Database Users

Help, black 'liquid' spots, what to do

Hi Guys,
This morning I suddenly noticed black 'liquid' spots 'behind' my screen. The screen stills works perfectly, but not sure what to do with these spots.
Should I bring it in for repair (reflashing to original ROM, etc)?
These are spots like we used to see on LCD screens, if you press the screen, they get bigger. If I take out the battery and press from the inside, the spots move as well. I reckon there is some pressure build up in the device and would like to open it myself, but that would void the warrenty of course.
Attached 2 photos, 1 with screen off (clearly visable) and 1 with screen on (not really bothersome).
anybody seen this before?
FTrippie

ink bleeding, u should get it to repair asap, lcd is messsed up
My mistake, the other members are right, I am sorry as I could not see your pictures correctly because I was browsing with my hd2.... it is not ink bleeding, for that, you have to have the lcd broken..... anyway, I am glad is not bleeding, now, lets learn from the other members.... cheers..

There are quite a few threads with people having the same issue, I don't believe it's bleeding like suggested above, it is the layers of the screen sticking together. I had the same problem on my old LG Viewty about three years ago - sometimes it goes away on it's own (when the phone gets hot for example) and sometimes you need to get a replacement. If it's new I suggest you speak to either your provider or HTC.

Use a suction cup to carefully pull the screen a little bit and it should disappear.
Brgds... /TubGirl

Same thing happened to me, and few other members... Have a look here.
Grtz
Lukas

Thanks for the quick response guys!
Yep, it's exactly what happened in thread mentioned
(did some searching but couldn't find it before)
the suction cup idea might be a good one, will check it out and let you know. If I can solve it myself it would be much better than sending it in.
thanks!

(newton ring ) this is dueto great pressure happened on the screen if not fixed in short time the screeen will be corrubted .
note; (it is not covered by warranty)

Nope, in my case no pressure whatsoever. It just happened overnight. If it would be pressure, it would be from a faulty manufacturing and elements of the device not fitting well.
Just read the whole case in the other thread, I think I am in for some treat.
Will start with calling my dealer, which is Vodafone Spain.

ftrippie said:
Nope, in my case no pressure whatsoever. It just happened overnight. If it would be pressure, it would be from a faulty manufacturing and elements of the device not fitting well.
Just read the whole case in the other thread, I think I am in for some treat.
Will start with calling my dealer, which is Vodafone Spain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mab be it would be from a faulty manufacturing but fix it fast before the screen corrubts from over pressure as this happened on hd1 and they did not want to fix it under warranty

If this happened to me and I couldn't get rid of it, I would go ballistic if HTC claimed it wasn't covered by the warranty. What a total piss take.

i can understand the newton ring effect on resistive screens, but on capacitive screens using glass - i find it hard to believe.

Yes, ardsar. My thougths exactly.
I had Newton rings on my touch hd. And I was informed that that is imposible on capacative screen because it is made of hard material, top layer cannot fall on the lower one.

Whatever it is, I hope it's not a recurring issue. In my thread three HD2 had that issue, and now another one...

Exactly Lukass, I hope this is just coincidence.
I just reflashed the original ROM and will take it this afternoon. In the end I decided not to try to get rid of it myself, since it is now plain visible. And I only had it for 2 weeks, so of it goes.
Let's see what they say.

I had this, repaired by repair service under warranty. The report said it was newton ring.

well, I just brought it in, estimated return is 11th March, let's hope that it will be quicker!
cheers!

Yes it is a newton ring caused by pressure perhaps if you keep the phone in the trouser pocket which is tight.I had the same but as repaired under warranty in 2 days.

Be careful not put to much pressure when putting the battery in, since its a very thin layer between the battery and the LCD. I think this can cause the LCD come in contact with the digitizer if you are not careful.

propably heating issue
has anyone got the idea that this may have been caused by heat? maybe when the internal components of the phone heats up this causes the gap (spot) on the screen. can anyone confirm what is behind the spot? is it the processor? i've got this idea because before switching to hd2 i was using SE xperia x1 and maybe most of you are aware of the cracking issues of the silver casing. well according to my local SE representative this cracking was caused by heating when using wifi. it was covered by warranty since it's a manufacturing defect. HD2 also heats up when using wifi and maybe thats what causing this problem. well its just my idea. feel free to share yours.

