Database Users

Hero dropped into the toilet :(

Hello,
today i accidently dropped my Hero into my toilet (no joke!)
I pulled it out and dried it and immediately turned off and removed the battery. I tried drying it with a hair fan and am waiting now but I am scared to turn it on again (happened like 7 hours ago...)
Do you think it's broken?

put it in a air tight container with some silicon granuals u get from paking or a load of raice and leave it some were warm for a few days b4 u try a battery in it

I don't think its alive, but before turning it on let is for 3-5 days inside a bowl of rise, so all water will be dry from the motherboard. Remove battery , cover , sd card and let the rise do its job.
I hope you get your phone fixed by that trick

I did this recently with my hero, but instead it was the bath.
First thing I done was take out the battery.
I then put the phone in a plastic container without the back cover or battery and covered with rice.
I then put this on top of a radiator and left it for 3 days.
This worked for me thank god. The phone is now cleaner then ever , only downside the watermarks are now red so no warranty for me.
I hope you have similar luck.

Thanks alot, I'll try the rice trick for now.

dr_lovejoy said:
...only downside the watermarks are now red so no warranty for me.
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I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to source three of '77H00668-00M' if you knew where you were looking. I can tell you that there are three of those waterproof stickers in the phone, and only one is visible from the outside. The other ones are located internally, one at the radio on the bottom surface, and the other at the top right, near the earpiece (all on the rear of the phone with the screen facing down). There's also one tamper-proof 'VOID' label to contend with, part number '77H00615-01P'.
For informational purposes only I do not condone 'warranty fraud'!

@anon2121
great advice if i only knew i how to put it in action, by warranty sticker are fooked, dropped apple juice on my hero

@fwers
Unfortunately that's the bit I can't help you with
Would you happen to have a similar old HTC device that uses those same stickers? If so, if it's out of warranty, a transplant of water-evident stickers (carefully so as not to damage them) may be possible. The 'VOID' tamper-proof one is slightly harder though, and you may need to just find a way to remove it without 'triggering' it. Usually, it is possible to remove these tamper-evident seals without damaging them, so long as you are slow and careful, and know what to do.
HTH

Hello again,
two days later i reassembled my phone - leaving it in a bowl of rice near the heating - and... it works again absolutely flawlessly
Thanks alot!

Question, did you flush before you dropped it in?

barryallott said:
Question, did you flush before you dropped it in?
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lol; what a funny question :-D I really hope u did or that u dropped it into some alcohol after that to get it "clean" ;-)

iRobert said:
lol; what a funny question :-D I really hope u did or that u dropped it into some alcohol after that to get it "clean" ;-)
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oh.. yes.. do clean.. bio hazard!!!
And dont eat the rice!!!!
LOL

iRobert said:
lol; what a funny question :-D I really hope u did or that u dropped it into some alcohol after that to get it "clean" ;-)
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Yeah, well I still got a white Hero...

Nemo0815 said:
Yeah, well I still got a white Hero...
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It's still white? From what I've heard about that teflon coating, yours must be yellow now! Or even brown!!!!11one

pauliusba said:
It's still white? From what I've heard about that teflon coating, yours must be yellow now! Or even brown!!!!11one
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Well, that sorta killed the topic..

If it helps anyone else,
I wrote a seven step article to dealing with this in the future
http://tech-n-life.com/index.php/2010/02/7-steps-to-save-your-phone-if-it-gets-water-damaged/

Open the phone.
Get a 100Ml bottle of IPA(Iso Propyl Alcohol) or Spirit.
Dip the tooth brush in the IPA and clean the board throughly.
Then blow it dry using the hair drier.

Vibrant went into the washing machine........

