Database Users

My HD dropped in the water ... HELP

My HD dropped in the water. I dissembly it and let it dry for 3 days. Battery was only 30% charged. After 3 days when I switched it on it worked fine for 2 days but now it switched off and is not switching on again . I replaced battery but nothing happened. Any help ...

Normally speaking electronics would be able to handle the water if dried thoroughly and as quickly as possible (using a hairdryer is recommended) and it's the battery which dies on the spot and can actually explode. In your case tho it worked for 2 days after, so that's quite lucky.
If you haven't done it yet, there's a link in the wiki to the technical service manual which shows how to disassemble the phone to it's smallest parts. If you're up to it, you could see if there's anything turning brown\reddish. If so (or not) you could try clean everything as best possible (perhaps with some alcohol) and then try make use of your warranty...
Could very well be the powerswitch itself which is just sticking tho..

so sorry for you man!

That's too bad. I dunno if this will help you at this point since it's already been several days since it fell in the water, but I read that if you drop your phone in water, you should take whatever you can apart, dry them the best you can, and then submerge all of the parts in dry, uncooked rice. This is supposed to absorb all of the moisture from the parts. I actually used this technique once when my old phone fell in water and it worked perfectly.
I know this won't help you at this point, but it may help others...good luck.

BMW^Z4 said:
My HD dropped in the water. I dissembly it and let it dry for 3 days. Battery was only 30% charged. After 3 days when I switched it on it worked fine for 2 days but now it switched off and is not switching on again . I replaced battery but nothing happened. Any help ...
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Just a word of thumb to all people. Once the phone / battery has been submerged in water you need to discard the battery right away. Never use a battery that has been exposed to water again in your phone. That is how you fry a phone. I bet if you would have used another battery in your phone it might still work.

Too late for BMW^Z4, but to others:
If it was dropped in dirty or especially salty water, after taking it apart, before drying it, you may want to submerge/rinse it in even more clean water. Distilled water would be even better.
Any left over residue (especially salt) will accelerate corrosion of contacts and leads and could indeed cause it too fail a few days later.

Buy another one

AllTheWay said:
Just a word of thumb to all people. Once the phone / battery has been submerged in water you need to discard the battery right away. Never use a battery that has been exposed to water again in your phone. That is how you fry a phone. I bet if you would have used another battery in your phone it might still work.
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Which is why I said:
'If so (or not) you could try clean everything as best possible (perhaps with some alcohol) and then try make use of your warranty...'
If you take it back to the store and they (HTC) see you've used it as a submersible they'll turn you down and charge you for the repairs..

I dropped my phone in toilet too. Was in back pocket. I heard a clunk and turned around and noticed it was my phone. I quickly removed it. Took cover, battery, sim and sd card out and dried it with tissue. Then i used those super powerful Dyson heated hand driers to dry it as much as possible. It happened Monday night and I still have not tried putting in the battery. Now I don't know if I should try the battery or just buy a new one from the posts up. I am dreading it if it does not work. I would hate to have to buy another HD as they are so expensive. I guess toilet water is not considered clean. Hope no corrosion.
A friend send I should leave it overnight in white spirit but i did not trust him.
Hoping all is well.....

So sorry to hear this.
In another forum, somone accidentally pour coffee on his Athena.
Some one had suggested in another forum that you bury your HD with rice as the later has the moisture absorbing property. Of course, if it is dirty, you should wash it with clean water first.
I would leave it for a few days to let any water completely evaporate before trying on.
I think there may be hope still. Let's keep our finger cross.

tboy2000 said:
A friend send I should leave it overnight in white spirit but i did not trust him.
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Great way to dissolve the remains of your phone Hope your friend wasn't serious.

Unless he meant alcohol. He said he used to do it with laptops when they were sent in to repair to him.
What do you guys think? Should I try inserting my battery in again or not even try it and just buy a brand new battery?

tboy2000 said:
Unless he meant alcohol. He said he used to do it with laptops when they were sent in to repair to him.
What do you guys think? Should I try inserting my battery in again or not even try it and just buy a brand new battery?
Click to expand...
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A couple people above you specificly stated to NOT use a battery that has suffered water damage. Get a new battery or risk frying your phone for good.