how to fix liquid spot
ftrippie said:
Hi Guys,
This morning I suddenly noticed black 'liquid' spots 'behind' my screen. The screen stills works perfectly, but not sure what to do with these spots.
Should I bring it in for repair (reflashing to original ROM, etc)?
These are spots like we used to see on LCD screens, if you press the screen, they get bigger. If I take out the battery and press from the inside, the spots move as well. I reckon there is some pressure build up in the device and would like to open it myself, but that would void the warrenty of course.
Attached 2 photos, 1 with screen off (clearly visable) and 1 with screen on (not really bothersome).
anybody seen this before?
FTrippie
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i had the exactly the same problem, and fixed it!!!! what i did was to heat it up with a hair dryer while it was on charge(this causes the battery to heat up as well) the spot started to shrink slowly took around 2 hours, but it didnt solve my problem total, as when it cools down the spot would comeback but not as large as b4. so getting pissed of with it i put it on charge from my laptop and placed my hd2 behind the air vent of my laptop(where the heat escapes) and continued working, i forgot my phone was there for about 5-8 hours. when i remembered it was there i moved it, whole phone was very hot not so hot that i couldn't hold it but hot enough. the spot had gone totally. but i thought it would comeback when cooled, so i decided to cool it slowly placing it back behind my laptop but moving it further away at 10 min intervals until it was around a foot a half away from the heat. i now have my hd2 working fine. with no spots.... my theory on this is that the liquid had been pushed else where within the phone as i couldn't see any liquid seeping from the phone so by heating the whole phone wherever the liquid was it thinned and cover the spot but upon cooling it would compress again dont quite understand how i worked around that but it worked

Dropped my N1, going to strip it soon!

Hey all.
Accidentally dropped my N1 today and funnerly enough i dropped it on carpet however its kitchen floor and hard... only from a distance of 3ft id say.
Now i cant hear people when they phone me, they hear me fine.
Camera doesnt work.
LED doesnt work.
Not good =(
Theres no signs of damage visually looking at it.
So can only leave 1 thing to do...
Going to strip it down see if i can find out whats wrong if anything loose.
What people think?

Did you ask if you can get warranty on it?

You might be able to get it repaired under warranty. Even if unlocked, if you are nice and knowledgeable to the right Google rep, then HTC rep (you must call Google first for approval, I found that out last time I did an exchange) There is no physical damage, and I doubt that that fall should have caused any issues. I would suspect that there was a faulty part/solder joint that is causing issues since the fall. Of course you can't tell them it was dropped though. And it might be good to restore it to stock software as well.

Kind of too late now took the void sticker off

Also noticed the charging light doesnt work either.
The loud speaker does...

This would have been hard to get warranty replaced. Too many issues make it look obvious. It's one thing to call up and say "my camera broke" is one thing. But to have a list of issues, "yeah my camera, charge light, ear piece, speaker, and LED" all stopped working. Good luck trying to get HTC on board with that one

It sounds like every broken function you mentioned is located on the small PCB at the top of the phone (cf the ifixit teardown).
Maybe it's just one of the connectors from the main PCB to the one at the top that got dislodged?

If its broken and no warranty....I got dibs on the shell!

[Q] Droid survived dunk- Now no vibration/ haptic feedback

Hello. I hate to even make the post, but I do so love XDA-developers, and maybe somebody can help me out.
I managed to dunk the phone, lets not discuss how, in some pond water. I scoured the int3rwebz for solutions and seemed best advice was to dry with desiccant and a suggestion of an alcohol wash or use of electrical contact cleaner.
The phone was on when dropped, off when recovered. Water damage indicator on the phone was tripped, but the battery still shows red x's. Waited the requisite amount of days and the phone works! everything works.
Now the problem- I get a bit worried about the left over pond scum and I decide I'd be the mad scientist to use electrical contact cleaner on it. Sprayed the suspect areas and immediately blew out the phone with compressed air, let it sit a few nights in desiccant. Now I have some small bubbles in the screen( which was NOT sprayed...) . FML. figure they may be trapped cleaner and eventually evaporate. Not a huge deal, just a bit annoying.
THEN I realize my vibration now does not work. I attribute this to either the water or contact cleaner.
I am now one of a million posting "PHONE GOT WET HALP!!!" and I apologize for such a newbie post, but is there any hope for the vibration to begin working again magically?
Haptic feedback is a fairly big part of this phones operation, and I use silent mode at work with vibration.
If I am screwed on the vibration I have another newbie question:
Can you set different ring tones or sms tones to certain contacts? I have had phones that do this in the past but I cant seem to find anything on this one. I am using the newest version of fission at the moment- 2.6.1.
THANKS for any help/ useful information!
-Andrew

