Some genius at my office spilled coffee on my focus . Only a small drop under the battery case at the speaker. However the power and volume buttons feel sticky but do work. I may open it up past the battery but was wondering what would be a safe cleaner to use on a cotton swab? Something that won't harm the plastic.
and no, the person that spilled has no money to replace.
rubbing alcohol... very safe and evaporates quickly.... i use it frequently at my shop...
Doesn't help you, but next time: Shut down the device, take distilled water and rinse it, or how it is called in English. Leave it a few days in a warm dry place, maybe even in an exsiccator.
Thanks for the advice. I had some 99% rubbing alcohol that I use for cleaning telescope mirrors so i brushed around the buttons with that. All but the volume down button are moving freely now. I'll work on that one a bit more tonight.
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Last night I spilled a bit of water on my Wizard. It was so little tough, not enough to get in the phone. But for some weird reason now when I turn it on all I get is the black screen with : Press Send to restore factory default, Other keys to quit. I tried pressing all of the buttons but none of them have any reaction. I even tried pressing the green call button but it still doesn't work. I have all of my contacts in there and since my mini USB port isn't functioning I couldn't sync them. The only thing I can do is to soft reset the phone but it just turns off and comes back to this screen. Maybe it is a loose keyboard/buttons cable? Please help.
skwerlabusr said:
Last night I spilled a bit of water on my Wizard.
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Click to collapse
You let the smoke out.
But seriously, micro-miniature electronics (like those in most cell phones) really DO NOT LIKE WATER. At all. Not even just a little. Hell, even 100% humidity is enough to do in most cell phones, with just a few minutes' exposure...but not necessarily all at once.
See, not only does the water short circuit things directly, but most water is...well, dirty. Dirty water breeds mold. Circuit boards, surprisingly, make excellent culture dishes for mold. So the longer your boards stay wet...even a little...the more likely you are to get mold. NASTY mold, the kind that can make you very damn sick. Also, the mold will corrode and deteriorate IC chips and other PCB components.
Open your phone, break it down into the smallest components possible, and thoroughly (but gently) brush clean the entire thing. I recommend camel hair or another non-conductive material. Try to avoid synthetic hair brushes though. Once that's done, wait. Give the phone at least 48 hours to completely dry. Like, Death Valley dry. Put it all back together, and you have a fighting chance.
Keep messing with it while it's wet, and I guarantee you'll have a brick in no time.
RE
I opened up the phone completely (done it so many times b4). But inside there isn't any water damage or water at all. It seems that basically all of the water just got onto the outside of the phone. None got in through cracks. Maybe the water got inside the keyboard pads? And somehow it is causing buttons to be pressed and making the phone think I want to reset it?
You know the story - you baby the phone, buy it a protective skin from day one, and then...
..you're out to dinner with the wife and she spills her girlie, loaded with sugar drink all over the table, including your phone.
Today, the Menu button is a little sticky, and the trackball refuses to navigate in some directions (it'll go up and left only).
I know the trackball is the same as the one used in some Blackberries, and I've seen the online tutorials on how to clean them, I was wondering if anyone here had a similar problem, and if they just waited it out (if it returns to normal) or if they had either cleaned or replaced their own.
Mine kept sticking and would do it like 10 times a day so i got a replacement.
Don't know, but with the Apple trackball mice the usual suggestion is to turn it upside down and rub the trackball vigorously on a piece of paper. Perhaps rubbing it over a baby wipe or alcohol wipe might help in your case to get the sugar out?
ive just started to have this problem without any water damage, just give it a whack on the back and all sorted for another month
I'd just use a q-tip with rubbing alcohol and vigorously wipe it down, i'd make sure some of the alcohol seeps into the cracks though. I've done it on xbox controllers and it always seemed to clear it up.
cleaning alcohol, as suggested, is probably your best option. because of it's fast evaporation rate, it makes it ideal for cleaning electrical equipment. turn it off first though
If an exterior-only cleaning with alcohol doesn't do the trick then you might want to grab the service manual from the dev subforum and disassemble the phone. That will let you separate the hardware buttons and casing from the actual electronics. Then you can go to town. Working the buttons while immmersed in a deionized water bath should clear out any water-soluble gunk.
