Develop Bugs

"Moister Damage" On The Tilt 2??

So, today I was getting in the car right. My phone was battery back-less because I broke the old one and was waiting for a new. I live in south florida, and it's spring-time. The morning was a bit humid but I thought nothing of it. I turn my phone on and try to listen to some music right, but it wont let me open WM player. So I go and open something else and try to exit out. The X button won't work but the touchscreen does... weird. I then try to restart the phone. I keep holding the power button but no luck! So I'm worried and go to pull the battery out but to my surprise see a little condensation on the back of the phone. I pull the battery out and when it goes off I see CONDENSATION ON A RIGHT STRIP ON THE SCREEN. I go to turn it back on and try to do the same stuff. No buttons work, the X button and lock softkeys do not work, no hardware buttons do what their supposed to but they light up, turn the backlight on and everything!!!! I can't even do input with the touchscreen keyboard even though the screen works. Some programs I can and can't open. The phone was on for a MAXIMUM of 5-7 minutes, if that! I'm very surprised because It worked last night what leaves me to believe "Moister damage". Am I correct or is it a software problem. I cant hard reset because no way to type input. Haven't tried the sequence or mymobiler yet.... can someone tell me if the culprate to the death of my phone is moisture damage? I'm really angry now......

froggylover1345 said:
...... can someone tell me if the culprate to the death of my phone is moisture damage? I'm really angry now......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
seems like sort of thing that could happen if moisture entered into your phone as that could cause electric shocks and considering the inner hardware and electrical components are very delicate even the slightest exposure to water vapors or moisture is a enough to damage them especially considering your scenario where you had no battery (and i am assuming you didn't have back cover either or you did?) but regardless as far as my understanding is this behavior seems in line with what you are thinking.

So no way to fix it.... I'm now phoneless. I'm so mad at myself right now....

I live in SWFL and unless you dropped the thing in a puddle I cant imagine the humidty down here doing that to your phone. Did you drop the thing in a puddle? The back cover is by no means air tight so I dont think NOT having a back cover did that too your phone.
Turn the phone on and plug it into your charger and see how long it stays on. There's a trick discussed here that talks about wrapping the phone up in paper towels and then putting it in a bowl of rice for 24 hours. That should suck any moisture you have in your phone out. Just do a search in the forum for "rice" or something.. I dont know.
Good Luck Though!!!

This is the thread you want to read http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=669472

i wouldn't think humidity would cause that much damage.
have you installed any recent app(s) that you might suspect causing these issues?

I thought the SAME THING. That's why I thought nothing of it! I just did a hard reset on it the night before so no apps installed. I did go on Android but, I do that about 1-2 times a week. Only reason I think it's moisture is because of the "white smoke" I saw thinking it was condensation. It wasn't really taken care of for a few hours because I was in disney. When I got to the hotel I put it in paper towels. The touchscreen works, and I can open apps on the menu but not use them. Wont let input through. No hardkeys work either. I'm gonna try a hard reset.

I WAS WRONG! I just did a hard reset, and it fixed the problem! Had to do it the button sequence way but it worked! The last thing I did on it, the night before was go on Android. Everything functioned well their and had no problems. What I'm guessing is I got a bad boot or something that stopped some drivers from working. I figured this out by trying to download mymobiler on the phone so I could do a hard reset and it wouldn't let me open it because it wasn't signed with a trusted certificate. Whew.... this is A HUGE RELIEF.

ight just wanna ask everyone since the topic is mainly on "Moisture damage" i have a habit of using my phone as a shower radio...no i dont put it in the shower, i leave it on the sink farthest away from the shower stall, my question is....will this do any damage to my phone because of the moisture and heat!? because this is the 2nd time ive done it and i dont wanna continue until i get a word of approval from you guys

XERO_Racer said:
ight just wanna ask everyone since the topic is mainly on "Moisture damage" i have a habit of using my phone as a shower radio...no i dont put it in the shower, i leave it on the sink farthest away from the shower stall, my question is....will this do any damage to my phone because of the moisture and heat!? because this is the 2nd time ive done it and i dont wanna continue until i get a word of approval from you guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldnt think it would damnage the phone. Unless you actually submerge the unit or dump water on it it should be able to withstand the humidity. It's not like its in the moisture for hours and hours just a few minutes while you shower. Keep your fan running while you shower and that should help even more; although the fan should be on while you shower anyway AND for at least 5 minutes after you shower (little known fact) to protect the drywall and structure of the bathroom.