Update 3/2/11. I cleaned the phone with the cleaner posted in this thread. Got all the soap residue off no problem and dried very quickly. Got the spare battery out and tried the phone...nothing. It doesn't even try to turn on. I did get my data off the external SD. I really wish I could get the data off the internal SD as it has most of what I want like a bunch of photos and stuff. Oh well. Thanks for the tips in this thread.
Original post.
What are the odds it will be ok?
What are the odds I'll at least be able to recover data off my external sd card? I have nandroid backups on it if I have to get a new phone.
Whole story.
I got in the shower my pants (with the phone in the pocket) got picked up by my girlfriend who thought she would help out and wash them with some other laundry. The phone went through all but the spin cycle before I got it out.
The phone was on when it went in and off when it came out. I pulled the battery and dissembled the phone. It is now in pieces drying out.
It looks like the underside of the main board (the metal casing holding the parts) has some discoloration, its sorta blackened and maybe has soap residue on it as well.
Anyway....this sucks.
Edit: Got the phone parts in rice. Hoping to at least get it working long enough to get my data/photos off of it.

Back in my Blackberry days there were always stories of people dropping there phones in water and it surviving.
They would take the phone apart and put it in a container of rice for a few days to absorb all the water. Problem is it was always said that pulling the battery immediately after it got wet was key. Since your phone was under for an extended period of time I dunno if this would work for you but its worth a try.

regP said:
Since your phone was under for an extended period of time I dunno if this would work for you but its worth a try.
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That's what I'm wondering too. Usually it's dropped in water for a few seconds, hardly time for the water to seep in and the battery can be pulled before the phone even shuts down. Mine was totally soaked.

Yeah... The outlook is kind of bleak but since its such an expensive device and a bag of rice is really cheap give it a shot.. Never know!

yeah, i've had that same thing happen with a phone and my zune (get in shower with phone/zune still in pants pocket...). when my phone went through the wash it was non functional, when my zune went through the wash it dried and has worked just as well for years.

how common is it to take a shower with pants on? Am I the only weirdo that takes showers without pants? Whats going on lol

I think the best way is to put it on the drier.

ferhanmm said:
how common is it to take a shower with pants on? Am I the only weirdo that takes showers without pants? Whats going on lol
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Lol that's exactly what I was thinking.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App

one good thing is you can probably( dont know if this is still true) find a vibrant for very cheap.. as people have been dumping them left and right.

joshthewaster said:
I got in the shower my pants (with the phone in the pocket) got picked up by my girlfriend who thought she would help out and wash them with some other laundry.
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A great example of how important a comma can be
Put it in a jar of rice... this is a must do.

Its days are numbered.
If your phone was submerged in soapy water for a rinse cycle, then this is what will probably happen:
• If you take it apart some and dry it out (heat, bag of rice, etc) completely for a day or two and then put it back together, it will probably work fine at first.
• Over the next few weeks, it will start to break down as circuit traces and contacts corrode
I would highly recommend purchasing a Motorola Defy (waterproof), which should be able to withstand a wash cycle.
Also, find a girlfriend who isn't so absent minded. Anyone who has EVER worn pants and done laundry should think to go through the pockets before they toss them in a washing machine. Hell, I check mine twice..... once before i toss them in the hamper and then again right before I toss them in the machine.

Tarzanman said:
• Over the next few weeks, it will start to break down as circuit traces and contacts corrode
Even this would be ok. My contract with tmobile ends in a month so if I can make it to there.
Also, find a girlfriend who isn't so absent minded. Anyone who has EVER worn pants and done laundry should think to go through the pockets before they toss them in a washing machine.
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To be fair I don't ever check pockets I just don't leave stuff in them. And those jeans were going back on when I was getting out of the shower.

Dropped mine in the toilet. Just let it dry, everything should be fine. At first you'll probably panic and ****'ll look like its ****ed up. But after it's dry everything should be functional. Now for the beating it might've taken... I'm not sure, but my daughter(infant) and I have this vibrant dropping/slamming/throwing fetish and the phone has survived that, so you should be fine .

hazard99 said:
one good thing is you can probably( dont know if this is still true) find a vibrant for very cheap.. as people have been dumping them left and right.
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This is true. I was very happy with mine but thought that since this happened I would maybe at least look at other options, possibly a vibrant 4G.

ferhanmm said:
how common is it to take a shower with pants on? Am I the only weirdo that takes showers without pants? Whats going on lol
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Sorry man, I'd be so pissed if my Vibrant ended up in the washer. However, I can't stop laughing about this comment.