If you look in the battery compartment, I think in the lower left, you can actually see the vibration motor. I would check and make sure that nothing is blocking it. However, I would venture to say that being that it is the only (powered) moving part and being it being so exposed, I would imagine that it would be the most likely to get short circuited or otherwise damaged by the water.

Concur
-Gilgamesh- said:
If you look in the battery compartment, I think in the lower left, you can actually see the vibration motor. I would check and make sure that nothing is blocking it. However, I would venture to say that being that it is the only (powered) moving part and being it being so exposed, I would imagine that it would be the most likely to get short circuited or otherwise damaged by the water.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would concur that it was probably short circuited. Do you have insurance?

I agree. I absolutely did not purchase insurance. Live and learn. That's why I don't mind using it as is.
On to the second question- any way to select varying tones for different contacts in phone ringer/ sms tones? Would I just find something on the market for this? again using fission ROM.
Can you change the green missed call/ sms received LED?
I should have left the phone as it was after drying and not gotten paranoid about the "left over pond scum mineral residue" Oh well.. again live and learn.
Thanks again for the replies.
-Andrew

Open the contact that you wanna change, hit menu and select "options" and it's obvious from there. As for the LED, try an app called Missed Call.
Sorry I missed those to begin with.

atothec said:
Hello. I hate to even make the post, but I do so love XDA-developers, and maybe somebody can help me out.
I managed to dunk the phone, lets not discuss how, in some pond water. I scoured the int3rwebz for solutions and seemed best advice was to dry with desiccant and a suggestion of an alcohol wash or use of electrical contact cleaner.
The phone was on when dropped, off when recovered. Water damage indicator on the phone was tripped, but the battery still shows red x's. Waited the requisite amount of days and the phone works! everything works.
Now the problem- I get a bit worried about the left over pond scum and I decide I'd be the mad scientist to use electrical contact cleaner on it. Sprayed the suspect areas and immediately blew out the phone with compressed air, let it sit a few nights in desiccant. Now I have some small bubbles in the screen( which was NOT sprayed...) . FML. figure they may be trapped cleaner and eventually evaporate. Not a huge deal, just a bit annoying.
THEN I realize my vibration now does not work. I attribute this to either the water or contact cleaner.
I am now one of a million posting "PHONE GOT WET HALP!!!" and I apologize for such a newbie post, but is there any hope for the vibration to begin working again magically?
Haptic feedback is a fairly big part of this phones operation, and I use silent mode at work with vibration.
If I am screwed on the vibration I have another newbie question:
Can you set different ring tones or sms tones to certain contacts? I have had phones that do this in the past but I cant seem to find anything on this one. I am using the newest version of fission at the moment- 2.6.1.
THANKS for any help/ useful information!
-Andrew
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, this isn't really a newb post. Not once have I seen "is there any to trick Verizon into sending me a new phone blah blah blah"
Second, I think you got really lucky here especially for the phone having been on, and ESPECIALLY that the battery didn't get wet or damaged. For what happened, the vibration being gone is pretty minor damage.

orkillakilla said:
Second, I think you got really lucky here especially for the phone having been on, and ESPECIALLY that the battery didn't get wet or damaged. For what happened, the vibration being gone is pretty minor damage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I guess mad at myself because it was ok before the contact cleaner (d'oh). Oh well, maybe it will reduce some corrosion.
And thank you -Gilgamesh- Don't know how I missed that. I'll try that app as well.