Humid place
Where I live some times in summer we have 98% of ambient humidity!
So it´s almost impossible to have anything dry here

froggylover1345 said:
So, today I was getting in the car right. My phone was battery back-less because I broke the old one and was waiting for a new. I live in south florida, and it's spring-time. The morning was a bit humid but I thought nothing of it. I turn my phone on and try to listen to some music right, but it wont let me open WM player. So I go and open something else and try to exit out. The X button won't work but the touchscreen does... weird. I then try to restart the phone. I keep holding the power button but no luck! So I'm worried and go to pull the battery out but to my surprise see a little condensation on the back of the phone. I pull the battery out and when it goes off I see CONDENSATION ON A RIGHT STRIP ON THE SCREEN. I go to turn it back on and try to do the same stuff. No buttons work, the X button and lock softkeys do not work, no hardware buttons do what their supposed to but they light up, turn the backlight on and everything!!!! I can't even do input with the touchscreen keyboard even though the screen works. Some programs I can and can't open. The phone was on for a MAXIMUM of 5-7 minutes, if that! I'm very surprised because It worked last night what leaves me to believe "Moister damage". Am I correct or is it a software problem. I cant hard reset because no way to type input. Haven't tried the sequence or mymobiler yet.... can someone tell me if the culprate to the death of my phone is moisture damage? I'm really angry now......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just let it do some thorough drying out. I had an old Kaiser i dropped completely in the toilet at work..lmfao You know i was pissed but..after some thorough drying and TLC, it just started wrking again like nothing ever happened. I let my father have the Tilt cuz i had already had a replacement one sent to me. Just told them i lost it. cuz u say water, they like warranty voided..lol Still wrks to this day, its his new toy till he get that new EVO 4g for sprint. he got the tilt to work with a prepaid sim card. im like dayumm..he showing something new..lol

demandarin said:
. I had an old Kaiser i dropped completely in the toilet at work..lmfao You know i was pissed
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Click to collapse
No pun intended right?

[Q] HTC Desire won't start!

Hi! I'm new to this forum so I hope there will be some understanding for the urgency.
Here's the deal; I dropped my HTC Desire in the toilet, clumsy me. I managed to grab it within a few seconds and so I removed all parts and let them dry over a towel. Stupidly enough, I tried to reboot the phone after some time, not thinking that electricity and water does not mix too well. I dried the cell phone with a vacuum cleaner for about 5 minutes and placed it in a bowl of rice. Just recently, I tried to start the phone with the charger plugged in but it won't work this time either. The phone keeps vibrating and vibrating until I remove the battery - what should I do?
Any help is appreciated!

Difeddy said:
Hi! I'm new to this forum so I hope there will be some understanding for the urgency.
Here's the deal; I dropped my HTC Desire in the toilet, clumsy me. I managed to grab it within a few seconds and so I removed all parts and let them dry over a towel. Stupidly enough, I tried to reboot the phone after some time, not thinking that electricity and water does not mix too well. I dried the cell phone with a vacuum cleaner for about 5 minutes and placed it in a bowl of rice. Just recently, I tried to start the phone with the charger plugged in but it won't work this time either. The phone keeps vibrating and vibrating until I remove the battery - what should I do?
Any help is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the fact its vibrating must be a good sign, atleast it means you didnt fry the whole thing when u tried to switch it on wet, the best i can recomend is put it back in a air tight container filled with rice, make sure the desire is totaly submerged in the rice and leave it for 24 hrs+ , if it wont switch on after that, then its a repair job

AndroHero said:
the fact its vibrating must be a good sign, atleast it means you didnt fry the whole thing when u tried to switch it on wet, the best i can recomend is put it back in a air tight container filled with rice, make sure the desire is totaly submerged in the rice and leave it for 24 hrs+ , if it wont switch on after that, then its a repair job
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to agree; at least it's giving some sort of sign! Problem is that it won't stop vibrating and the screen remains black - no lights, etc. I suppose I'll have to give it a try and see what follows. My parents wouldn't be too happy with me explaining the circumstances... Lesson learned.
Thanks for your help!

AndroHero said:
the fact its vibrating must be a good sign, atleast it means you didnt fry the whole thing when u tried to switch it on wet, the best i can recomend is put it back in a air tight container filled with rice, make sure the desire is totaly submerged in the rice and leave it for 24 hrs+ , if it wont switch on after that, then its a repair job
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and if it is a repair job, have fun
http://tjworld.net/blog/htc-desire-tear-down
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=720717&highlight=teardown
I used both guides to fix my broken AMOLED.. good luck!
hope this helps! and hope your Desire isnt broken!