If you have access to chemicals, you can also toss it in concentrated alcohol. That will for sure remove the water and make it dry faster. It would probably help dissolve any soap residue as well. Probably won't be good for the adhesives used on the phone, but those are just used to tack down some things like the button lights and such. The rest are really held down w/ screws.

vnamee said:
If you have access to chemicals, you can also toss it in concentrated alcohol. That will for sure remove the water and make it dry faster. It would probably help dissolve any soap residue as well. Probably won't be good for the adhesives used on the phone, but those are just used to tack down some things like the button lights and such. The rest are really held down w/ screws.
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Huh, interesting idea. Has this been done? Don't really want to be the guinea pig but I'm tempted.

Don't forget to set it on perm press and add the sheets! Lol!
iynfynity said:
I think the best way is to put it on the drier.
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Rockin that Bionix V 1.3 w/ Androdena 5.2

Same thing happened to me just two weeks ago. Went through a full wash rinse cycle. But it never recovered. Power came back, but the screen was stuck in download mode and had heavy banding throughout the screen. My PC couldn't recognize the phone despite it being in download mode.
My mistake was trying to turn it on while it was still wet. I was completely ignorant about how to handle wet phones, and tried desperately to turn it on. Rice after one week did nothing to it... I think the damage was already done.
Hopefully with lots and lots of patience, you'll be able to get your phone back.

insurance ftw
Don't wash your jeans, crisis averted

Swam with my phone for 20 min

On my last day on holiday I forgot to take my phone out of my pocket before going to the swimming pool. Now it's soaked and looks bricked. Does anyone knows if there it's a chance of it working after it's dried up.

If the phone was off and the battery was removed as soon as possible. Another major factor is how pure the water is - sea water will kill your phone unless you wash it out with water with no (or as almost none) salts in it.
The phone was to be allowed suffient time to dry out. Placing it under a gentle heat (ie near a lamp) and with those silicon bags that it equipment comes with or with rice. You are normally talking about a week for drying out time.

I've heard of dripping wet phones drying out and being okay, so it's a possibility.
There's all the usual airing cupboard/bowl of rice/little crystal packs you get in your trainers/bag of salt suggestions, but I think the most prominent one is to be 100% sure that ALL moisture has gone before you try turning it on again.
Have a search through the forums, and not just this phone as this is obviously not a phone specific problem. There's plenty of advice out there.
Good luck mate - I hope you get it working again.

TA123 said:
On my last day on holiday I forgot to take my phone out of my pocket before going to the swimming pool. Now it's soaked and looks bricked. Does anyone knows if there it's a chance of it working after it's dried up.
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open the back panel take evry thing out
dray it
dray the phone from back with an hair dryer with medium heat
for one hour
put it outside in the open for 4 hours
again one hour with hair dryer
and pray a lot
this is what save my nokia n95 ....so be optimistic
In my case I was saving a child from drowning ...so maybe it was an angel that thought it is not a good day to kill my phone
(try doing a good thing before the process)
good LUCK

20min is a long time for the phone to be in the water
It will also depend on if the phone was on or off when it went for a dip.
if it was off, there is a small chance it could be ok, leave it for a week to air and then cross your fingers.
if it was on, id take a guess that your goose is cooked.
sorry to hear bud.

Thanks a lot for all support! Well the phone was on :-( but the water was fresh. Anyway we have already checked out so no access to a hair dryer. Rice is not available until we're back to England this evening. Will report back if the phone survives.

Dissamble your phone completly (tutorial on youtube), place the mobo in a oven @ 100 degrees C for 5 a 10 min
Try first to dry your board with a hairdryer

I once fixed a friends (cough) iphone that was full of dirty water. Stripped it down, put the main components in clean water to wash it out, then put in a 50 degree oven for an hour. Left if over night then reassembled. Worked a treat afterwards, so there is hope. The secret is to give it plenty of time to dry out.

Use distilled water to rinse. Or even better, isopropanol; no baking needed.
Sent from my GT-I9100M using XDA App

it looks it's fried :-( I disassembled it and dried up but it does not show any signs of life. Will try to call my travel insurance company tomorrow to see if it's covered.

hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahah
LMAO!
TRULY SORRY for loss, but your story cracks me up.

ops.. use rice for save it.

emeky said:
ops.. use rice for save it.
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It was covered with rice for the whole night without any results

U need to cover it with rice and put it in an box u can close so no air would come in
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

just_nos said:
U need to cover it with rice and put it in an box u can close so no air would come in
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
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it should be perfectly dry after everything that has been done to it.