I have a hard time contact cleaner as being the culprit. If it damaged electronics, then it would kind of defy the whole point? Not trying to argue, just seems like it would be the least likely thing to do it. Was it powdery or foamy or something? Maybe it clogged up mechanism, maybe try poking at it with a quetip or something to dislodge it? Or maybe the air pressure pushed some moisture further inside where it could do some damage? Either way, guess I'll make sure to stay away from using it myself anyway. >.<

WELL.. the electrical cleaner in question does say to re-lubricate any movable parts as the cleaner will most likely dissolve oil/lubrication. My guess is that this vibration motor was lubricated if only in a small way.
I agree, unless the phone was submerged in something KNOWN caustic or corrosive, then I would just dry it, and be done with it. (I do also have the new screen bubbles/ dead pixels after the cleaner too.) I read the stories of people submerging in high grade alcohol after the water based dunk so I thought what the heck and the mentioned area in the lower left- looked like a board to me- was sprayed (of course with battery out). I tested the stuff on paper and it was dry within seconds just from air. I sprayed the phone out with compressed air afterward and another few nights in industrial strength desiccant.
So now I'm wondering if I spray some lube (WD-40 just a drop?) into this area in the lower left (Vibration motor?) of course with battery out and adequate dry time?
Thanks for staying with me. I installed a few LED applications and now at least know how to set different ring tones for different contacts.
Of course I'm ecstatic that the display even works after the submersion. I was already pricing 6-700 phones and even thought of...dare I say it... downgrading.
-Andrew

I really wouldn't. WD-40 is high pressure, thus when the tiniest little squirt would prob end up coating most of the inside of the phone. With the battery out I doubt it would cause any shorts, but it may still cause via corrosion because of the chemicals. IF I were to use any type of lube on it, I'd use something made for moving parts, such as the little thing of oil/lubricant you get with a hair trimmers. That way you can easily just put a small drop. That being said, I have no idea what effect using such a product might cause. May fix it, or could permanently damage the phone. Never really tried anything like that.

Personally I would just cut my loses now. There isn't very much damage, and you don't know how much more damaged could be caused by doing something like this. Just my opinion.

Yeah probably best to leave well enough alone at this point. Working screen for the most part, everything else working, just a dead vibration mechanism.
Lesson to be learned for anyone searching- if you have no real reason to beleive the device will be corroded by the substance the device was submerged in... JUST DRY IT WITH DESICCANT! Like I said mine was on and streaming music when dropped, completely off when recovered. I thought it was shorted out for sure, or at least would have tripped some kind of fuse only to be known by verizon/ motorolla techs to be cheaply replaced for refurbished units.
Anyway... just glad to still have a working device. Now to live this down as the GF got a $0.01 droid 2 at the same time as i did, but hers works perfectly fine (I smell a sabotage in the near future.....)
-Andrew

HAHA good luck with that.

atothec said:
Hello. I hate to even make the post, but I do so love XDA-developers, and maybe somebody can help me out.I
-Andrew
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cant help you on the vibration part but for the contacts, try going to the contact hitting menu button-->options-->ringtone
edit: i was beat to it, my internet was slow to load and saw no other posts but he OP lol.

-Gilgamesh- said:
If you look in the battery compartment, I think in the lower left, you can actually see the vibration motor. I would check and make sure that nothing is blocking it. However, I would venture to say that being that it is the only (powered) moving part and being it being so exposed, I would imagine that it would be the most likely to get short circuited or otherwise damaged by the water.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HA! Decided that id add a drop of wd-40 to the vibration motor. After re-reading gilgamesh's post here I remembered seeing a turbine like piece of metal spinning with the compressed air. I was thinking the very lower left where the main board is exposed, but this is pretty much to the left of the middle of the battery. You can see a white motor with gears on the output shaft and the "spinning metal fan blade...thingy"
so, I pull my battery and.... blue silica desiccant ball! Dunno how I missed it. Removed it with a pencil, battery back in, fire it up, success!
So now I just have what im guessing is some left over cleaner under the plastic screen, but it could actually be lcd damage. Ill just have to see if it ever evaporates.
Still in the running for luckiest unlucky droid 2 user 2011!
thanks again guys,
-andrew

Oops- double posted. Anyway moral of the story is use desiccant, but block all passages (I used cotton on the audio jack and port at lower left that goes to mainboard, but forgot the vibration motor.) And don't get any cleaner anywhere near the screen as it seems to have messed up my lcd a bit.
Also- if your vibrate stops working make sure that metal fan spins freely when you blow on it/ use compressed air.
-andrew

Congratulations!! Glad to hear it's fixed now!!