!PANDA said:
and if it is a repair job, have fun
I used both guides to fix my broken AMOLED.. good luck!
hope this helps! and hope your Desire isnt broken!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! Are you quite sure if it's worth the risk, though?
-----------
F*ck. I placed the cell phone in a box of rice and let it stay for about 20 hours, but it won't start at all now after a few attempts. No vibration at all. I'm starting to think that I'm screwed.

YES!!!
It booted up now! The power button doesn't appear to work properly, but it will start!

Difeddy said:
YES!!!
It booted up now! The power button doesn't appear to work properly, but it will start!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well thats a start, give it a few more days in a bowl of rice and if that wont help (to make sure everything work!) hopefully it will! but yu know.. if you have no insurance and have no choice, get a compressed air spray and have fun

!PANDA said:
well thats a start, give it a few more days in a bowl of rice and if that wont help (to make sure everything work!) hopefully it will! but yu know.. if you have no insurance and have no choice, get a compressed air spray and have fun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The power button isn't working now either. Will check if the warranty covers this, I'm just hoping that there will be no indications of water damage.

Difeddy said:
The power button isn't working now either. Will check if the warranty covers this, I'm just hoping that there will be no indications of water damage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are usually little white stickers inside the phone which turn red if they get wet, so my guess is you've got little hope trying to get a warranty repair.
Regards,
Dave

foxmeister said:
There are usually little white stickers inside the phone which turn red if they get wet, so my guess is you've got little hope trying to get a warranty repair.
Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, there is a sticker near the battery slot on the phone and another one on the battery itself. Both of them are white, luckily enough. We'll see what the guy says, thanks for the help though!

Hello!
Got any luck with a service with power button?
I have the same issue. Phone fell into water.. after few days phone works fine, except power button.
HTC Service refuses to make a guarantee repairment (suprisingly - liquid damage).
I think, in my case power button is short-circuited: when inserting the battery, phone is turning on and starting up w/o any problems (normally, Desire doesn't do that, I've tested friend's phone).
Unfortunately, get the root and remap sleep button to optical trackball isn't an option for me...
Someone advised me to disassemble the phone, and try to clean the power button with an alcohol. But I didn't tried this yet...

AE777 said:
Hello!
Got any luck with a service with power button?
I have the same issue. Phone fell into water.. after few days phone works fine, except power button.
HTC Service refuses to make a guarantee repairment (suprisingly - liquid damage).
I think, in my case power button is short-circuited: when inserting the battery, phone is turning on and starting up w/o any problems (normally, Desire doesn't do that, I've tested friend's phone).
Unfortunately, get the root and remap sleep button to optical trackball isn't an option for me...
Someone advised me to disassemble the phone, and try to clean the power button with an alcohol. But I didn't tried this yet...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a bit late, I suppose.
We sent the phone for a repair job but it was "quickly" sent back to me. Good of them to say this a month later, when I was eagerly waiting for them to send it back, whole and functional. Anyhow, I got it back and fortunately; it worked. There were no issues, what-so-ever, with the goddamn power button.
But, ironically enough, I managed to trip into a lake yesterday. What goes around comes around. At least I wasn't browsing for some porn this time. Jokes aside, the power button doesn't seem to be working anymore. Sometimes it'll respond when I boot the phone up, but now it doesn't seem to do this anymore.

Disconnect motor
Disassemble the phone and disconnect contact on vibration motor? Or remove motor and reassemble phone. Worth a try to get a functioning phone minus vibration option. :fingers-crossed:

Hey can know how much the company charge for d repair ????

red ! on my battery

OK, so I put my phone through the wash the other day. I took it apart and let it dry out. I turned it back on and it works like normal except some screen tearing/wash and theres a red ! on my battery indicator. Not sure what that means, the battery isnt low, and it wont let me charge it (doesnt recognize wall or car charger) I switched to a different battery and it didnt change.
Any ideas??
Also, if I take the screen apart to try it out even more, do I need to reglue it??
Thanks

skuzzie said:
OK, so I put my phone through the wash the other day. I took it apart and let it dry out. I turned it back on and it works like normal except some screen tearing/wash and theres a red ! on my battery indicator. Not sure what that means, the battery isnt low, and it wont let me charge it (doesnt recognize wall or car charger) I switched to a different battery and it didnt change.
Any ideas??
Also, if I take the screen apart to try it out even more, do I need to reglue it??
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats the water mark indicator. There is also one by the usb port if you take the phone apart.