I would be tempted to take it apart and leave it for a week it 2 to dry out. There's a good chance it will work again as long as you don't turn it on while its still wet. If it was salt water or water with chlorine wash the phone with clean water well while in pieces. It shouldn't cause any damage doing this. Its best to remove all salt & chlorine as to prevent long term damage.

Sorry to be the dictionary police but its kinda a habit of mine, swimmed with makes no sense, I think you were aiming for swam.
Sorry about your phone dude, I know its a pain when it happens. Good luck with it all.

yusuo said:
Sorry to be the dictionary police but its kinda a habit of mine, swimmed with makes no sense, I think you were aiming for swam.
Sorry about your phone dude, I know its a pain when it happens. Good luck with it all.
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Oh, I was so heart-broken to watch my grammar

TA123 said:
it should be perfectly dry after everything that has been done to it.
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It takes a Minimum of 2 weeks to cure a water damaged phone. If it has salt in it, it wont work at all. IN such a case you should have rewashed it with clean water. You also need to keep it air tight with DRY rice inside a airtight box for 1 to 2 weeks. This will make sure all the fluids are extracted from the machine.
It can feel dry, but it does not mean it actually is. Also, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT charge the phone with the battery in it after a water accident for the first time again.

Well, both of my insurance policies explicitly exclude mobile phones .
So it is now like either the phone will survive or I will have to use my old Hero for the next 12 months.
So I washed it again to make sure no chlorine left and put it in a tightly closed box with a lot of yummy rice
Anyway, I do not hold my breath. I think I fried it when I thought it is dry and was trying to switch it on.

Just dropped Atrix in the toilet. FML.

Knocked it off the counter while washing my hands.
What do I do? I'm freaking out right now, I picked it up as soon as it fell in so it wasn't in the water for more than a couple seconds.
The water marker thingy turned red and I shook the phone and I can hear water inside of it. I dried it out the best I could and pulled the battery immediately.
Basically without this phone, I'm dead.
Please help!

Put it in a vat of rice for a long time (maybe even a week) DO IT NOWWW.

placing it in the rice is a good idea, it absorbs water pretty well.
could also try to take it apart piece by piece and absorb the water with cotton swabs.

blackalice said:
Put it in a vat of rice for a long time (maybe even a week) DO IT NOWWW.
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+1 on rice! and dont try to turn it on! Saved my iphone once

blackalice said:
Put it in a vat of rice for a long time (maybe even a week) DO IT NOWWW.
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I put it in a tupperware filled with rice and closed the lid. Does that work? A whole week?! I need my phone for this weekend. =/
EDIT: Do I submerge my phone in the rice or just let it chill on top?

Submerge towards the middle of the container.

m0n3y0n7r335 said:
I put it in a tupperware filled with rice and closed the lid. Does that work? A whole week?! I need my phone for this weekend. =/
EDIT: Do I submerge my phone in the rice or just let it chill on top?
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the whole phone in the middle of the rice.
if you need your phone sooner, take it apart piece by piece. use cotton swabs to absorb the water, and isopropyl alcohol to clean up any contacts after you finish drying it out
use the ifixit guide found here: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola-Atrix-4G-Teardown/4964/1

Auxilium said:
Submerge towards the middle of the container.
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And if rice gets into the little ports? No big deal? Thank God I'm Asian and I have so much rice sitting around the house its not even funny.

m0n3y0n7r335 said:
I put it in a tupperware filled with rice and closed the lid. Does that work? A whole week?! I need my phone for this weekend. =/
EDIT: Do I submerge my phone in the rice or just let it chill on top?
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Some say 24 hours will do it - make sure you have the cover off, the battery out, and the SIM out. It's really your call.

m0n3y0n7r335 said:
And if rice gets into the little ports? No big deal? Thank God I'm Asian and I have so much rice sitting around the house its not even funny.
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Lmao...
Nice

blackalice said:
Some say 24 hours will do it - make sure you have the cover off, the battery out, and the SIM out. It's really your call.
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I guess I'll leave it in for 48 hours. Should I put it in the sunlight?
Also, how bad is it that I could hear water inside the phone when I shook it? At least I wasn't using the bathroom..that would have been awful. I think I would've just trashed it if that was the case haha.