Yeah I think that award is going to you lol. Glad to hear you fix it.

Damn you're one lucky mofo...for being unlucky that is...
Sent from my Evo "Z" unit on xda app.

Actually, I would say the opposite. One of the luckiest. Dropped it in a pond and came out working perfectly, in the end.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 Newton Rings are due to my abuse apparently

Hello all,
First time I have done a post so firstly a hello to everyone. Secondly It is an update/ask for advice time from everyone.
I sent my Galaxy Tab 10.1 in for repair due to the newton rings problems and i have been checking it's progress online. Today a new status came up saying:
"Cancelled by ASC Non Defect (Working properly)"​
When I called up customer services they explain that this could be due to two reasons:
1) They have deemed this as a default due to my use (apparently the more likely of the two)
2) For stats they have closed the case and are waiting for a part.
Has anyone had experience with these people and do they know any of their procedures? Also if they do say it was due to my misuse what are my options?
Sorry for the rant and new thread just need some advice asap.
Liam

I dont understand, why are they waiting for a part if the case is closed?
Worst case you can order a new unit, swap screens, and return it.
Remember $500-$600 for a tablet which costs $120 to make demands perfection.

Exactly that's what i said. The service rep was saying this could be a thing they do to make the statistics of cased open and closed better. However he did say this is a unlikely option.

ok, I think I understand now.
They closed the case because they dont want the case number to remain open in their system and pass SLA "service level agreement" time. This is pretty common in hardware repair.
If this is true then it does sound like they will replace the part.

Well that's good to know. At first i was thinking the person was just fobbing me off. I really hope they do repair the device; If not I will go mental at them.
Thanks for the info.
Also have anyone in the UK got theirs repaired yet?

Evan2ac said:
I dont understand, why are they waiting for a part if the case is closed?
Worst case you can order a new unit, swap screens, and return it.
Remember $500-$600 for a tablet which costs $120 to make demands perfection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait? It costs $120 to make it, or it's made of $120 worth of bulk parts.
The argument is valid, but not when you twist up reality to make it fit your point. There are other costs involved in making and getting the tablet into your hands than the bulk cost of the parts.

Evan2ac said:
I dont understand, why are they waiting for a part if the case is closed?
Worst case you can order a new unit, swap screens, and return it.
Remember $500-$600 for a tablet which costs $120 to make demands perfection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly I wouldn't have a clue on how to replace it?

For anyone else who has this problem here is an update. They have agreed to replace it but it will take up to 28days. BO

Just buy a new one, swap the back covers, and return the defective one. 28 days is unacceptable for a repair.

Try blowing into the connector pin area & see if that helps you out. Others have reported it working for them. There is a thread in here about it.

RMXO said:
Try blowing into the connector pin area & see if that helps you out. Others have reported it working for them. There is a thread in here about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blowing in the connector does as much good as blowing in Nintendo cartridges. The screen is sealed and blowing will do nothing.

Evan2ac said:
Just buy a new one, swap the back covers, and return the defective one. 28 days is unacceptable for a repair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The assertion here being that they don't power on the device and check the serial number, etc., that is electronically embedded in the device? Does that really work?

Another update. I called back and apparently it was sent recorded delivery today. Will let you know when i get it.

Evan2ac said:
Blowing in the connector does as much good as blowing in Nintendo cartridges. The screen is sealed and blowing will do nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tell it to these ppl then
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1222149

Evan2ac said:
Blowing in the connector does as much good as blowing in Nintendo cartridges. The screen is sealed and blowing will do nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being the reason why it does actually help. Because the device is sealed you create a greater pressure on the inside of the device than on the outside. Since the back part is more flexible than the front it moves outward, obviously only slightly, but just enough to reduce pressure of whatever is pressing against the screen from behind. And as pointed out, it is only temporary, as when you stop blowing the over pressure seizes as well.

