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?
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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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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.

Galaxy, Meet Hot Tub

So I am a funny guy and because I am funny I went swimming in my hot tub fully clothed, forgetting that I usually keep my phone in my left front pocket...
I'll spare you the reasons behind this and the details but I couldn't find anything on these forums about a wet Galaxy. I suppose most of you are simply more cautious than I. Anyways, I figured I will share my story and update everyone on how things work out so perhaps if somebody else succumbs to such a tragedy they will have some info and perhaps some hope.
Nearly the instant I go in the hot tub I realized my phone was in my pocket. I don't think the water had even soaked entirely through my jeans before I jumped up and pulled it out. It was definitely wet though. I through it to my brother who caught it, in a matter of about 2 seconds the screen turned on, got all liney and scrambled and the phone shut off.
I tore the battery out, SIM, and sd and rushed it to a towel to dry it off. I shook it until I couldn't get anymore water to come out of the ports and stuck it into a bowl of rice.
Now I shall wait. I think tomorrow evening I am going to move it from the rice to behind my Xbox and leave it on overnight with the warm air from the fans blowing on it and then back into the rice until Tuesday evening when I might try it.
Does anybody have any ideas? Suggestions? Some encouraging words perhaps? Anything is appreciated.

Sounds like you did all you can do.did you seal the rice bag and vacuum out all the air
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

I only ever lost one phone to water damage. But that was because it got torrentially downpoured on for about 5 minutes.
It still mostly worked, but some keys would sometimes work and sometimes not, and the microphone died.
I was an idiot though and didnt dry it out immediately. I think you might just get out of this one unscathed.

I would wait about 4 days before you put the battery back in... an air conditioner would be better since it will blow really dry air on it.. if not just stick it someplace there is lots of air flow.
I have drop a few things in the water.. once a HTC magic.. LOL it was about 10days before it would work.. but it worked great after.. just some water spots on the inside of the screen but other then that it was good.

Just make sure its really bone dry before you turn it back on. A couple days in the rice should do the trick. After that just hope you dont get corrosion. At least it was fresh water.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I have been through many phones (cheap dumbphones) in the past and have went swimming with a cellphone 4 times in total, . . . and also lost one in a dumpster. 2ice with one phone. I have been able to recover them successfully every single time except one.
The second time I took one of my phones in the water it was in a hot tub and I was in there for about 5 mins before I realized it. It started vibrating violently in my pocket (i guess the water connected the circuit) so I took out the battery and left it to dry for about 4 days. It worked fine after that, but about a month later the screen stopped working.
I have found that as long as it isn't in the water too long it should work fine as long as you take out the battery right away and give it enough time to dry.
Since you're dealing with an expensive phone here, I would leave it for at least 5 or 5 days to dry just to be sure. Let me know how it goes!
P.S. I just bought a Galaxy S from Bell in Canada and it is my first smartphone. I hope I can keep it out of the water, and the dumpster!
~Gregory

A good idea would be to buy a waterproof case

andrewluecke said:
A good idea would be to buy a waterproof case
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I didn't know those existed :S

gschier said:
I didn't know those existed :S
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Make one with a condom works great at beach for me with sand and a little water

gschier said:
I didn't know those existed :S
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http://www.h2oaudio.com/store/water...armband-for-large-mp3-players-and-phones.html is the one for iPhone, but I'd like to find out if it fits this phone too.
Headphones: http://www.h2oaudio.com/store/waterproof-headphones.html
I've been considering buying them, because I enjoy the flexibility of being able to jog regardless of weather, without worrying if it might rain. You can also buy special double seal plastic bags, but I wouldn't trust those.
They are expensive, but probably the biggest threat to my phone is getting it wet..

If it doesn't come back to life, make sure it is ABSOLUTELY dry inside (leave it on a radiator for a week, or similar) then send it to the Service Desk people.
I had a similar issue with an iPod (got caught in a downpour on my bike), and that was the collective wisdom frm the Internet. They exhanged it for me (apparently the iPod folks don't do repairs, but just look for obvious signs of abuse, like oxidation, water, impacts).
No idea how samsug work - but as long as it's dry and the accident is quite recent, hopefully there won't be any telltale signs inside.
For the next time - DON'T switch it on until the phone is absolutely dry inside. Whipping the battery out asap to avoid shortcircuits as well.
Must say, I'm curious as to the story behind this

Sooooo... how did you say this happened again?
I don't have any more advice then the what the guys already said, but i'm sending you a lot of encouraging words. Hope it works buddy.
Otherwise, just like Paul C said, if it won't work, dry it as much as you can and send it back, maybe it'll work

Same way for a phone http://www.wikihow.com/Save-a-Laptop-from-Liquid-Damage

Well, my last phone, Samsung Omnia was actually ok with some water. It dropped in someones hottub once. It was dark there (wasnt my hottub lol) and couldnt find it. So after a minute or 5 i figured I'd call to see what would happen.
Screen turned on, and started vibrating so it was easy to find. Turned it off, took it home, opened her up, put it on the radiator and went to bed. Everything was fine the next day. Never had any problems with it after that.

