H815 - Dropped in water. Stuck in "Firmware Update". - G4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

My slippery fingers dropped the G4 in water (not salt water). Removed the battery as quick as I could and put the phone, battery into a rice bowl. Booted it up after about an hour and it's just showing me "Firmware Update" without a USB cable plugged in.
I haven't tried flashing it to anything just yet. Is it possible that the water might got somewhere into the USB port and making the phone think it's in download mode? I'm gonna dump it in the rice bowl for a few more hours.
Edit - The liquid contact indicator above the SD card is still white. The LCI on the battery is red thou.

Try replacing battery first

bender_007 said:
Try replacing battery first
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Thanks for the advice. Now it's booting fine with both batteries (I had one extra that wasn't water damaged).
I think there's still some water left in the headphone jack since the G4 thinks it's plugged into an audio out device. I've tried cleaning the hole with some very soft cloth but no change. If I blow hard enough into the jack, it'll momentarily come out of that mode just to go back soon as I stop. I guess I just have to wait a few more hours.
Edit - When blowing air into the headphone jack, LG Voice Mate app comes up. Rather weird.

Sadly yes, it´s a known issue, first when they see the headphones they will think the phone was skinny diving

I'd like to take this opportunity to advise people not to put their phones in a bag of rice. You don't put your laundry in a bag of rice to dry it, you hang it up in a warm area with moving air. The rice and bag will keep the water in your phone longer than drying it in the sun. It works eventually, but it isn't as good as putting it on your heating vent or just in a sunny spot. By the way, I don't recommend a clothes dryer.

bender_007 said:
Sadly yes, it´s a known issue, first when they see the headphones they will think the phone was skinny diving
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Click to collapse
After a few more hours of rest near in a dry, warm place, the jack is back in service. Hopefully no more crazy jack again.
The battery with red LCI seems to be working fine still. Should I retire it completely?
Robert18 said:
I'd like to take this opportunity to advise people not to put their phones in a bag of rice. You don't put your laundry in a bag of rice to dry it, you hang it up in a warm area with moving air. The rice and bag will keep the water in your phone longer than drying it in the sun. It works eventually, but there's it isn't as good as putting it on your heating vent or just in a sunny spot. By the way, I don't recommend a clothes dryer.
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Rice always seems to have worked for me. Anyway, I chose a sunny spot later on.

I have heard the opposite about rice - it is better than putting your phone on heater or using hair dryer. The best solution would be to put it in an airtight bag with silica gel (those small, white paper packages that come with your newly purchased bags and shoes).

You and everyone else have heard the same thing, but testing has shown that putting your wet phone in a bag of rice will keep it wet longer than just putting it on a counter (that's not in a locker room). And it makes sense, compare putting a wet sock in a sealed bag of rice (or silica) and another hanging somewhere, like over a heating vent. In one you've sealed the moisture in a bag, in the other you're letting heat evaporate the water and providing air to take the moisture away. It's a myth that a bag of rice is helping you.

Throwing my rice experience in here. It is TRUE. Rice does work and absorbs the moisture. My son took a swim (SWIM!) with his Atrix 4G in the DEEP END of the pool. He immediately disassembled it as I've told him to. We got rice and a bag, completely submerged in the rice and put ALL pieces (except the back) in it for 5 days in the window of our house that got sunlight. After 5 days, the Atrix booted up as good as before the swim. The trick is to disassemble right away AND DO NOT TRY TO POWER IT ON FOR MINIMUM 3 DAYS! We also shook it out until no more water was coming out of any holes. So to those skeptics, you're wrong, it does work if you have patience.

I don't doubt that a phone which has been wet, then put into a bag of rice, will eventually dry. My point is that it would have dried much faster if you had done something else. Just because your phone worked after putting it in rice, doesn't mean the rice helped you, it just means it didn't hurt enough to keep the phone from recovering. Again, try wetting 2 socks, then put one in a bag of rice, and one on a clothes line. The one on the clothes line will dry faster, but maybe the one in the rice will eventually dry also. Most people don't want to wait 5 days for their laundry, so we've found better ways of getting water out of objects.
Water will hurt your electronics in a few ways, one is that it is the universal solvent and may dissolve something (like a glue or flux) if left there too long. But most likely the biggest issue is that it conducts electricity if it has enough minerals in it. If the phone is on when it gets wet and the water has high mineral content, it's possible that some parts will just short circuit and burn out some. If most of the electronics are off, then the biggest problem is the left over residual minerals that will stick to phone parts and conduct electricity where it shouldn't, but that depends on how hard your water is. In some cases, you'd be better off washing the phone in deionized water which doesn't conduct electricity and is used in cleaning electronics.