Be mindful not to immerse any items with membranes that might not be able to evaporate moisture out. E.g. lcd assy, speaker assy, etc.
Haven't had time to do it yet - it's semi-recovered since then (will occasionally move in the ordered direction, but not consistently).
The Blackberry forums had a tutorial on pulling it apart and cleaning the trackball. Didn't look that difficult, since the trackball can be pried out on the 8xxx series BB's without any disassembly.
I'm going to dig through the service manual and see how onerous taking apart the unit is; if it's easy enough to do, I'm going to free up the trackball and give it a proper cleaning. If not, I'm going to try either isopropyl alcohol or an electronics cleaning solvent as mentioned in the above posts.
Edit: After a quick look through the service manual, looks like disassembly is a no-go. Don't feel like risking the whole device to fix a wonky trackball.
Yeah, dismantling the 8100 BB was super easy but cleaning the teeny connectors was a bit tedious. I haven't checked out the breakdown procedure for the G1 but if the trackball hang-ups were anywhere near as bad as on the BB - it'd almost be a necessity.
Although navigation was more trackball-centric on the BB... I wouldn't be able to stand it. The cleaning part is pretty simple.
So the other day I was at work & I had a cup of hot cocoa. As I took a sip, a single drop fell onto my HD2, right on the buttons. There's no damage that I can notice, the buttons still work just fine, but they stick a little now. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could clean them? Ugh this is so annoying.
If something like this would happen to me I would clean it with cotton wool on a stick (no translation found ).
Drain the wool in water or a solvent and carefully try cleaning.
Hopefully this will work.
Good Luck
The problem is that it's actually down IN the buttons where I can't get to it. I heard somewhere that alcohol is safe to use in situations like this, that it won't fry electronics or cause damage.
kabuk1 said:
The problem is that it's actually down IN the buttons where I can't get to it. I heard somewhere that alcohol is safe to use in situations like this, that it won't fry electronics or cause damage.
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Click to collapse
whatever you decide to use I would remove the battery first, clean as much as you can and then let it sit for like overnight at least before using it to make sure it's dry. I personally would probably use rubbing alcohol on an old t shirt, just enough to be wet without dripping, and dob at the area gently and try not to get it too wet. good luck.
So I dropped my N1 in water. Took out the battery as soon as possible then I dried what I could with a towel.
After this I tried hours of the rice method (putting my N1 in a bag of dry rice to dry it out). And I was able to successfully boot up my phone again, almost everything works fine but the digitizer/touch screen has some issues.
The rightest side of the screen, about an inch worth is completely unresponsive, so if I load up my app drawer and try to click anything on the right it won't work at all just so you know what I mean.
What can I do about this? Is this a simple fix? Do I just need a new digitizer? Or is it something else?
Water damage can affect anything. Luckily the digitizer is only $25 and there are tons of videos on how to disassemble the phone.
Sounds to me like you've still got a short somewhere inside your N1. Here are some suggestions.
1. Rice is a desiccant, it takes a LONG TIME to actually dry-out something like the internals of a phone. If you can part with the phone for that long, I'd suggest leaving it in the rice for more like 72hours!!
2. If you can't give it that much time, and you've got some tools, skills and a willingness to take apart your N1? Then search youtube for "nexus one disassembly" and take it apart, being extra sure to manually dab dry all areas possible (especially in the digitizer area as you've stated issues around there).
3. Finally, if those steps don't work, you're looking at a digitizer replacement. Which, if you've already taken apart your N1 from step #2, will be an easier swap out for you to handle.
My N1 too went for an unwanted splash as well. Total submersion for a good few seconds as I had to fish it out. Water had gotten into the screen, EVERYTHING was wet.