I also have the problem with Newton Rings, but I think it's because it is a little bent. The corners of the tab does not line up when I put it on a table.
Just thought I should mention this so you guys having newton rings can check if yours is bent as well.
It is not the best built tablet and it might bend a little if you have it with you in a backpack etc..

samsung galaxy tab 10.1 newton rings
be careful when you buy any samsung product from overseas , samsung uk will not honour their warrenty although the problem is a know manufacturing defect
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1130230
http://www.yugatech.com/blog/persona...-slick-issues/
http://www.thegalaxytabforum.com/ind...n-rings-issue/
http://galaxytablife.com/2011/07/gal...slick-problem/
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/07...ings-is-yours/
http://forums.cnet.com/7723-13973_10...sageId=5198453
http://www.iwantadroid.com/2011/07/p...newtons-rings/
https://mobicity.zendesk.com/entries...isture-problem

Solution!
I caught the famous newton rings two days ago after 2 months of ownership - and paniced at once. I read about all the disappointed users and returns and repairs. And decided to do the same. Got a ticket from the berlin workshop, that officially repairs for samsung. But i like experimenting. So i followed some leads before sending in. Put it in the fridge, warm it up on the heating. Both had no effect. At first. Disappointed, I let it lie beside my keyboard and continued working. When i looked at the 10.1 after 40 minutes again, the stain, that measured 2,5 * 5,5 cm in the morning and rather grew bigger when trying to treat, was shrunk to 1*3 cm or so. I did not trust my eyes. After another 10 mins, it was only the size of a fingerprint. And then - the whole screen totally went back to completely normal on its own. No rubbing or pressing could change that development.
My conclusion, and i can not believe, that samsung has not published that quickly and clearely, is that it is a moisture-problem. The weather these days is moist and also, i worked with the tab in moist surrounding lately. The "healing" set in, when i had the tab heated up to ca. 30 - 40 degrees celsius and then let it rest for some time with no cover in a dry room at 20 degrees celsius.
Try it before complaining, if you can live with thecircumstances. I do not know, if the replacement-screens of samsung is different, new at all or only dried by samsung... i will not send in mine anymore.
I can confirm, that the healing by administer some heat is permanent and also by doing the fridge and the heating again after the healing, i could not provoke any stain again.
Good luck!
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium

ok guys, so i had this problem pop up a few months after i bougt it, so last week i spoke to the customer service rep and they mailed me a prepaid ups label, i mailed it to texas, 4 days later its back on my door step.
My impressions:1. They definitely changed the screen, the new screen has a slight texture underneath the glass, that isnt noticeable until you look really really hard.
2. The screen brightness, quality is unchanged.
3. The screen now has a dark grey samsung label on the bezel, my tab didnt have the label before.
4. The tab feels a lot more solid than it did before, not that it wasnt solid before, but there was always a very very slight creak when you handled it, especially at the back. It feels like everything is really really tightened now, feels a lot more dense.its a good thing.
5. I cant seem to produce the newton rings now, before they would appear temporarily when i applied slight pressure to the screen, or when i rubbed the screen to remove fingerprints, but now that doesnt happen. The glass feels a little thicker.
6. Another slight difference, is the fingerprints dont seem to show as much as they did before. Its not a major difference, the screen is still a fingerprint magnet.

RMXO said:
Try blowing into the connector pin area & see if that helps you out. Others have reported it working for them. There is a thread in here about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked for a minute. Haha! What will I do to fix it?

[Q] To claim or not to claim? S5 mysteriously survives dive into bubbly bucket.