3 days
3 days may have not been enough unless you left it in a hot dry place. I once put an old nokia phone in the washing machine. When it came out it was full of water and the water had shorted and turned it off (obviously). I wrapped it in a couple of layers of toilet roll and pushed it down the back of the radiator. Water dropped out the bottom and steam went out from the top. This ensures there is no water left. Next (when fully dry) take some sandpaper to the battery connections in the phone and the battery. Water can oxidise the heads and you may not be getting a good connection. Try again and try a friends battery if that does not work.
Good luck (if its not already too late)

i think is too late but....
the better way to avoid definitive damages was an immediate extraction of battery and cards, rinsing in distilled water to avoid corrosion or salt deposition and put on gentle warm hair flux for a long long time.
polish any visible contact with very soft paper and replace with a new battery
pray if you believe and try to turn on
let us know good luck
giano

eaglesteve said:
Some one had suggested in another forum that you bury your HD with rice as the later has the moisture absorbing property. Of course, if it is dirty, you should wash it with clean water first.
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This is a very good idea! The rice will definitely absorb the moisture.
tboy2000 said:
Unless he meant alcohol. He said he used to do it with laptops when they were sent in to repair to him.
What do you guys think? Should I try inserting my battery in again or not even try it and just buy a brand new battery?
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Click to collapse
http://video.about.com/cellphones/Revive-Waterlogged-Cell-Phone.htm
Check out that video for more information. I don't know if it will help but they don't mention about getting a new battery.
However I have heard differing reports.

tboy2000 said:
I dropped my phone in toilet too. ... I guess toilet water is not considered clean.
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I guess that depends if it was before or after....
Seriously, while urine is salty, conductive and corrosive, the actual water used in the toilet is in fact as clean as that out of your kitchen tap.
If you took it out that quickly, and if it was clean barely conductive water, the battery may not only not be damaged, it may still hold a charge. If you have a multimeter, and you can measure between 3 to 4 Volt, I am fairly sure the battery is fine. Though I am not taking responsibility....

Phone in water
Hi guys,
i just read the HTC water story. Clean it first with pure water (best distilled water) and then use pure alcohol and submerge the electroncis in it.
The water at first replaces the dirt water and washes away particles or solids. As water takes long time to dry alcohol is used to replace the water completely. Alcohol has also a much lower conductivity - therefore avoiding shortened circuits due to salts or similar.
Hope this gives some clarification...worked once in a museum where we had mobiles and they pretty regularly fell into the toilet
Have fun with your HTC,
Nils

I used thoses Dyson fast hand dryers - the ones where you dip your hands in and out. After seeing the video I hope I have not done more damage. I was in a public toilet when it happened so had no access to distilled water, alcohol or rice.
I will find out tomorrow if my phone works and will let everyone know. Fingers crossed.
I have already started looking online for a cheap secondhand HD so if anyone knows of one let me know. London based. I guess I don't have much condidence in the phone working.

I got you beat on that one, don't ask how, but I got coffee cream (liquid) on my HD. Broke it down to component level, cleaned, reassembled and everything is working fine. No corrosion, no battery loss. Luck of the draw I suppose. Now I always have HD in protective case.

Took my HD2 for a swim

Hi folks!
Just wanted to post this, as it really surprised me.
I went to a swim the other day (about 2 weeks ago) and forgot, that I had my HD2 in my Pocket.
It was about 0.5 hrs under water. Afterwards I yelled... then took out the battery and tried to dry it with a hairdryer.
It did not help. It stayed dead (The paper indicator are in a bright pink now)
Then about 1 week later I finally found the time to buy a new battery. I put it in and then... it worked.
After about 5 or 6 hrs using time, the last bit of water in the screen (a nice 3D effect ;-) dryed and I have absolutely no difference whatsoever. Working like a charm, no problem.
Maybe it helps so.
JoC

lucky you ;-)

Wow, happy you. Don't try this at home

lol, how many hd2's have been sold? thats a one in that many chance occurance, and no mistake.

just wow
Wow I cant believe it still works. Id wanna shoot myself!

If you get your phone wet don't use a hair dryer to dry it coz it overheats metal parts so the circuits melt.

In the words of homer simpson DOH! cant believe it worked after

as long as the internal complete dry, u shouldn't have problem to turn it back on.

The best thing you can do with a phone that has been for a swim (completely submerged in water) is to pull the battery off and soak it in isopropyl for 30 min or so. This should get the water out of it. Then leave it out to dry until completely dry.
Iven if a wet phone works initially, it generally wont be long before the components begin to corrode. The isophopyl will drive out any water and then completely evaporate.

u are one lucky guy lol

very very lucky, my friend sneezed on his and it stopped working...

Built HTC Tough

Sentinel196 said:
The best thing you can do with a phone that has been for a swim (completely submerged in water) is to pull the battery off and soak it in isopropyl for 30 min or so. This should get the water out of it. Then leave it out to dry until completely dry.
Iven if a wet phone works initially, it generally wont be long before the components begin to corrode. The isophopyl will drive out any water and then completely evaporate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even better, since this phone already soaked for half an hour, with the battery out soak and then flush it well with distilled water to remove all the minerals that could cause corrosion, then stick it in a container of desiccant or rice if you're cheap
Alcohol especially soaked that long could be harsh on adhesives, surfaces and components in the phone.
Water itself isnt bad for electronics, its the minerals that are in the average tap, pool, beach, lake water. Distilled water has none of these minerals. Also any liquid tends to damage things like the camera and LCDs where it can get between the glass covering and LCD and backlight causing water spots to develop that are hard are just about impossible to remove.
If you do go the isopropyl route, id say do a very quick flush with it, and then make sure you are using 90%, usually in a red labeled bottle at the drug store, normal isopropyl is something like 65% alcohol and the remainder is water!
Really the best option for either route is to completely disassemble the phone then flush and dry while disassembled, but i know thats hard for some people to do without completely damaging it cosmetically. Remove things like the LCD, Camera, and speakers as these could be further damaged by subsequent soakings in either water or alcohol. These parts may need to be completely replaced depending on the existing damage