try this http://dvice.com/archives/2010/08/japanese-cellph.php

Give it a few days... it will dry out and be as new.
My previous phone was a HTC Touch Diamond. I completely submerged it in water for about 5 seconds by accident and it experienced the same issues yours did. (Lines and the like).
The screen was toast (or so I thought), but the phone seemed to work via USB hook up to the computer.
So I went out and I bought a replacement phone after a couple of days. I then proceeded, late at night, to hook up my old phone to extract all information and transfer it over... while I was doing so, I was paying attention to my laptop screen, when I saw a bright light out of the corner of my eye. I looked down and my phone came completely back to life.
Moral of the story was I should have waited longer, but I did sell the newer phone for a $20 profit on kijiji.
Don't rush it like I did (unless there is warranty that covers this somehow)... it will come back.

So basically the story.. My girlfriend and I were bored just wandering around the house thinking of something to do. We went outside and she sat in the hammock which faces away from the hot tub. I thought it would be hilarious for her to turn around and I would just be fully clothed sitting in the hot tub with my slippers and all on.... I suppose it may be funny but before she even turned to see I was rushing to get out and throwing my phone at my brother telling him to get the battery out. Anyways, perhaps it was a bad idea xD and turned out to be not so funny for me. She laughed....
So what I did:
Took out the battery and dried the phone as much as I could with a towel and shaking the water out, I even sucked on the ports a bit in an attempt to get the way out haha.
Then I threw the phone into a container of brown rice which wasn't sealed, after about 3 hours of being in the container I decided to switch it to a sealed ziplock back which I squished all the air out of. For some reason this seemed more logical. I think I should have probably tried to blow dry the phone with a low heat setting first or perhaps used a vacuum to suck the water out. But I didn't.
After about 21 hours in the rice I took it out and blow dried it on the low heat setting (tested on my skin to make sure it wasn't too hot) and did that for about 20 minutes then put it into a home made wind tunnel which basically was done with a blow drier and a fan which forced the warm air into a small space that the phone was in. I left that for about 3 hours and then back into the rice for another night and day (maybe 18 hours or something, too lazy to count).
I haven't plugged it in yet and am just about to so I will stop typing now and test it.
SIM, SD card, Battery all in. Power button pressed.....
Screens on and looks great, sound works great and everything booted up just fine!
It seems as if everything is working fine, good signal to network, wifi works. It might even sound better than before jk haha. All the buttons are working and nothing on the touch screen seems to be off. No bubbles or problems visible underneath the screen. Camera works.
Everything works!!
So I hope this helps somebody out if it happens to them. Rice seems to do the trick. Don't rush it. I am so happy

Did you test your GPS? Sounds like a potential fix.
In all seriousness I'm glad this story had a happy ending, good job taking your time with it too.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

IMO two days is not enough time for a phone to dry out completely. I would at least leave it a week before start using it regularly.

Interesting story with a happy ending.......so far lol
I also think 2 days might have been a bit quick but then that air tunnel idea was clever and i think that will have helped a lot.
As for sending phones back under warranty, i doubt that would work because as far as i know when water dries it leaves a stain. I might be wrong on that though - mines stayed dry so far
Good Luck

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.

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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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
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+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.

Water-Damaged ZUK Z1

So.. a few days back, i dropped my Zuk Z1 into a water tank (by accident, ofc xD ) and since then it wont turn on. But the strange thing is, as long it is charging (or the charge remains) the flash light is on (like always. till the battery drains out).
I really dont have any hopes that it'll start working again.. but just wanna give it a shot before completely giving up.
Any advice or suggestions to fix this prob..?
Also i kept the phone in a rice bag without turning it on for 2 days
Thanks in advance

CoreKido said:
So.. a few days back, i dropped my Zuk Z1 into a water tank (by accident, ofc xD ) and since then it wont turn on. But the strange thing is, as long it is charging (or the charge remains) the flash light is on (like always. till the battery drains out).
I really dont have any hopes that it'll start working again.. but just wanna give it a shot before completely giving up.
Any advice or suggestions to fix this prob..?
Also i kept the phone in a rice bag without turning it on for 2 days
Thanks in advance
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The first thing you need to do is to is to put it parts into isopropyl alcohol or, like you did, rice bag. But rice won't help that much cause of the adhesive tape all around.
If you don't open it quickly enough and dry it(isopropyl or silica perls), water damaged the most of them.

strongst said:
The first thing you need to do is to is to put it parts into isopropyl alcohol or, like you did, rice bag. But rice won't help that much cause of the adhesive tape all around.
If you don't open it quickly enough and dry it(isopropyl or silica perls), water damaged the most of them.
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oh damn.. do you think theres still hope? (it already been 3-4 days since the drop)
I'll give it a try though. Thanks

CoreKido said:
oh damn.. do you think theres still hope? (it already been 3-4 days since the drop)
I'll give it a try though. Thanks
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I've seen more than one than 100 water damaged phones in my life and there is no real guarantee that it will work again. It can work and fail after days/weeks which is also possible(the opposite of yours).
It's luck if you can get it working again how long or if there are other side effects you'll facing later... Let's see.