Hi Everyone
I'd like to start off by apologizing that my first post is a question - as the welcome message so nicely encouraged helpful posts I promise I do have skills (not related to my question though, only software) & in future, when I have time, will hopefully manage to post something helpful. You can have a good lol at the stupid situation I've gotten myself into though.
I've looked over the internet for days but can't seem to find anyone in the exact same situation as myself... In a way I am extremely lucky but kinda not because now I've been left with a dilemma.
I have a Galaxy S5 and lo & behold it fell off the arm of the chair into a bucket of water (sadly not just any water but containing thoroughly diluted Fairy washing up liquid) which I was using to clean the floor an hour earlier. (Bucket placement fail. Rest assured I now always remove the bucket to the bathroom straight after cleaning.) It was submerged for ~2 seconds, was turned on at the time and when removed it was in the process of shutting itself down. Stupidly, my first instinct was to turn it back on (I know it's actually irrelevant but I was pretty uneducated on water damage before this happened so I thought if it came back on it was a good sign.) It began booting up normally but my second instinct was arguably more intelligent and I turned it back off again.
I went off to dissassemble it & just as I was thinking about how lucky it was that the S5 was water resistant I suddenly noticed a gap where the battery cover had come away (probably from the impact of hitting the bottom of the bucket - it fell bottom first and it was very shallow - still deeper than a phone.) That sucked. On removing it it was painfully obvious that water had got into it - everywhere - the water indicator behind the battery is so red it's half fallen off. So at this point I just consigned myself to claiming on my insurance (it is covered for this situation thankfully but there's an excess) and left it in pieces for a few minutes. I really stupidly turned it on again - just to check (please don't tell me off, I totally admit at this point I hadn't read on google this was a bad thing to do) - and the display did not work at this point, it constantly vibrated until I removed the battery again but I was erroneously relieved that it had powered on.
Remembering I had an emergency wet electronics pack - a rich name for a plastic bag with 2 big packets of silica gel in it - I thought I might as well try it (although I really did think there was no hope at this point.) I left it - and the battery - in the packet overnight and tried again in the morning - still no display (vibrating had stopped =)) I returned it to the emergency packet where I pretty much forgot about it for 3-4 days booting up my old S3 mini to use in the meantime. (Pay as you go so I still couldn't ring the 25p a minute insurance line.)
I was just about to pop to a relatives to use the house phone to make my claim when I thought I'd give it the S5 one last shot, not expecting anything, I pressed the power button & realised it wouldn't power on at all, so I wiped it with alcohol (having finally googled my problem... the cleaning kind, not the drinking kind), dried that off, plugged it in and lo & behold - again - it appears to work perfectly. This, ironically, is the crux of the problem.
I've read the insurance T& Cs over and over and whilst it covers water damage it says, in a totally unrelated section, that it doesn't cover damage that does not prevent the normal functioning of the device.
So I started googling some more. I read that water damaged devices may have some problems (namedly with the screen, audio or signal) yet I have none of these. I am ridiculously paranoid that every bit of lag is water damage but then again I have a lot of apps installed *naughty* so it's probably not... and tbh it does perform pretty well (my nonwater damaged laptop is lagging as I type & the S3 mini performs worse.) I also read that water-damaged devices frequently appear to work then give up the ghost within a few days of drowning - this also didn't happen. Aside from the indicator being red (and possibly soap residue inside knowing my luck) it's working. So, because of the fairly large excess I haven't reported it yet (there is no time limit on when you report the damage on my cover, I assume this is because most people want their phone replaced sooner rather than later.).
Soooo... phone is still working what I think is fine. Battery life sucks but tbf I think that's the case with all the droids I've had, if it did actually become a problem it's likely fixably by replacing the battery anyway. What I want to know is do I ring the insurance people anyway? There's no T & Cs regarding time of accident or when it breaks la de da but the clause that's worrying me is that the phone has to not be functioning normally. I don't want them saying "you can't have a new phone because it still works" and then snidily cancelling my insurance the next day because they know there is a heightenend future risk of breakdown. Or is water damage so bad that they will replace it anyway regardless of whether it's showing any signs of damage yet? I just want to know what the typical approach to that is.
I'd also like to know, based on the high-level of detail I've provided on what occured post-plunge - what are the odds & likely timescales of future breakdown? Is most the damage likely to have been done by now or is it still likely to turn into a brick at any second? If problems emerge are they likely to appear gradually or suddenly? It has been 4 weeks since the incident. I think I can safely rely on it day to day at this point but do you think it could last another 4 weeks? 4 months?
I guess I could dunk it again just to be sure it breaks :angel: but that seems like such a waste, both of the phone & the excess money... and not to mention stupid if there were any problems with the claims process or the new phone...
Thank you very much, Im really not much of an expert on what water does to phones. Especially not fairy liquid.
Many thanks
AngelzEye
TL;DR = Dunked S5 in water, waterproof cover failed on impact, did turn it back on whilst wet *idiot*, left it in emergency wet electronics pack for 3-4 days, works perfectly, insured for water damage but there's a clause that says damage that doesn't affect the normal functioning isn't covered - I'm guessing their talking about minor cracks here but does it apply to me? . What the hell do I do?? Should I break it properly and claim because the future risk of problems is so great, do I just wait it out and claim only if problems happen, will I get a replacement if i ring the insurance or will they refuse to replace it cos it still works and threaten my future cover.