Wet insides Galaxy s4 - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

OK, so this isn't your usual story with the phone dropping in water. Today I was using my phone until the battery got to about 6% at which point I decided to charge it. Its here that things get weird. The phone wouldn't charge, it wouldn't even detect that it was plugged in. So naturally I take of my case and take off the back of the phone to have a look and guess what i find. THE PHONE'S INSIDES ARE WET. Not like a few drips but instead like a pot cover on the stove kind of wet, and that's only on the inside, the UAG case that I have with my phone was completely dry (have no pics was in a panic and just dried it off, both the inside of the pone and the plastic back). The battery I have with the phone is a replacement one with a water damage indicator on it and its completely pink (note the indicator is on the other end next to the battery's connector pins.
So now I decide to try the old battery that came with the phone (swollen battery issue form the bad BD batch had to be replaced) and now with that battery the phone still isn't charging. With both batteries the most I get is a quick 'charging' indication for about 2 secs then nothing for another 2 secs then 'charging' again for 2 secs. That's the most I get.
So how did my phone just start to form condensation on the inside and why isn't it charging with either battery, wont be detected by my pc either.
please help
EDIT: i9500 32gb, had it since September, bought it from a friend so no warranty.

dorianmayers said:
OK, so this isn't your usual story with the phone dropping in water. Today I was using my phone until the battery got to about 6% at which point I decided to charge it. Its here that things get weird. The phone wouldn't charge, it wouldn't even detect that it was plugged in. So naturally I take of my case and take off the back of the phone to have a look and guess what i find. THE PHONE'S INSIDES ARE WET. Not like a few drips but instead like a pot cover on the stove kind of wet, and that's only on the inside, the UAG case that I have with my phone was completely dry (have no pics was in a panic and just dried it off, both the inside of the pone and the plastic back). The battery I have with the phone is a replacement one with a water damage indicator on it and its completely pink (note the indicator is on the other end next to the battery's connector pins.
So now I decide to try the old battery that came with the phone (swollen battery issue form the bad BD batch had to be replaced) and now with that battery the phone still isn't charging. With both batteries the most I get is a quick 'charging' indication for about 2 secs then nothing for another 2 secs then 'charging' again for 2 secs. That's the most I get.
So how did my phone just start to form condensation on the inside and why isn't it charging with either battery, wont be detected by my pc either.
please help
EDIT: i9500 32gb, had it since September, bought it from a friend so no warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like condensation that can occur if going from a warm humid climate (perhaps your pocket) into a much colder one. There is likely to be some remaining moisture that must be removed immediately and leave the battery out of the phone until you do or electrolytic corrosion will occur and that can kill the phone. I'd suggest putting the phone (remove back cover) in a fan forced oven at 70C for a couple of hours to dry it out.

JohnnyInBriz said:
Sounds like condensation that can occur if going from a warm humid climate (perhaps your pocket) into a much colder one. There is likely to be some remaining moisture that must be removed immediately and leave the battery out of the phone until you do or electrolytic corrosion will occur and that can kill the phone. I'd suggest putting the phone (remove back cover) in a fan forced oven at 70C for a couple of hours to dry it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had it blow drying for a bit. the battery is still out. I will put it back in in the morning. will give results then.

heating it up is a bad idea. it causes water to condensate which was obviously the initial problem here...
you could put the phone in rice. much rice. and leave it there for a couple of days.
of course after removing the battery

dr.wtf said:
heating it up is a bad idea. it causes water to condensate which was obviously the initial problem here...
you could put the phone in rice. much rice. and leave it there for a couple of days.
of course after removing the battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was going to type that. GG
Using rice is a great trick, put your phone surrounded with rice and leave it over night and hope for the best.

Well... a day without the battery in and I had it rice and nothing. The phone still works but no charge. I'm going to order in a charging port and see what happens from there. Also I's taking the phone to be serviced today, a guy said to bring it it to make sure there isn't more corrosion damage.

ok update.
Carried it to the shop and they said it didn't need servicing and that all i would need to do is buy a replacement usb. I said okay and in the meantime I bought a battery charger so i could charge the battery alone. after 4 hours the thing charged it to 46% (sigh) as soon as i put back in the battery i tried to charge it again and still nothing from the usb. Fast forward 15 mins later as i was about to leave work, I borrowed a coworker's charger and guess what... it finally charged. Got home and plugged it in an just the same it was charging. Granted however i had to keep it held a way so i could charge and not keep cutting out. This all happened Thursday and Friday night when i came to charge my phone again I plugged it in at 40% and when i looked back at it, it was at 45% and no longer charging and no matter how I hold it still nothing. I simply restarted the phone while the cable was still in and when it came back on it was charging and did so straight to 100% this morning.

