Database Users

[Q] dropped vibrant into the toilet...

i was at a bar i didn't even want to be at in a small town in colorado.
at first i just stared at it for 10 seconds thinking "at this point i should just leave it there because the damage is done"
then all of a sudden it started goign crazy with lights and "samsung vibrant" flashing everywhere on the screen, so i decided to dive in and save it. then i violently washed it with hotwater under the sink and only after washing my hands did i finally open it and take out the battery (at this point, the screen shown brightly with "samsung vibrant).
3 hours later, hoping it had dried completely, i put the battery in and again it came to life with the samsung vibrant text. i quickly took the battery out.
i jsut tried it again and it wont turn on at all. is it over?

maeglutz said:
3 hours later, hoping it had dried completely, i put the battery in and again it came to life with the samsung vibrant text. i quickly took the battery out.
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You shouldn't have done that, the phone was still wet. When you did that you fried your phone. If you would have put your phone in a bag of rice or let it dry out for a few days then it might have been ok. Hope you have insurance.

Yeah, I always heard that half the time, if you power it off and let it dry, and make sure it's dry before trying to power it on again, you can luck out.

omg omg omg!!
when you responded, my heart dropped and then i ran over to see if it would start again one more time (i plugged it into the charger) and i pressed the on button and it showed it was charging. i'm goign to leave it alone now in a bag of rice like you said. but i dont know if i can wait 3 days.... i never learn my lesson

Hahaha I dropped a phone in the toilet once. Good luck

i know i'm getting ahead of myself, but just SAY that if i finally do get it to power on, but nothing shows up except a "samsung vibrant" screen, is there a way to reinstall the OS?

My son left his ipod nano in his pants pocket. It got washed. I dried it and did the rice thing for 2-3 days (can't remember how many). Charged it up. Just like new.
The moral of the story? If you can't wait 3 days to see if it has been salvaged, you don't deserve a new phone...

Droidicus said:
My son left his ipod nano in his pants pocket. It got washed. I dried it and did the rice thing for 2-3 days (can't remember how many). Charged it up. Just like new.
The moral of the story? If you can't wait 3 days to see if it has been salvaged, you don't deserve a new phone...
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ugh. fine. i'll wait. but i dont know what i'l do with myself in the meantime.

maeglutz said:
i know i'm getting ahead of myself, but just SAY that if i finally do get it to power on, but nothing shows up except a "samsung vibrant" screen, is there a way to reinstall the OS?
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Uh, dude, it would not be a software problem... If it doesn't boot up its a hardware problem.

Just make sure its sitting nicely covered in the dry rice....wait...you did use dry rice right? Not cooked rice??? lol kidding...

Droidicus said:
Uh, dude, it would not be a software problem... If it doesn't boot up its a hardware problem.
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if you read my question, i asked what i could do if it DID power up but only with a generic screen

I wouldn't even bother trying... It's fried man...

nearblack said:
I wouldn't even bother trying... It's fried man...
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we'll see. the green charging light gives me hope. i will definitely not pay full price for a new one. this was $99 through costco-- which is what a phone should cost.

Don't over cook the rice. Stir-fry it with some egg, carrots, scallions, peas, and barbecued pork. Everything should be okay.

maeglutz said:
we'll see. the green charging light gives me hope. i will definitely not pay full price for a new one. this was $99 through costco-- which is what a phone should cost.
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This is why the data is so expensive in America. The companies need to get back the money they lost on the phone.
The phone might be fried since you didn't wait to turn it off. I've read the bag of rice will work. Next time wait until you phone is dry and just reroute you calls with Google Voice. I'd still try the rice too.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Did you say after you took it out the the toilet you then washed it under hot water? Seriously? You thought "oh, its wet, I shall now soak it some more?"
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Arghh..kill this nasty thread...lol
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA App

