurance cover this after I let the phone dry out? Or will they not see this as a valid problem?
i am pretty sure you will be ok since the white tab is not changed but i think the warrenty does not in anyway cover water dmg.
well the phone dried out and the vibrations seems to be normal again

[Q] Water sensors

I've heard that despite being designed for water resistance, the Defy has water sensors which can be checked for warranty purposes. Can anyone here report the locations of these sensors? And if you took your Defy for a bath, are the sensors now affected?
I guess most handset have these type of sensors today and there actually just stickers that get colored when moisture reaches them. So the only way to find out if you triggered it would be to physically open up the device before and after exposure. Since the Defy is not water proof I'm pretty sure that they will not replace your phone if it has been water damaged. If you just forget the caps on the USB or headphone outputs it will propably be damaged by water and you would void your warranty.
One is one the edge of the battery, it's a white rectangle with pink X's on it; the other is under the battery on the device itself. It's a tiny white hexagon.
the battery door is air tight, but only up to 3 feet I believe. so if you drop it in the toilet or in a cup of tea, the phone will be fine and the water stickers wont be affected. I would assume that there might be another on the inside of the phone.
Eh.. I would want to test this phone so bad..
Infact I'm considering bringing a ziplock bag full of water to the tmobile store and demanding the phone be tested before I buy it. Making sure that they bring out the one I'm going to buy and testing that one specifically.
If they say no its w/e. But, I want to see a test before I jump in head first.
With that said, the folks at engadget I think it was ruined one of the two test units because the flap on the back of the battery didn't go in right.
Snow_fox said:
Eh.. I would want to test this phone so bad..
Infact I'm considering bringing a ziplock bag full of water to the tmobile store and demanding the phone be tested before I buy it. Making sure that they bring out the one I'm going to buy and testing that one specifically.
If they say no its w/e. But, I want to see a test before I jump in head first.
With that said, the folks at engadget I think it was ruined one of the two test units because the flap on the back of the battery didn't go in right.
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Click to collapse
OK, so I have had mine in a few glasses of water at restaurants (people bragging to me there was nothing their phone couldn't do that my could) and in a hot, tall Starbucks (regular coffee) at a meeting that almost gave everyone a heart attack. And, you must have seen the video where they start the camcorder and drop it to the bottom of a pool? W/O issues? I'm thinking of having a holster made for it that clips to the front of my snowboard.
They would be inside where the battery is stored. This part of the phone is, naturally, not water proof (battery, sd and sim card contacts). There is a water resistant gasket on the seal where the backing goes. It is spring tensioned so it makes a good, watertight seal. So, I would not sweat triggering the moisture sensor IF you have the back of the phone on correctly.
I wouldn't go deep sea diving with the phone either... water proof or not. I don't see any harm in having the phone in your pants pocket on the floor while your taking a shower though..
Sorry, for some reason I didn't see the NUMEROUS replies to your post. I basically just parroted off what the others had said.
Sorry, for some reason I didn't see the NUMEROUS replies to your post. I basically just parroted off what the others had said.
Moisture indicators are common-place in phones, generally there's one on the battery and another one on the phone in the area the battery sits in.
Most of them are white and turn a very noticeable red when damp however some others are, as people have described, white with a coloured pattern and the smudging of the pattern is the indication.
That said, any engineer worth their salt will be able to open up the handset and check the circuit-boards themselves for corrosion, the indicators are there to speed up matters but are by no means the only way in which moisture damage can be detected.
put it to water?

[Q] Dropped Epic in Toilet

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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Click to collapse
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....
Click to expand...
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

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!

The Water Damage Survivor

I'm just so happy I thought I'd share. So I brought my Tab S 8.4 along to the beach (it was my only phone at the time), safely sealed in a waterproof bag (or so I thought) . A rogue wave later it was floating on the water. I fished it out and to my horror there was about an inch of saltwater in the bag. I ran back to dry land , took it out of the bag and wrapped it in all the paper towel I could find. I shook it a couple times and could see water dripping out the sides of the power button. The screen was unresponsive. It froze, then died. It lived in a tupperware of rice for two weeks after that. When I took it out, I was pleased to see it was still charging. I got it to boot up, but then it kept turning itself off. I opened it up and it was as I feared- the power button and surrounding area had this whitish crust which could only mean corrosion. :crying: I cleaned it as best I could, but a couple days later it would no longer boot up. The power button was completely dead, and as a result I couldn't even get it into safe/download mode, so no ADB either.
The last hope was a transplant. Before it died, I remembered the volume buttons were working great. I asked a buddy of mine who was into electronics if he could pull my volume up button and replace the water damaged power button. It was a tense 2 hours as I waited for my buddy to call. The phone rang, and he told me to come over. He had a satisfied grin on his face as he handed me back my tablet, all powered up and ready to go. I swear I almost cried. :victory:
It's been three weeks since I've had it back, with no malfunctions or abnormalities detected. I have to use on-screen volume sliders now, but my tablet has a new lease on life. Should I buy an otterbox to keep it safe from now on? Nah...I think I'll use it without a case or screen protector...I don't know how much longer it will have anyway, so I might as well make the most of it. :good:
Just because it`s called an OtterBox does not mean you can take your phone for a swim
OtterBox`s are expensive, an standard gel case with a raised lip to protect the display, and a screen protector is all you really need, unless you really want to splurge out.
For any other owners who take there phone/tablets for a swim, Cat Litter is supposedly much better than Rice for drying out you phone/tablet, just drain out all the water you can, remove sim and microsd, and wrap it in an cloth (to keep the cat litter out of the ports) and cover it and leave for 1 to 2 days to dry out.
Glad your Tab S survived it`s swim.
John.
Another tip NEVER turn on a water damaged device no matter how tempting to test it as this will instantly start the electrolysis process and begin to corrode everything.
Also water is conductive and will easily damage a surface mount chip.
The best you can do is put it somewhere warm and let it dry out buried in rice or as above paper cat litter.
If it's Saltwater then it will need to be cleaned internally.

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