im supprised no one has asked this but,
HOW DO YOU GO FOR A SWIM WITH YOUR HD2??????
Did you go fully clothed or something? or do you normally keep your HD2 in the pockets of your swim shorts?

Me too
Hi,
I also took my leo swiming. Now loud speaker isnt working. can anyone help where i can get one?

Oooo, that's interesting...for your next test...microwave the phone for half an hour.

Yes.. I had it in my swim shorts. Before I went to the pool, I thought: "Be aware of that phone, don´t forget it in the pockets..." -> That didn´t help...

Yeah, our HD2 is a great phone.

Redeyedrichard said:
Oooo, that's interesting...for your next test...microwave the phone for half an hour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
xD hilarious

and distilled water won't screw up your device? so lets say, if I want to clean my screen randomly, I should use that?

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
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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.

Waterproof G2/DZ ...?

First I have to say, this is the first phone i have had for a year and it still looks like almost new
This morning when my alarm on my phone screamed at me to get out of bed, i accidentally tipped over a full glass of water that i had next to my bed, all the water got on my phone and my phone died (at first), i removed the battery as fast as i could and noticed that the "moist-markings" (?) on the phone and the battery had turned from white to red..
and it still works..
well ok, i used my mouth to blow very hard into the phone to get the water to disappear, but i never disassembled it or anything to dry it.. i have been using the phone all day and still can't find any malfunction :S Did i have an incredible amount of luck or is the G2/DZ waterproofed in any way?

The phone is in no way waterproof. But I've seen other folks on here that have had luck after getting their phones wet (even complete immersion), then had them come back to life after drying them out. Removing the battery quickly is definitely key.
I think you just got lucky, and water did not yet get to any places that could cause a short circuit and permanently damage the phone. I'd let the thing dry out as much as you can for a day or 2 (rice in bag trick seems to work wonders). At least dry it while you are sleeping. You never know, there can be some water hiding somewhere in there, that can still mess things up by flowing into the wrong place.

You, my friend, just have incredible luck.
The G2 is not waterproofed. I accidentally dropped mine into a glass of water, and let's just say, it did not fare so well... The screen colors went wonky, it stopped responding to touch, and half the keyboard keys stopped working.
Needless to say, I didn't get a warranty replacement on that one! (Thank goodness for insurance.)

Take the battery out of the phone and put it in a sealed bag of uncooked rice. This will draw moisture out of the device.
You're extremely lucky that it works currently, but you may get future problems from corrosion with any water that got into the device. You should give it a couple days in rice to pull out what moisture you can.

martonikaj said:
Take the battery out of the phone and put it in a sealed bag of uncooked rice. This will draw moisture out of the device.
You're extremely lucky that it works currently, but you may get future problems from corrosion with any water that got into the device. You should give it a couple days in rice to pull out what moisture you can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
X2. Rice works wonders!
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium

Dessicant work better lol. www.ifixit.com has awesome bags fire just such emergencies. If you do go the rice route, put the phone in a panty hose our something similar or you well have rice dust in your phone forever! Lol

Okay, ex cell tech here... (oh God not him again! ) you were lucky because it was water. Soda or juice kills and rusts much quicker plus sugary residue left behind. I recommend taking it apart and scrubing all components you can with an old toothbrush and alcohol. Hand sanitizer will do just use it more sporatically. The problem is, what someone meantioned before, is the corrsive action that takes place after drying. It may happen a month later but it will unless you take it appart and dry it out. The bag of rice is okay but if you want to be 100% safe, take it appart. The warranty is void anyways, no worries. There are a few good guides on disassembly.
Good luck! Excuse my spelling... in a hurry.
I've done this for well over 200 phones and had about 70% success rate. Rice is good if you're not technical but if you want to be positive... take it apart and scrub away. The alcohol will dry up components and remove any corrusive buildup forming. Let us know how it goes...