Related

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

I got my new Rhodium (AT&T Tilt 2) on Monday, and I love it. Unfortunately, I was stupid and left it in my shirt pocket while i bent over a bowl of water. Predictably, it fell in. It seems to be working fine as far as making and receiving calls, and there is no problem with the touch screen. The problem is that three of the buttons on the bottom don't work - the send, windows, and back buttons.
I'm willing to take any suggestions. I'll have to end up replacing it anyway, and the warranty's void because it got wet.
If the sticker is white, your good to replace, but try a can of air duster blown around the keys. Or take the battery out and apply a SMALL DROP of rubbing alcohol blowing it out as soon as it seeps in, making sure it evaporates throughly befor reinstalling battery. And blow away from screen.
This may have been the wrong approach, but I basically took a hairdryer and blew straight over the keys that weren't working in hopes that drying under them would cause them to work again.
It worked. Phone appears to be working better now, though it's a bit crackly when I use my bluetooth headset.
Tanalark said:
This may have been the wrong approach, but I basically took a hairdryer and blew straight over the keys that weren't working in hopes that drying under them would cause them to work again.
It worked. Phone appears to be working better now, though it's a bit crackly when I use my bluetooth headset.
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That's good. This is my suggestion: even though the keys are working now, leave the device out in the sun (even better if in a bowl of rice) for a day or two. It'll absorb all the residue that could do damage later on.
yes,a hairdryer or just sun shine can save your device,i suguest you£§d better turn off it before it is dry
Thanks for the advice, guys. So, how long should I leave this thing to dry before I can use it again?
Not the same phone, but I had my HTC Shadow completely immersed in a glass of water. It dried in two days, and resumed working perfectly.
(The sticker was still white, so it would not be under water hazard treatment for warranty).
much better to use compressed air or a vacuum than a hair dryer. The heat and air forces the water into places as a vapor that it cant get to as a liquid. The bag of rice works well as well. You can also put over a heat register in your house that has the fan going to move away evaporated moisture. Contact cleaner also works well as it evaporates and takes some of the dirt and moisture with it.
You are a lucky person to be able to save it. Congratulations
Hey alright it works. the alcohol is more of a last resort thing, but I like the rice idea, gonna go buy some silica gel cat litter just for this purpose.

Bath time with evo

My daughter just my evo into the tub with her. It was cute, but now the phone doesn't work. Is rice still the best way to dry these out?
alaman68 said:
My daughter just my evo into the tub with her. It was cute, but now the phone doesn't work. Is rice still the best way to dry these out?
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well, i wont work 100% any longer , your best bet, since its happened to me a few times, (jumped in pool, and got caught in rain) take out battery, the camera is probably fogged up, and the speaker is ful of water, take off the speaker mesh, and with a q-tip dry it up as much as possible, air dry for a bit , with a hair blower., and be cautious to not over heat it...it can start to warp..... then leave in with a moisture absorbent medium, I had a whole lot of silica gel packs, so i stuck my phone in a plastic container with a whole lot of silica and a bit of rice as filler... did the trick.. overnight btw....
Also I hear that using distilled water to clean it before putting in the rice, to get rid of anything left behind. Might want to look that up before doing though.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
distilled water or rubbing alcohol to clean up, then leave in rice for at least 24 hours, 48 wouldn't hurt a bit
You can also vacuum it, as weird as it sounds, it actually sucks out the moisture quite well. Use distilled water when you're cleaning it, because distilled water doesn't conduct electricity (water with minerals does).
Earthshine0 out-
This EXACT same thing happened with my last phone, daughter and all. I took out of tub submerged in distilled water then put in a ziplock with battery out for a few days. It worked 100% for me, although it wasn't an EVO. Can't guarantee that it would work for you.
Only your own kid can make chucking your EVO in a tub cute....and youll be able to joke with her about it when she's older.
Last night I zip locked it in a bag of rice. When I came downstairs this, I guess my wife wanted to see if it worked and the phone on. Even though it didn't dry out very long, it appears to working. Interested to see how long it lasts now.
alaman68 said:
Last night I zip locked it in a bag of rice. When I came downstairs this, I guess my wife wanted to see if it worked and the phone on. Even though it didn't dry out very long, it appears to working. Interested to see how long it lasts now.
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It probably wont work very long. The WORST thing you can do to a wet phone is try to turn it on to see if it works. If there is ANY water still in it, you just fried the board. People need to learn to just WAIT, at least 48 hours, for the phone to completely dry out. If you do this, you have a greater chance of the phone working perfectly.
yeah, my goal was 48 hours in the bag of rice. However, since my wife didn't believe that system would work, she eagerly tried it before i was downstairs this morning.
so far so good. battery is draining a little quicker than usual though.
sucks
good luck!
last phones ta bottom of pool. yanked battery right away and were fine 24 hours later.