To clarify a little... when you drop the phone in water, the FIRST thing you do is take out the battery and sim card. Then you let it dry COMPLETLY, this takes days, not hours. Like said above, rice does good, you put it in a zip lock, take out the air and seal it.. leave for AT LEAST 3 days so the rice can absorb the moisture, THEN you try to turn it on for the first time. If you try turning it on when there is moisture you will fry the phone, water conducts electricity and brings power where there is not supposed to be and burns circuits, so by putting the battery and attempt to turn it on prematurely, you are killing it causing short circuits internally.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

make sure you throw the rice away after you're done or better yet, feed it to some iphone fanboy

dq13 said:
To clarify a little... when you drop the phone in water, the FIRST thing you do is take out the battery and sim card. Then you let it dry COMPLETLY, this takes days, not hours. Like said above, rice does good, you put it in a zip lock, take out the air and seal it.. leave for AT LEAST 3 days so the rice can absorb the moisture, THEN you try to turn it on for the first time. If you try turning it on when there is moisture you will fry the phone, water conducts electricity and brings power where there is not supposed to be and burns circuits, so by putting the battery and attempt to turn it on prematurely, you are killing it causing short circuits internally.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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+1 and ty , I just read through this post and wondered when someone would point out the OP already turned it on to "check" it after being in the water.
Time to order a replacement, even if it does for some magical reason power on that phone is going to be issue city.

Samsung FTW

So I do a lot of reading on this forum but rarely post.
Last night, my phone fell out of my hands while I was sitting outside the hottub and went right into it. It was like how something falls to the bottom of the ocean in a movie. I got it out right away dried it off, took out the battery and sd card and looked at it.
It seemed that no water got into the system at all. The phone works just as it did when before the dive. The only thing that is touchy is the charger now, but oh well.
Samsung ftw

My friend dropped his Incredible in tea. He thought the same thing, but now, the phone reboots itself when it gets warm at all, and if it gets cold, the touchscreen becomes unresponsive. It was stupid to turn it back on. You should have immediately stuck it in dry rice and never turned it on, as that can prevent damage from happening.

Yeah, regardless of manufacturer/model, never turn a dunked phone on until you're 100% sure it's as dry as you can possibly get it.
Pull the battery and SD card, then shove the whole mess into a bag of white rice for AT LEAST 24 hours, more if you can. The longer it sits in the rice with no power, the more likely it is to survive the dunking.

Nah dehumidifier is better lol
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

Anyone know of any cell phone shops that have a wet phone recovery service?
I would place the phone inside a small pressure vessel and pull a deep vacuum for 15-20 mins (or until I archived 1000µm). Then break the vacuum with dry nitrogen. Repeat 3x's.
This is the method for pulling moisture out of refrigeration systems and it does work well.
I would think a small phone shop could easily get $50 a pop to save someones phone.
Hope yours stays happy! good luck

Hair dryer.
Sent from my CM7 SCH-i500

dw77x said:
Anyone know of any cell phone shops that have a wet phone recovery service?
I would place the phone inside a small pressure vessel and pull a deep vacuum for 15-20 mins (or until I archived 1000µm). Then break the vacuum with dry nitrogen. Repeat 3x's.
This is the method for pulling moisture out of refrigeration systems and it does work well.
I would think a small phone shop could easily get $50 a pop to save someones phone.
Hope yours stays happy! good luck
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I would worry about the screen in a vacuum.
If it were my phone though, I would completely disassemble it and make sure I got all of the water out that way, maybe hit it with some 99% isypropal to help get any water out from under chips and in tight places, and let it dry for a few days in silica beads.

A hairdryer is a horrible idea. It can't pull the water out. On the contrary, it's more likely to force the water into worse places.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

xmrbonesx said:
A hairdryer is a horrible idea. It can't pull the water out. On the contrary, it's more likely to force the water into worse places.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
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And cook the inside components. hehe forgot the /sarcasm tag. I'm not stupid
Sent from my CM7 SCH-i500

I'm not so sure about the phones, but my samsung led tv survived a house fire... Pretty proud of that little purchase.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App

sageDieu said:
And cook the inside components. hehe forgot the /sarcasm tag. I'm not stupid
Sent from my CM7 SCH-i500
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I know that, but there are people that will blindly follow anything they read on these boards, and I've seen a hairdryer suggested before.