I had the tools and the mindset that my N1 was likely dead anyway so taking it apart couldn't hurt any further. So I took it completely apart, used a paper towel to dab dry everything possible that I could. Then I left everything out on the table overnight to dry.
Next morning I put it all back together and to my delighted surprise everything worked!
Our N1s are troopers! I'm confident you can bring yours back to full life!
Good luck!
Thanks for the responses!
I will definitely try taking it apart and I'll post back soon on the outcome, if I get lazy though I'll just buy a new digitizer.
How is it possible that water doesn't hurt your N1? It's completely incredible. Few years ago i had a samsung player (my son in fact) that was in contact with water (no immersion!!) and after drying for a week (air then hair-drier!) it was impossible to get it on again.
Is N1 that strong!! So lucky you are!!
abccg said:
Thanks for the responses!
I will definitely try taking it apart and I'll post back soon on the outcome, if I get lazy though I'll just buy a new digitizer.
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Well if you buy a new digitizer you're gonna have to take it apart anyway haha.
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk
abccg said:
So I dropped my N1 in water. Took out the battery as soon as possible then I dried what I could with a towel.
After this I tried hours of the rice method (putting my N1 in a bag of dry rice to dry it out). And I was able to successfully boot up my phone again, almost everything works fine but the digitizer/touch screen has some issues.
The rightest side of the screen, about an inch worth is completely unresponsive, so if I load up my app drawer and try to click anything on the right it won't work at all just so you know what I mean.
What can I do about this? Is this a simple fix? Do I just need a new digitizer? Or is it something else?
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Click to collapse
Use rice is a real bad idea, hairdryer is the best and i'm pretty sure you can find one in your house or borrow one from your neighbour
Seems like there is still a short in your cellphone and i would recommend you call your manufacturer for this. Anyway, it's risky to repair a cellphone by yourself.
A little over a year ago I washed my Nexus One in the washing machine. Extra bleach, long cycle with an extra rinse cycle since it was a bunch of dirty clothing.
I remembered it was in my pocked when I went to remove my clothing, I was sure it was dead.
I pulled the battery and put the phone on the dry air vent of my dehumidifier for two days. The vent blew warm, completely dry air directly into the open back of my phone.
I popped the battery back in and it's been working like new ever since. The camera colors are ever so slightly off, however.
Let the phone dry out before you try to turn it back on.
Recently had the same issue. In my case was a bit easier.
What I did - removed back cover, battery, SIM, sd-card..
Switched my laptop and loaded it with compiling linux kernel. Then decoding HD video with handbrake. The aim was to get a constant flow of warm air (abt 70 degrees Celcius). And I put my phone close to vent fan out of my laptop. It is not overheating too much (like you can with air dryer).
I had a water damage as well, sliped with phone into the while geocaching. The salt walter wasn't good for my phone... :-(
CCpotter said:
Use rice is a real bad idea, hairdryer is the best and i'm pretty sure you can find one in your house or borrow one from your neighbour
Seems like there is still a short in your cellphone and i would recommend you call your manufacturer for this. Anyway, it's risky to repair a cellphone by yourself.
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Click to collapse
I always thought rice, particularly instant rice because it is so absorbent, or any dessicant was a good strategy.
On the other hand, hair dryers seem a very bad idea. Heat from the dryer can be damaging, but the real damage from a hair dryer is that is sends the air at a strong velocity and it blows the water further in the device.
CCpotter said:
Use rice is a real bad idea, hairdryer is the best and i'm pretty sure you can find one in your house or borrow one from your neighbour
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cyberstoic said:
I always thought rice, particularly instant rice because it is so absorbent, or any dessicant was a good strategy.
On the other hand, hair dryers seem a very bad idea. Heat from the dryer can be damaging, but the real damage from a hair dryer is that is sends the air at a strong velocity and it blows the water further in the device.
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Click to collapse
Rice is actually a very good thing to use just like cyberstoic says. It sucks the water into the rice and gets it out of the device.