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.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Tablet got wet, sat in rice for weeks, still nothing

So my tablet sat in water for a good 2 minutes.
it was removed, dried. placed in rice, then air dried for days.
still nothing, no light, no power nothing.
any idea where I should start or what i should replace first before i can get it to work?
If any corrosion or shorting took place you could be looking at everything that's not plastic. (screen, battery, system board, speakers, etc...)
Only way to really know where to start it to crack it open and see how bad the damage is. Given the age of these devices it may be more economically feasible to just buy another n7(2013) or update to a newer device.
Keep in mind that once a device has been exposed to liquid, the damage does not stop once its dried out. Mineral or salt crystals can cause shorts at any time and further humidity driven corrosion or galvanic corrosion can take place rapidly.
That things probably done if you let it sit for days. All corroded. You have to get it dry within 6 hours or so I'd guess.
If it happens again with another device you need to at least take the back off and disconnect the battery then shake the hell out of the thing to get as much water out as possible. Then go at it with a hairdryer (take the battery out of course)
Then you put it into the sealed contained with your desiccant. Forget rice. Rice is not a good desiccant, it'll work but it's ****. Get some damp-rid or silica gel from any hardware store. Put the whole tub in with it and it'll be bone dry in a few hours.
Thank you all for your feedback. There is no corrosion on the board and all circuits have been dried. Still no juice. At this time, I'm going to retire it. I do have the N9 however its way too big for my purse. It feels twice as heavy as n7 and I truly hate it