AlexDeGruven said:
Pull the battery and SD card, then shove the whole mess into a bag of white rice for AT LEAST 24 hours, more if you can. The longer it sits in the rice with no power, the more likely it is to survive the dunking.
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Rice is a good option and works well, but the small silica packets that are used as desiccant work even better and can be purchased very cheaply.
Putting your phone in some sort of vacuum or near-vacuum is probably a bad idea because the hardware was likely not designed to withstand such conditions.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

Ok guys update.
So its been what a couple of days now, and my phone is working pretty good. all the main things work. the only thing that is a little touchy is the charger, and it keeps saying usb connected, but i can live with that.

I uses to work at a sign shop and my bosses kids were terrible about throwing phones in water so he found the little pink water detector strips so I know if you do that you can put it on and trade out your phone
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App

Golgotha theskull said:
I uses to work at a sign shop and my bosses kids were terrible about throwing phones in water so he found the little pink water detector strips so I know if you do that you can put it on and trade out your phone
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
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Probably super illegal or at least in violation of like everything in the contract you sign about insurance and replacements. Lol
Sent from my CM7 SCH-i500

sageDieu said:
Probably super illegal or at least in violation of like everything in the contract you sign about insurance and replacements. Lol
Sent from my CM7 SCH-i500
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I second that LOL.
Anyways, I just want to say Samsung FTW because this phone has just been amazing in so many ways. Abilities to super customize in any way, shape and form, awesome screen...I was VERY hesitant on buying an all touch screen phone. Coming from a Blackberry Tour I was very use to a real keyboard and buttons. Yes this phone has it's up's and downs, but all in all the pros really out weigh the cons.
I'm in absolute NO rush to get a new phone any time soon. I love my Fassy

Water damaged Incredible

A question for some of the folks in xda land.I have a friend who has an incredible that she dumped in the toilet and it half works on its own whim.She was actually told by someone to put it down in a bag of rice in an attempt to draw out the remaing moisture.Does this really work and if so how long should she leave it in the bag of rice?I had never heard of this and thought I would ask.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

bob24260 said:
A question for some of the folks in xda land.I have a friend who has an incredible that she dumped in the toilet and it half works on its own whim.She was actually told by someone to put it down in a bag of rice in an attempt to draw out the remaing moisture.Does this really work and if so how long should she leave it in the bag of rice?I had never heard of this and thought I would ask.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
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It sorta works. There's better ways to do it faster... as in rice can take a week or two at least.

loonatik78 said:
It sorta works. There's better ways to do it faster... as in rice can take a week or two at least.
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I would appreciate any advice you could give.My friend is on a very limited income,single with 3 kids so I'm trying to help her avoid getting another phone.She's had that phone since about a week after its release and it still looks like it just came out of the box.Very well taken care of except for the toilet incident.
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda premium

I've done the bag of rice technique before with success. Not with an Incredible, a Samsumg feature phone, but it does work.

crondable said:
I've done the bag of rice technique before with success. Not with an Incredible, a Samsumg feature phone, but it does work.
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Any idea how long to leave it in bare minimum?
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda premium

A while back I dropped my phone into my bowl of cereal and it was somewhat damaged by the milk. It was never completely submerged, though, so I think damage was minimal. The charging light wouldn't turn off, but it seemed OK otherwise.
Anyway, I took off the battery cover, removed the battery and SD card and started by using a towel to soak up as much moisture as possible. Then, I grabbed a small Tupperware and poured in a bit of rice. I placed the phone (just the phone, no cover, battery, or SD card) in and poured some more rice in (enough to cover the phone). I snapped the lid on and left it alone for a day. When I put it all back together and turned it on, everything was fine and phone is still going strong.
Depending on the extent of damage I'd think she might need to leave it in longer than a day, but I'm not sure. Her best bet would probably be to leave it as long as she is able to.
Good luck!
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