I would take the battery out of the Evo, and let both the Evo and battery dry out for at least 48 hours before assembly. Can't rush the drying process, except maybe with the help of a hair dryer..........but not too hot
In addition, this may help you out >>
http://androidforums.com/acer-liquid-e/201276-red-triangle-red-exclamation.html

klquicksall said:
Thats the water mark indicator. There is also one by the usb port if you take the phone apart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he means the screen battery indicator, maybe..........

Biker1 said:
I think he means the screen battery indicator, maybe..........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah you're right.

Biker1 said:
I think he means the screen battery indicator, maybe..........
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Click to collapse
Yes, this. Its the screen one, not on the actual battery.
And theres no triangle, its just red with an ! in inside of it.

so does anyone know how to get rid of it??

In my experience it means your battery is shorted. Replace it, or try someone else's battery and see if it goes away.

Skaufma0 said:
In my experience it means your battery is shorted. Replace it, or try someone else's battery and see if it goes away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive tried 2 other batteries, still there.

skuzzie said:
Ive tried 2 other batteries, still there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Time for insurance claim then.
Sent from my Evo in your sisters closet using Tapatalk

I'd still let it dry out, and Don't put the battery in for a couple of days.

And for gods sake do NOT use a hair dryer when a phone gets wet. All your gonna do is cause corrosion. Put the phone in a zip lock bag with white rice and let it sit for 24 hours. The rice absorbs the moisture. With a hair dryer your moving water throughout the phone and heating the soldering joints at the same time.

For an initial drying out, the hair dryer, as long as it's not too Hot......warm to cool, should be ok. Even cool is fine. It is that the rushing air gets into the device and removes some of the moisture. Nothing to do with the heat really.
But the rice in a Zip Lok is an excellent idea as this was the case years ago with questions regarding getting the Diamonds and Touch Pros wet.
This may help you out.
May just need a reset, no matter how dry the phone gets >>
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=883294

Biker1 said:
For an initial drying out, the hair dryer, as long as it's not too Hot......warm to cool, should be ok. Even cool is fine. It is that the rushing air gets into the device and removes some of the moisture. Nothing to do with the heat really.
But the rice in a Zip Lok is an excellent idea as this was the case years ago with questions regarding getting the Diamonds and Touch Pros wet.
This may help you out.
May just need a reset, no matter how dry the phone gets >>
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=883294
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont wanna create a debate but Ive seen so many people come into my work that used a dryer and caused more damage than the water itself caused.
"Even on cold, it can put out enough heat to potentially damage your cellphone. It also can cause static electricity, which is a big no-no for anything that uses computer chips. So do not use a hair dryer to dry out your wet cell phone, no matter how exasperated you are."
Hair dryer is bad news all the way around.

Ok. So ere on the side of caution and don't use a Hair Dryer.
I used one a couple of times years ago without issue. I used the dryer (only a few minutes or so on cool) as a prelude to Air Drying and it helped to resolve my issue. I should say my issue was resolved, whether it had to do with the hair dryer or letting the device just air out, or both.
In the cases you have seen, we don't really know for sure the circumstances of the procedure used regarding blower air temps, etc. But as I said, a resolution can probably be achieved without a Hair Dryer.
If you feel the device is Dry, see the above link and see if a reboot works for you.
If you don't feel the device is dry yet, try the rice in bag idea.

Time for an insurance claim. The store won't touch it if it's been wet. You could always try the rice method if all else fails, or as a last ditch effort before dropping 100 bucks with insurance.

+1 on the rice. Works like a charm.