Another question, should I attempt to take my phone apart?

m0n3y0n7r335 said:
Another question, should I attempt to take my phone apart?
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only if you're comfortable with taking electronics apart. the trickiest part is to get the screen out without trashing your digitizer. if i dropped my phone in water, i would do the rice trick and then take it apart afterwards to make sure every bit of water is out of there.

as long as you don't try to run a current through it, i.e., turn it on, all things you can do will help.
Many have said, "Take it apart." Your phone, your risk, your call.
That said, I sure would!

Okay well I just realized I don't own a T5 Torx ScrewDriver. I think I'll probably just let it sit. How long do you guys recommend? Is 48 hours enough or should I wait longer? And should I leave it outside in the sunlight? Omg I'm still freaking out, so much of my life is on that thing. D:
EDIT: Also, what do I do with the battery that I took out and the sim card? The battery wasn't too wet but the sim card had some water on it that I dried off.

I'd keep those in the rice as well, just to be safe.

the battery and sim card are solid state components, simply drying them off should do fine.

So how long do you recommend I keep it in rice and should I keep the container outside in the sunlight?

m0n3y0n7r335 said:
I guess I'll leave it in for 48 hours. Should I put it in the sunlight?
Also, how bad is it that I could hear water inside the phone when I shook it? At least I wasn't using the bathroom..that would have been awful. I think I would've just trashed it if that was the case haha.
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I would avoid sunlight ... I hear putting it in a jar of rice can help dry a phone out, i know a few people who have had that work for them...

Random Canadian said:
I would avoid sunlight ... I hear putting it in a jar of rice can help dry a phone out, i know a few people who have had that work for them...
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Oh I've already put it in a tupperware filled with rice. I was wondering if I should put the container with the phone in sunlight.

Accidentally wet my lg v20

Okay so I was shaving with my phone on the sink, as I leaned in my phone fell in the running water . I took it out the water as fast as I could and took the battery out Just to make sure no water got in the phone . I put the battery back in and the screen is now flickering how long should I let it dry and how should I dry it any help would be gladly appreciated. ...........yeah I know I'm a big dummie lol plz don't flame me !

Put it in rice for 24 hr if not longer, your second mistake was to power it on after it getting wet.

I'd immediately put it in a bag of rice and let it sit for at least 24 hours personally.

easyguy said:
Put it in rice for 24 hr if not longer, your second mistake was to power it on after it getting wet.
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So since I put the battery back in and turned the phone back on did I just mess this baby up ???

Good chance. Impatience is not your friend.

@rbiter said:
Good chance. Impatience is not your friend.
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well I didn't actually put it back in a second time just that one time ! could I have finished this baby off or do I have a chance of resuscitating this baby ???

Rice rice baby, you know? Or silica packs. With the quickness.

ricosuave88 said:
So since I put the battery back in and turned the phone back on did I just mess this baby up ???
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Dunk it in 99% alcohol for a bit then take it out & dry it off... Should be good to go.

http://smartphones.wonderhowto.com/...st-way-save-your-water-damaged-phone-0154799/
Silica is best, but cat litter, instant couscous, instant rice, and instant oatmeal all performed better than uncooked white rice—everyone's favorite damn drying agent.

Best you can do is place it in a bag of uncooked rice to try and draw the moisture out. Beings you already tried to powered it on then the damage might already been done. Leave in the bag for a few days but mostly its a lost cause as the connections will most likely rust over time as I seen happened with people in the past.
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

You know what? I suggest popping open those 20 screws and air drying it. After 24h use something like Arctic clean 2 or alcohol to clean any contacts you can, including USB c port. You'll get to see more of your phone, display will probaly dry out better and you'll get an idea of components that may need replacing in future if it acts up.if you have it already or know somewhere close by, but some silica and put the disassembled parts in different Ziploc bags.