Wisegy84 said:
A while back I dropped my phone into my bowl of cereal and it was somewhat damaged by the milk. It was never completely submerged, though, so I think damage was minimal. The charging light wouldn't turn off, but it seemed OK otherwise.
Anyway, I took off the battery cover, removed the battery and SD card and started by using a towel to soak up as much moisture as possible. Then, I grabbed a small Tupperware and poured in a bit of rice. I placed the phone (just the phone, no cover, battery, or SD card) in and poured some more rice in (enough to cover the phone). I snapped the lid on and left it alone for a day. When I put it all back together and turned it on, everything was fine and phone is still going strong.
Depending on the extent of damage I'd think she might need to leave it in longer than a day, but I'm not sure. Her best bet would probably be to leave it as long as she is able to.
Good luck!
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
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I really appreciate your help.She depends on that phone and is on a limited budget.Had got it in better times.Thanks again.I'm open to all suggestions.
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda premium

bob24260 said:
Any idea how long to leave it in bare minimum?
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A week at the minimum. Also tell her to do not touch it while it is in the rice, and especially not to turn it on.

N-Forced said:
A week at the minimum. Also tell her to do not touch it while it is in the rice, and especially not to turn it on.
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Genuinely appreciate it!
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda premium

Commercial desicants with a moving air flow works the best. I used to use these reusable desicant packs for storing guns. Those things would suck moisture out of a popcorn fart.

loonatik78 said:
Commercial desicants with a moving air flow works the best. I used to use these reusable desicant packs for storing guns. Those things would suck moisture out of a popcorn fart.
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+1 I worked for a shipping company a while back and I took some 6pack desiccants because my friend dropped her iPhone in the toilet. She put it in a plastic back with the desiccants and left it in front of a fan over night and it worked in the morning. About 8 hours. Plus if you can take the back off and remove the battery place the phone on top of the pack(battery side down) it should speed it up.
Sent from my sexy assistant. (AMOLED HTC Incredible)

loonatik78 said:
Commercial desicants with a moving air flow works the best. I used to use these reusable desicant packs for storing guns. Those things would suck moisture out of a popcorn fart.
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I know the ones your speaking of...the ones that say "Not a food do not eat!!!"Lol.You know somewhere someone has gave it a whirl.lol
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda premium

bob24260 said:
I know the ones your speaking of...the ones that say "Not a food do not eat!!!"Lol.You know somewhere someone has gave it a whirl.lol
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda premium
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Lol. Yep. Warning labels only exist because someone did something stupid.
Sent from my sexy assistant. (AMOLED HTC Incredible)

synisterwolf said:
+1 I worked for a shipping company a while back and I took some 6pack desiccants because my friend dropped her iPhone in the toilet. She put it in a plastic back with the desiccants and left it in front of a fan over night and it worked in the morning. About 8 hours. Plus if you can take the back off and remove the battery place the phone on top of the pack(battery side down) it should speed it up.
Sent from my sexy assistant. (AMOLED HTC Incredible)
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I really appreciate the advice.I have passed along the tips and hopefully the device can be saved.
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda premium

Yeah you gotta be ready when stuff like this happens... The very very VERY first thing to do when it becomes submerged is take the battery out and leave it out until the phone is dry

+1 Yep the faster you can remove power the better off you are. And the rice trick has worked for me and other before when a phone/camera/etc has been dropped in water. Once you start getting into soda and other liquids I think the success rate goes down.

^yeah, IIRC if it gets submerged in other liquids you're actually supposed to wash the device off carefully in water because there's no current to short anything (if you have the battery out) and water is the least corrosive

DustinBooyah said:
^yeah, IIRC if it gets submerged in other liquids you're actually supposed to wash the device off carefully in water because there's no current to short anything (if you have the battery out) and water is the least corrosive
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If you "wash" the phone. Please do it in distilled water. Water wont hurt the phone its the minerals in water that does it. Your phone will turn on under distilled water.
Sent from my sexy assistant. (AMOLED HTC Incredible)

My Vibrant is waterproof!