Well a little update. I tried the link, when I try and use fastboot to power down, it restarts, so I cant actually power down and then take the battery out. But as far as the screen goes the washing and tearing is completely gone, you cant even tell its been through the wash, it looks brand new. I didnt even take it back apart, I just kept using and it seemed to dry up by itself.
Any other ideas as to how to get rid of the ! ???

skuzzie said:
Well a little update. I tried the link, when I try and use fastboot to power down, it restarts, so I cant actually power down and then take the battery out. But as far as the screen goes the washing and tearing is completely gone, you cant even tell its been through the wash, it looks brand new. I didnt even take it back apart, I just kept using and it seemed to dry up by itself.
Any other ideas as to how to get rid of the ! ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just followed the link I gave you previously>
- Put your device in BOOTLOADER (You know how to do this :
--Power Off and Shut Down the Device. Press Vol Down, and press Power Button while still holding Vol Down. Let the device go into BOOTLOADER
--let the device do its thing for a few seconds
* After you entered Bootloader Previously, you were probably in the screen that said:
HBOOT
<VOL UP> to previous item
<VOL DOWN to next item
<POWER> to select item
FASTBOOT
RECOVERY
CLEAR STORAGE
SIMLOCK
HBOOT USB
(There is No Power Down in this screen)
After you see the above screen, Press the Power Button ONCE. You will then see the following screen:
FASTBOOT
<VOL UP> to previous item
<VOL DOWN> to next item
<POWER> to select item
BOOTLOADER
REBOOT
BOOTLOADER
POWER DOWN
After you see the above screen, toggle the Vol Down button until you Highlight
POWER DOWN
Press the Power Button, and the device will power down. Wait a minute or so.
REMOVE the battery at this point, leave it out a minute or so, put battery back in, and Power Up.
See if the Red Explanation Mark is gone..............

You could also disassemble [at your choice] since you seem to want to, but let the parts in rice.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus water soaked

Hi
I dropped my phone in a sink filled with tap water. It was dark and I didn't realize my phone was missing for around 15 minutes.
I removed the battery and did not turn it on. I have left it submerged in a container filled with rice and silica gel packets. I have left the container inside a car parked outside under the hot sun. I did not want to risk it leaving in the conventional oven on low heat as suggested by some forums. Any other solution to this?
Unfortunately, my Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket upgraded phone was stolen from my purse within a month of buying it. I purchased the Nexus full price contract free. I cannot buy a new one now and I am desperate for this one to work.
Please can you give more suggestions as to how to get it started? I will not turn it on for another 3-4 days. But any additional help is welcome. How expensive would a professional phone repair take?

just leave it in the rice and silica for a couple days. thats your best chance.

as stated, leave it for several days. a repair could cost any range of price depending on damage. id personally change out the rice every day

It might be too late but immediately take battery out, leave it in zip lock bag in rice as others suggested, in cool area for 1-3 days.
I had similar situation as yours (bought it full price from overseas before Google started selling it, and then it got wet with Shamu in Sea World splashing salt water on it, the phone was gone after it.
I learned the procedure the hard way after that phone was unusable and since then successfully used it on newly bought GN and on son's Vibrant after being drenched in thunderstorms.

If you're technologically inclined, or have a friend or two that are, get them to take the phone apart and let it air dry for about a week. Phones are simple, find the screws, take em out, safely pry the phone apart, carefully separate any ribbon cables from the PCB and tinker with it.

Not making any promises, but these phones are tougher than you think.
Waaaaay back when my hubby left his Droid Eris in his pants it went in the washer...
A full wash cycle later and a weird clunking noise when I turned on the dryer prompted me to check and to my horror there was his brand new phone (maybe 8 weeks old at that point).
Did the same you did, took the battery out and let it soak in rice for a few days. At first it would not turn on with the original battery, but eventually I tried that one again and it worked! There were a few waterspots under the screen, but they went away and it kept working flawlessly for him for almost two years till he retired it.
Wishing you all the best!

If the water had anything besides just water in it you will also want to take apart the phone after it has dried and clean the ports and connections with rubbing alcohol at least 95%, using a qtip this will help to prevent/stop erosion

Thank you
Thank you all for your suggestions. After leaving the phone in rice and silica packets for 2 days I dismantled the phone and let it dry further. I am not confident that I will be able to do the alcohol cleaning required to prevent water erosion/corrosion.
I am going to put the phone together and turn on the phone today. It has been 4 complete days and I hope it is not too early.
Fingers crossed and hoping for a miracle. :fingers-crossed:
Will keep you'll posted with what happens.
Thank you!!

NamZee said:
Thank you all for your suggestions. After leaving the phone in rice and silica packets for 2 days I dismantled the phone and let it dry further. I am not confident that I will be able to do the alcohol cleaning required to prevent water erosion/corrosion.
I am going to put the phone together and turn on the phone today. It has been 4 complete days and I hope it is not too early.
Fingers crossed and hoping for a miracle. :fingers-crossed:
Will keep you'll posted with what happens.
Thank you!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've already done what I would have done. The best thing to do now is to be patient and do not try to put the battery back in too soon. Don't rush the drying by heating the phone. It's probably better to throw the battery out, I wouldn't trust any battery that has been submerged for so long. That said, 15 minutes is quite a long time. You could get lucky, but I would prepare myself for some bad news.