The reason he listed for the hair dryer is valid, but it isn't the main reason. The main reason is that the hair dryer will just cause the water to evaporate, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the super humid air will leave the device, so as soon as it cools back down, you will still have that moisture in there.\
This is why rice or other desiccants (like all those silica gel packets that come with a lot of packaging) are used. They actually pull the moisture out of the device.
Rice worked for me when my N1 spent a night soaking in seltzer. (not completely submerged, but enough to get a big batch under the screen) But first I used a vacuum to suck out as much of the seltzer as I could. Then I put it in rice for about 30 hours.
Sent from my Atrix 2 using Tapatalk...
cyberstoic said:
I always thought rice, particularly instant rice because it is so absorbent, or any dessicant was a good strategy.
On the other hand, hair dryers seem a very bad idea. Heat from the dryer can be damaging, but the real damage from a hair dryer is that is sends the air at a strong velocity and it blows the water further in the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about the dirt in the rice? If you use rice to dry those water inside, the dirt with rice will melt with the water inside and make damage to your elements.
If you use hair dryer in a proper way, it can dry your water inside without causing any damage. Have seen after-sale repair workers do this many times.
CCpotter said:
If you use hair dryer in a proper way, it can dry your water inside without causing any damage. Have seen after-sale repair workers do this many times.
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Click to collapse
Did you read my response at all? While it is possible for the hair dryer to fix the problem, it can also cause the problem to remanifest itself if that humid air doesn't actually leave the casing. That is the point of the rice. Dirt in the rice is irrelevant. We aren't talking about that much water, and the phone is still in its casing. The rice is just removing the moisture from the air.
Hello,
my Redmi Note 7 fell in the water of our harbor and it took ~15min until we were able to find it. The water was ~1 meter deep.
I put the phone in rice for 4 days strait away. At some point the phone started but was discharged the next day. After that the phone did not start or charged anymore but showed a battery symbol.
We took the phone apart and cleaned everything with pure alcohol. We replaced the battery too. I took a few measurements: There is 5V on the battery test point and 4.8 V too.
At some point the phone showed 80% while it was off and attached to a charger today.
At the moment the screen goes on for a very short time ~1-2 sec. when powered on but does not charge when connected to a charger.
What could I do to bring it back to live?
I mean there are working parts in it as it looks like.
It's DOA.
The only way to save it was to pull the battery asap (in salt water even that might not be fast enough), disassemble, flush liberally with warm RO water, flush, flush, then flush with anhydrous isopropyl alcohol to absorb the water, dry for at least 2 days with a fan in a warm room.
Water is the best solvent for brine...
What has happened is water/alcohol insoluble corrosion has formed on contacts and any exposed conductors. BGA chipsets, flat pack ICs, power circuits and PCB traces may be shorted out completely especially V+/ground rails. Once this happens it's beyond salvage... sorry.
You could try a pulling all connectors and dumping the whole lot minus the battery and frame into a mild acid bath for an hour then rinsing throughly with RO water, then isopropyl alcohol, drying etc. Which acid, concentration, and time? Probably very diluted sulphuric acid. It's a mix of copper, silver, tin and more alloys you're trying to clean.
That's the only way to remove the corrosion if present. The acid could easily destroy exposed (no conformal coating) fine pitch PCB traces. As long as any corrosion remains it will continue to corrode.
I don't give it a good chance of working...
Oh man that sounds bad. I thought there would be a chance as it was more sweet water than salt water and the phone worked after the incident for a short time.
muebau said:
Oh man that sounds bad. I thought there would be a chance as it was more sweet water than salt water and the phone worked after the incident for a short time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disconnect the battery.
You can try disassembling it again. Pull all ribbon cables and connectors. Place in warm/hot RO water, clean contact surfaces the best you can with a toothbrush or a ultrasonic gum cleaner if you have one. Try to get some water flow under the BGA chipsets.
Replace the RO water at least 2 times and leave in it for a couple hours*.