So I took my ambian like I always do and decided I was going to take a bath cause of a lower back ache. I was surfing the web and I guess the ambian kicked in and knocked my ass out! Well got out of the tub cause the water was getting cold, got out and turned on the light. I was looking all over the place for my phone and panicked when I saw it under water in the TUB!!! I picked it up and it came on, shook it off and have had zero problems out of it, charge port was open and I have no idea how it still works, it was under water for a lonnnnnnng time!

hmmmmm tell us how well it works tommorrow

Been three days now so Im calling it good!

i find this very hard to believe haha miracles do happen sir

can you try it again?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Lol! My wife takes 20-40 mg of Ambien every night (as prescribed), in addition to other stuff for insomnia (and even all THAT doesn't always knock her out) so I know what you mean with that.
Waterproof, though, is lucky. Be very happy you lucked out.

You should have probably immediately taken the battery out and rinsed it with distilled water.
It will probably start corroding inside soon and die on you.
Also when you take Ambien you should be ALREADY in bed, not walking around or taking baths.
Interesting story though.

I have seen it before. It will corrode over time. Then it will drain battery really fast. But everything will work.

I have been worried about corrosion too but i did pull the battery out and clean everything really well. The thing that turn pink when wet is still white so somehow the water didn't get in there. Not going to try it again.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium

SamsungVibrant said:
Also when you take Ambien you should be ALREADY in bed, not walking around or taking baths.
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Really i had no idea, thanks for the heads up
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium

Toilet phone

Just thought I'd share how lucky I am.
Last night I dropped my phone into a toilet whilst it was on. I immediately got it out took the cover, battery, SD card and SIM out, put it in a food container with rice and left it on a radiator. The phone seems to be working perfectly now!

If it got wet inside, you'll be lucky only for some time.
It's pretty sure that the phone will corrode.

celeronix said:
If it got wet inside, you'll be lucky only for some time.
It's pretty sure that the phone will corrode.
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If he had it in rice, all the moisture will be sucked out. of course it all depends on how quickly he put it in rice

this make for a good laugh
no offence by the way

****ty phone.

I've heard of that working before. Glad to hear it fixed your phone!

It has happened to me in the past and the rice trick worked and the phone kept chugging along for at least 2 years. Then I switched to SGS. Just dont eat the rice when your done.

Good advice on not eating the Rice!

Too late. ^^
Sent from my Galaxy S using XDA Premium App

I hope the toilet was... er... unused.

I think phones are more durable these days.
My n1 was sitting in a puddle of water in a bag for I don't know how long and it was still on!!! Screen was white and phone was hot so I pulled battery and shook it dry. Did as op did and next day switched it on. All working as new even speaker.
Still no probs 2 months later.
If it is water and you can power down quickly should be no issues when dry.
Good luck with your phone mate.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Well, the minerals might still be deposited on the ICs which can corrode after some time...hope that doesnt happen to you man.

Wow, I guess I should try to remember if my phone ever tries to commit a suicide in my toilet.
The other solution is to never use your phone right above the toilet...
Sent from my Galaxy S (ICS Beta 1) using Tapatalk

DarkMaster3960 said:
Wow, I guess I should try to remember if my phone ever tries to commit a suicide in my toilet.
The other solution is to never use your phone right above the toilet...
Sent from my Galaxy S (ICS Beta 1) using Tapatalk
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I can't get my mind on how you would use a phone, standing up, while using the toilet...
And I can't help but remember that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLw6FemRavs

Well, I was replying to a text and when putting the phone back in my pocket, I missed!

Lol, Congrats on your phone surviving.
I tend to check my Twitter/email/facebook when on the loo so I can see how this could easily be accomplished.
It all comes down to one thing...
Real geeks don't read newspapers.
Sent from my Ice cream Sandwich using xda premium

muzicfreako said:
Well, the minerals might still be deposited on the ICs which can corrode after some time...hope that doesnt happen to you man.
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Therefore you should wash the phone in demineralized water to get the minerals of.

Understand it's logical, but man, washing your phone of, the pain a man must feel washing his precious phone.

Ahh that sucks

My wife did the same thing a long time ago with a blackberry storm and i put her phone in a bowl of rice next to the heater and her phone worked perfect for like a year later until she upgraded.