sino8r said:
Okay, ex cell tech here... (oh God not him again! ) you were lucky because it was water. Soda or juice kills and rusts much quicker plus sugary residue left behind. I recommend taking it apart and scrubing all components you can with an old toothbrush and alcohol. Hand sanitizer will do just use it more sporatically. The problem is, what someone meantioned before, is the corrsive action that takes place after drying. It may happen a month later but it will unless you take it appart and dry it out. The bag of rice is okay but if you want to be 100% safe, take it appart. The warranty is void anyways, no worries. There are a few good guides on disassembly.
Good luck! Excuse my spelling... in a hurry.
I've done this for well over 200 phones and had about 70% success rate. Rice is good if you're not technical but if you want to be positive... take it apart and scrub away. The alcohol will dry up components and remove any corrusive buildup forming. Let us know how it goes...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm an avionics tech myself, while alcohol works wonders and it is the sure fire way, I reccomend the bag of rice trick mostly because not everyone is like us and wants to completly disemble they're cell. And a bag of rice is a no brainer lol. So long as you put it in rice and leave it in for a few days promptly after the incident you should be ok.
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium

ptesmoke said:
I'm an avionics tech myself, while alcohol works wonders and it is the sure fire way, I reccomend the bag of rice trick mostly because not everyone is like us and wants to completly disemble they're cell. And a bag of rice is a no brainer lol. So long as you put it in rice and leave it in for a few days promptly after the incident you should be ok.
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, you're right. To me and you, its just removing a few T5 screws and unhooking a few ribbon wires. The rice is good enough. Just be sure to pull the battery, sim, and sd card. Powered on device could make it corrode faster...

sino8r said:
Okay, ex cell tech here... (oh God not him again! ) you were lucky because it was water. Soda or juice kills and rusts much quicker plus sugary residue left behind. I recommend taking it apart and scrubing all components you can with an old toothbrush and alcohol. Hand sanitizer will do just use it more sporatically. The problem is, what someone meantioned before, is the corrsive action that takes place after drying. It may happen a month later but it will unless you take it appart and dry it out. The bag of rice is okay but if you want to be 100% safe, take it appart. The warranty is void anyways, no worries. There are a few good guides on disassembly.
Good luck! Excuse my spelling... in a hurry.
I've done this for well over 200 phones and had about 70% success rate. Rice is good if you're not technical but if you want to be positive... take it apart and scrub away. The alcohol will dry up components and remove any corrusive buildup forming. Let us know how it goes...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thus is what I do for my phones, and customers phones.

Wow you're lucky! But indeed don't expect it to be safe if you never got it dry in the first place. In fact yuo should follow all the advise in this topic before ever powering it on again! Anyway do it .

Exanimus said:
First I have to say, this is the first phone i have had for a year and it still looks like almost new
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think about buying second-hand phones after I opened a beer with my "almost new" DZ...

Phone fell in water

Still works but the screen is foggy and flickers alot.
A friend of mine was telling me that something in the batter triggers and sprint can tell if it had water damage or not. How can i tell and look for that?
I also want to take it in but dont want sprint finding out about the water damage. Is there a loophole?
Shifted from my EVO

Well first things first. Turn it off, pull the battery. Do not try to restart it. You have several choices to dry it out. One really and proven one is rice. Fill a container half way with rice. Then stick your phone in the rice with the battery out, and the cover off. Push it down into the rice, and let it stay there for at least two days in a warm dry place. The other was actually used by a member here on XDA. He used is a Dehydrator. Not sure of the details, but it definately worked. I'd say set it on low and leave it there for at least 24hrs. Sprint can tell if the phone has been dropped in water by checking the water damage indicators. On the phone itself, and the battery. They're Red checkered squares. They turn bright Red when dropped in water. Although it has been proven they're not very reliable.

^^ is correct about the indicator on the battery. Its a little sticker and i always pull it off and take it to them. Once they asked me about the sticker and i just told them i have no idea what your talking about and that i didn't know about any sticker. Playing dumb helps

Take battery out....Stick it in oven on warm heat...take it out after 10 minutes to let it cool down.....repeat like 4 times.....
Sounds freaky but i fixed an iPod Touch and a Droid X with this method

Thanks for the replies guys. I ended up using a hair dryer on heat. It's not that bad of a condition. Everything seems to work properly (so far). This would happen when a ICS beta ROM comes to our phones... -_-

is there any other indications that sprint would be able to tell if it had water damage?

Enraged21 said:
is there any other indications that sprint would be able to tell if it had water damage?
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Click to collapse
Nope, unless there is still water in it when you take it there, oh and don't use a hair dryer, all that does is "push" water in deeper through all the electrical wiring and circuits, plus it can melt parts of the device
Personal expierence lol

notsointeresting said:
Nope, unless there is still water in it when you take it there, oh and don't use a hair dryer, all that does is "push" water in deeper through all the electrical wiring and circuits, plus it can melt parts of the device
Personal expierence lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 to not using the hairdryer . It will not work as well as you think. There's a good chance that you still have moisture in the device.

See I wouldn't have known that lol. Thankss!

Why we're here.