Just stood my phone up usb port and speaker in puddle of water

Hello, proper panicking put my phone down in some water. What should i do?
Help please...!
Sent from my SGP521 using Tapatalk
put it in a bag with uncooked rice. forget you own a phone for at least 24 hours.
Ok the rice wont damage it any more will it.
It wasnt in it for long. And it was a very small puddle....[emoji35] [emoji35] [emoji35]
Sent from my SGP521 using Tapatalk
Uncooked rice, the more the better, will absorb the moisture. Leave it in long enough, and you should be good to go
Did the phone rest any longer in the water? If yes you should use rice and cotton pad if it wasnt all that long you don't need tovworry about it cause it's splash proof
Do not try to turn it on until the rice absorb the moisture.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
nathlynn22 said:
Hello, proper panicking put my phone down in some water. What should i do?
Help please...!
Sent from my SGP521 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I wouldn't be that worried buddy, watch this vid. The rice for a day is like a guarantee just to be safe. Chances are its fine though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzh6ypmNwSg
I just put it in the airing cup oars seems good. Thanks.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
I accidently dropped my phone in water yesterday although I took it out almost immediately it's just totally died on me and won't start up at all, totally gutted how an expenisive phone like this can't even withstand a little bit of water.
sam-man said:
I accidently dropped my phone in water yesterday although I took it out almost immediately it's just totally died on me and won't start up at all, totally gutted how an expenisive phone like this can't even withstand a little bit of water.
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Damn. If mine broke I'd claim on house insurance. But mine seems OK.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
sam-man said:
I accidently dropped my phone in water yesterday although I took it out almost immediately it's just totally died on me and won't start up at all, totally gutted how an expenisive phone like this can't even withstand a little bit of water.
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That's weird, someone on YouTube dunked their 10 in a bowl of water for like a some amount of minutes and it worked fine afterwards. Not sure if sound was working though.
Ndaoud360 said:
That's weird, someone on YouTube dunked their 10 in a bowl of water for like a some amount of minutes and it worked fine afterwards. Not sure if sound was working though.
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Mine's just gone dead, nothing at all, it heats up if I put it on charge.
I'll call HTC tomorrow to see if I can do a deal of some sort with them.
The rice won't do anything since the water you want it to absorb is inside the phone, where the rice won't reach anyway. The best thing you can do is open the phone up and dry it up with a blow dryer or heat gun. If this is something you can't do or are uncomfortable with doing, putting it in the oven at around 120°f (50°c) is the next best thing.
#killthericemyth
mekanismen said:
The rice won't do anything since the water you want it to absorb is inside the phone, where the rice won't reach anyway. The best thing you can do is open the phone up and dry it up with a blow dryer or heat gun. If this is something you can't do or are uncomfortable with doing, putting it in the oven at around 120°f (50°c) is the next best thing.
#killthericemyth
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This Popular Mechanics article contradicts all of your claims:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/how-to/a3419/dry-out-your-cell-phone/
Quoted:
With the battery safely set aside, you now have one goal--dry your phone, and dry it fast. If you let the moisture evaporate naturally, the chance of corrosion damaging the phone's innards increases. Instead, blow or suck the water out. But don't use a hair dryer--its heat can fry your phone's insides. Instead, opt for a can of compressed air, an air compressor set to a low psi or a vacuum cleaner (a wet/dry Shop-Vac would be perfect). The idea is to use air to push or pull moisture out through the same channels it entered.
Finally, use a desiccant to wick away any leftover moisture.*The most convenient choice is uncooked rice.*Just leave the phone (and its disconnected battery) submerged in a bowl of grains overnight. If you're worried about rice dust getting inside your phone, you can instead use the packets of silica gel that often come stuffed in the pockets of new clothes. But acting fast is far more important than avoiding a little dust, so don't waste time shopping if you don't already have a drawer full of silica gel.
The most important thing to remember is to avoid heat. That means no hair dryers, ovens, microwaves or extended periods in direct sunlight. While heat will certainly evaporate the moisture, it could also warp components and melt adhesives.
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pidzero said:
This Popular Mechanics article contradicts all of your claims:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/how-to/a3419/dry-out-your-cell-phone/
Quoted:
With the battery safely set aside, you now have one goal--dry your phone, and dry it fast. If you let the moisture evaporate naturally, the chance of corrosion damaging the phone's innards increases. Instead, blow or suck the water out. But don't use a hair dryer--its heat can fry your phone's insides. Instead, opt for a can of compressed air, an air compressor set to a low psi or a vacuum cleaner (a wet/dry Shop-Vac would be perfect). The idea is to use air to push or pull moisture out through the same channels it entered.
The key here is, as in so many other cases, common sense. Don't go crazy with a 1200°f heat gun and don't broil your phone.
Finally, use a desiccant to wick away any leftover moisture.*The most convenient choice is uncooked rice.*Just leave the phone (and its disconnected battery) submerged in a bowl of grains overnight. If you're worried about rice dust getting inside your phone, you can instead use the packets of silica gel that often come stuffed in the pockets of new clothes. But acting fast is far more important than avoiding a little dust, so don't waste time shopping if you don't already have a drawer full of silica gel.
The most important thing to remember is to avoid heat. That means no hair dryers, ovens, microwaves or extended periods in direct sunlight. While heat will certainly evaporate the moisture, it could also warp components and melt adhesives.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe what you want; I'm IPC certified and have been doing PCB-repairs for over four years. I'm simply sharing the knowledge you need to best deal with an issue like this.
The only thing that can actually get fried from the heat that a hair dryer produces is the battery. If you for some reason hold the hair dryer ON the battery for an extended period of time. Not that I know why you'd want to do that. Any surface mounted component on the board should be perfectly fine with direct heat up to almost 500°f.