Inspect contacts, surface mount devices, traces, etc with good light and a optic aid for signs of corrosion damage afterward. If none if seen proceed to the 99% isopropyl alcohol flush and dry completely. It might work....
*water may get in between the display and screen. If so it will leave a residue upon evaporation. This must be purge before reassembly. A vacuum drying chamber can be used. Use your best judgement how the proceed with the washing phase depending on this issue.
If it's sealed, no worries otherwise you may wish to modify the washing phase to be less invasive by limiting time and exposure to the display.
The contacts on the display is what really needs to be cleaned...
Today I found the phone is alive indeed. After lots of cleaning with alcohol it came back to live. Everything work.
The only issue I have is water (or alcohol) in the display now. This causes little clouds of brightness and the many random touch events.
Its there something smart I could do to get rid of this last bit of water except a vacuum chamber. It might vanish if I heat up the phone for several hours near/on the heating with a towel in between (not to hot).
muebau said:
Today I found the phone is alive indeed. After lots of cleaning with alcohol it came back to live. Everything work.
The only issue I have is water (or alcohol) in the display now. This causes little clouds of brightness and the many random touch events.
Its there something smart I could do to get rid of this last bit of water except a vacuum chamber. It might vanish if I heat up the phone for several hours near/on the heating with a towel in between (not to hot).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's never a good idea to clean everything with solvents such as isopropyl. It can weaken many of the adhesives used in electronic devices, and it will ruin your display panel. If you have access to a temperature chamber, you can try removing the battery, putting the device in a bag of rice or desiccant beads, and let it heat soak for about 2 hours at +60c.
Chances are your display and touch panel are ruined, however. NEVER soak a device in alcohol or any other solvent.
Well the alcohol "everywhere" was an accident and bad luck. It happened while I cleaned just the last parts and connections. I will try to remove the battery and put the device with rice somewhere warm with a thermometer to check the temperature.
Thanks for the help. I will report what happens next.
I am able to get the few messages and photos from the day it fell in the water now. So I am near a 100% data (backup from ~2am + current backup) rescued scenario very soon. I am very happy to have reach this point so far anyway.
muebau said:
Well the alcohol "everywhere" was an accident and bad luck. It happened while I cleaned just the last parts and connections. I will try to remove the battery and put the device with rice somewhere warm with a thermometer to check the temperature.
Thanks for the help. I will report what happens next.
I am able to get the few messages and photos from the day it fell in the water now. So I am near a 100% data (backup from ~2am + current backup) rescued scenario very soon. I am very happy to have reach this point so far anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The accident was dropping it in brine water... without through rinsing it be a goner. Even with rinsing it still may eventually die.
Rice does not work. Heat does*.
Be patient.
Warm dry room with fan on it.
The problem now isn't drying but the residue left behind as the water/alcohol evaporates. Try using centrificule force to move the water although capillary may prevent this.
Try drying on end.
Careful use of a shop vac might work in a dust free room but could destroy the display. Use best judgement. At the worst if you just let it dry it probably will leave some water marks, maybe not.
*raise heat to 110-120°F if it's not drying after 2 days. Heat displaces water ie hot boxes used in tropics.
The phone worked perfectly with clouds of water in the display.
After I put the phone in a warm place to get rid of the last few parts of this moisture the screen was black and stayed this way.
Now the lowest part of the phone gets very hot when switched on. Its hot enough to burn your fingers. The funny thing is that with "scrcpy" I am still able to reach the screen and the OS works perfectly as normal. I guess the lower PCB with the USB-C is the part which gets this warm.
I am angry for myself as I could have lived with the few clouds in the display as a reminder to keep water and smartphones away from each other.
Better than broken ribs...
You would need to carefully separate the display from the glass and clean both. Probably bonded with a heat adhesive.
The hot running suggest the phone isn't completely dry or has damage. Pull the connectors off the port pcb and inspect both them and that board for visible corrosion damage.
Reexamine the mobo's power section for same.
It's all probably academic as it likely will fail completely in time. Rust never sleeps.