Phone Working
Thank you immensely for all you suggestions!! My phone works...There were a couple of things not working initially. Like the volume button display was not moving when I reduced the volume or increased it. The volume was changing but not the volume status bar.
Anyway, now, after 2 days, that is working too. Everything is working fine. Thank you all for your patience and consolation. Appreciate all your help. :victory:

After 15 minutes in water that is seriously impressive! Any screen damage?

Put in front of fan or can also pour/soak in at least 99% isopropyl alcohol that find in electronics section. Will evaporate the water. Its what is used to clean motherboards and stuff.
*This Jedi master be a Ninj-ESS*

NamZee said:
Thank you immensely for all you suggestions!! My phone works...There were a couple of things not working initially. Like the volume button display was not moving when I reduced the volume or increased it. The volume was changing but not the volume status bar.
Anyway, now, after 2 days, that is working too. Everything is working fine. Thank you all for your patience and consolation. Appreciate all your help. :victory:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good for you. You are really lucky.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Glad everything worked out!

Samsung galaxy nexus contact cleaning
shreddintyres said:
If the water had anything besides just water in it you will also want to take apart the phone after it has dried and clean the ports and connections with rubbing alcohol at least 95%, using a qtip this will help to prevent/stop erosion
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are all the contacts? - do you mean where the ribbons connect? I dropped minebriefly (10sec) in an outdoor swimming pool - probably some chlorine in water. I don't know where all the contacts are...
Thanks!

[Q] Dropped In Water, Screen Won't Work

Hi Guys,
A month or so ago my mom dropped her S3 into the toilet. I told her to put it in rice ASAP and I believe a day or so later she did (but perhaps later that night). When I turn the phone on, the blue SAMSUNG (or maybe it says Galaxy) logo comes on and shows up completely fine, but nothing else after that works.
The lights around the phone work as well, including when I hit the menu and back buttons on the bottom part of the phone. It vibrates properly when it should and I also get sound, no problem.
I've tried connecting the phone to my computer to salvage pictures and data but it doesn't recognize the device for some reason.
Is the phone completely toast or is there a way for me to fix it? It was in very good condition before this and had only been used for a year.
Thanks a lot for the help. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Update: I just turned it on again and I could see the FAINTEST traces of the home screen. I pulled the settings down and turned the screen brightness up all the way and I can make out everything. The phone seems to be fully functional, but the screen is still incredibly dark. Any ideas on what is broken and what I need to fix?
Once every while it flickers to the full brightness for a split second and then goes back to dull.

Digitizer may have water. See if someone can take it out and wipe it down. Otherwise its a insurance call.

Thanks for the reply. I have no insurance on the phone so that's not an option. Would it be ultra difficult for me to try and take out the digitizer and wipe it down? Is it far too late to try and dry it out more with rice or silicate packs?

Please see this thread. Perhaps you can compare notes.

Perseus71 said:
Please see this thread. Perhaps you can compare notes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a way to confirm it's the digitizer before I pay $120 to try and transplant a new one into the old phone? I am also not very savvy at phone repair, although I could probably hire someone locally to do it.
Would like to make sure it's the digitizer first though.
I've also heard that re-dropping it in distilled water and then drying it with silicate gel packs might help clear whatever issues it's experiencing now. That seems crazy to me. Thoughts?
Thanks!

I wouldn't drop it again in water. If you are not sure you can do it, then better send it for Out-Of-Warranty Repair. I can't tell you of a way to determine if its the Digitizer or not.
I "think" its your LCD having some dampness.

Okay, thank you. So assuming it's the LCD being damp, is it far too late to use silicate packs to bring out the moisture? Or is it time to pull it apart and wipe it down?
Also the videos I see online kind of make it seem like you can't remove the screen without breaking it.

Yes give it a try. A friend of mine, tried that successfully. Your mileage may vary.

Perseus71 said:
Yes give it a try. A friend of mine, tried that successfully. Your mileage may vary.
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I followed a video tutorial online and took it apart and brushed it with a toothbrush dipped in 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let it dry for a bit and retried it and the screen was still very dark. :-/ I guess I'll try it again later.