The key here is common sense. Don't go crazy with a 1200°f heat gun and don't broil or microwave your phone.
mekanismen said:
Believe what you want;
...
The only thing that can actually get fried from the heat that a hair dryer produces is the battery. If you for some reason hold the hair dryer ON the battery for an extended period of time. Not that I know why you'd want to do that. Any surface mounted component on the board should be perfectly fine with direct heat up to almost 500°f.
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I believe that uncooked rice is a desiccant, and can wick-up proximate moisture.
You can stick your phone (battery removed, of course) in the oven at 500°F.
I decline in spite of your "qualifications" on the grounds that 63/37 has a melting point of 370°F [edit]361°F (pardon)[/edit].
If you told me you never messed up a single component by holding the iron on it too long, I wouldn't believe you.
pidzero said:
I believe that uncooked rice is a desiccant, and can wick-up proximate moisture.
You can stick your phone (battery removed, of course) in the oven at 500�°F.
I decline in spite of your "qualifications" on the grounds that 63/37 has a melting point of 370�°F.
If you told me you never messed up a single component by holding the iron on it too long, I wouldn't believe you.
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Click to collapse
Proximate moisture as in moisture it is in fact in contact with. The water the rice is able to absorb isn't water that does any harm to the phone anyway, hence the uselessness. Or are you saying that the rice somehow magically sucks the moisture out through the speaker and microphone grills?
63/37 does indeed melt at 370°f, but applying 500°f using a heat gun for a minute or two from a couple of inches distance will not make the solder reach that kind of temperature. I never recommended anyone to put their phone in an oven at 500°f.
If I said that I never messed up a single component by applying too much heat I'd be lying. I've done it too many times to count.
Anyway people, feel free to put your phone in a bag filled with edible seed of your choice , but don't be surprised if starts acting up a couple of days later.
mekanismen said:
Proximate moisture as in moisture it is in fact in contact with. The water the rice is able to absorb isn't water that does any harm to the phone anyway, hence the uselessness. Or are you saying that the rice somehow magically sucks the moisture out through the speaker and microphone grills?
63/37 does indeed melt at 370°f, but applying 500°f using a heat gun for a minute or two from a couple of inches distance will not make the solder reach that kind of temperature. I never recommended anyone to put their phone in an oven at 500°f.
If I said that I never messed up a single component by applying too much heat I'd be lying. I've done it too many times to count.
Anyway people, feel free to put your phone in a bag filled with edible seed of your choice , but don't be surprised if starts acting up a couple of days later.
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In hindsight of my original reply to the OP, it would have been wise to include instructions on drying the phone by means of draining through the introduction path and using compressed air. The OP would have benefited from the information.
It is unnecessary for a desiccant to have direct contact with water. If desiccants didn't absorb moisture, they wouldn't be in the packaging of everything from shoes to medicine to electronics.
It is important that most water be eliminated by other means first, but the dry rice will absorb, with time, remaining moisture, just like dry air climates reduce drenching sweat from your body on a hot day.
pidzero said:
In hindsight of my original reply to the OP, it would have been wise to include instructions on drying the phone by means of draining through the introduction path and using compressed air. The OP would have benefited from the information.
It is unnecessary for a desiccant to have direct contact with water. If desiccants didn't absorb moisture, they wouldn't be in the packaging of everything from shoes to medicine to electronics.
It is important that most water be eliminated by other means first, but the dry rice will absorb, with time, remaining moisture, just like dry air climates reduce drenching sweat from your body on a hot day.
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Okay so let's say that the rice somehow WILL absorb the moisture. Even in this case it will work way too slow, things start to corrode within hours (or minutes, dependent on what kind of liquid the phone has been dropped in). You don't want a fix that takes days or weeks, you want the moisture out as soon as possible.
mekanismen said:
Okay so let's say that the rice somehow WILL absorb the moisture. Even in this case it will work way too slow, things start to corrode within hours (or minutes, dependent on what kind of liquid the phone has been dropped in). You don't want a fix that takes days or weeks, you want the moisture out as soon as possible.
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I admit, I would like to get to the bottom of this.
After some more research, I agree, it may take more time than ideal.
Cat litter has even more drying power than rice. Its cheap and readily available.
Infact, the article I get that info from http://smartphones.wonderhowto.com/...st-way-save-your-water-damaged-phone-0154799/ places uncooked rice low on their list of drying power:
The Sponge Test
Pre-weighed sponges soaked with water (and then weighed again) were used in this experiment.
...
Each sponge was placed on top of wax paper, to prevent direct contact with the drying agents, since in a smartphone, there is normally no direct contact with the drying agent.
Uncooked White Rice Ain't Cutting It
After 24 hours, the sponges were weighed again to see how much weight had been lost. And would you believe it—according to the results, uncooked white rice placed dead last in effectiveness as a drying agent. Here's the list, from best to worst.
Open-air sponge - 7.6 mL lost
Silica gel - 6.1 mL lost
Cat litter - 5.5 mL lost
Instant couscous - 5.0 mL lost
Instant rice - 5.0 mL lost
Instant oatmeal - 5.0 mL lost
Uncooked white rice - 4.0 mL lost
Sealed-container sponge - 0.7 mL lost
Cat litter, instant couscous, instant rice, and instant oatmeal all performed better than uncooked white rice—everyone's favorite damn drying agent.
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I rescind my argument for rice. I give you credit for calling it pretty much useless. There are better desiccant alternatives.
Personally, I'd rather use cat litter than blow-dryer--not because I argue that it works better, but that I have cat litter, and no blow-dryer.
We agree that 500°F in the oven is ill-advised, and I am glad for that.

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