Related

Phone took a drink in Pond and will not turn on.

My phone took a drink in my fish pond on the weekend and now will not turn on.
When I plug into the chargers I get a RED charge light that will not turn amber.
I have disassembled the phone. I did not find any water or condensation in the unit.
Can anyone tell me if it is the battery or maybe the motherboard.
Thanks
Tiberious said:
My phone took a drink in my fish pond on the weekend and now will not turn on.
When I plug into the chargers I get a RED charge light that will not turn amber.
I have disassembled the phone. I did not find any water or condensation in the unit.
Can anyone tell me if it is the battery or maybe the motherboard.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Smell the motherboard. That'll tell you.
Was it on when you dropped it in? if so did you try to turn it back on after bringing it out? if so, then my guess is it's the motherboard.
there is a case of wizard getting a swim and survived. the owner actually take off the battery 1st thing after he retrieved the phone, blow dry it, let is dry.. then only plug in the power. As I remember, it worked flawlessly.
The phone was on when it went swimming. Swam for about 10 seconds before retrival. The phone was off and would not turn on. I immediately removed the battery cover and battery. Then I shook out as much water as I could.
The unit was allowed to dry out for about 24 hours before the charger was applied.
I suspect it may be the battery but I donot have a spare to check with.
Does anyone know what the voltage values should be across the battery terminals?
I found a Wizard service manual online but it is not much help in the troubleshooting process.
The 'would not turn on' before you remove the battery isn't good. Anyway, you can read through this to see if you get any ideas
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=269884&highlight=
from my exsperience is all it needs is to dry out. might take some time to dry out tho.
dont give up on let it dry as long as possible. i dont think it could be the battery but im not sure.

DVP drenched in rain

I carried my Dell Venue Pro in my jeans' pocket while riding my bike, it was raining quite heavily. Now it won't turn on. The indicator turned red on my battery, but the indicator on the device (on the battery slot) is still white.
When I returned home I thought the charge was down and plugged into charger still it didn't start, I used hair dryer to get all water out, didn't work either. Finally searched on the net and found that it should be sunk in large quantity of rice, still didn't work. Is there anyway to fix? If I take this phone to dell, approx how much will they charge to fix it?
Oh dear god don't power it. Take the battery out and place both in a bowl of uncooked rice. Leave it for 24 hours. This will remove all the water.
Rice trick worked, I placed in a bag of rice for 20 hours. But once again my phone turned off after 10 - 15 mins of usage.
to be safe when any electronic gets wet, take it apart as much as possible, put everything in a plastic container of rice and set it in a sunny location and leave it for as long as you can, at least 3 days a week is prime. Then after the time frame, with everything apart use a combo of compress air and a blow dryer to get rid of the small rice and then put battery back in and your good.
You might need a new battery
MJCS said:
You might need a new battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can test this by plugging the phone in to the charger without a battery in. See how it works.

[Q] nexus 4 dead? (water damage, red light of death)

So my clumsy self decided to go swimming a few days ago and forgot my nexus 4 in my shorts. it is water damaged and whenever i try to charge it, it gives me the red light for death. i googled around to see what the red light of death means and saw that removing the battery and putting it back on would solve the issue. i went ahead and did that. the phone did show the google logo and the paranoidandroid boot logo but shut off right after seeing that. The red light of death appears regardless of me removing the battery and plugging it back in or not. Also when i try charging it without the battery plugged in, the screen would turn white (very dim though) then turn off and the red light would start blinking somewhat rapidly.
I was thinking of buying a new battery and trying to see if maybe its just the battery but since i plugged in the charger without the battery and im still getting the red light, my phone might just be a goner.
what do you guys think? any suggestions? or is it time to buy a new nexus 4 (or possibly another phone that has a better bang for the buck)
thanks!
First thing to do when a smatphone was in water contact is open and dry it. Never try use or charge it without do this.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
MelquiXDA said:
First thing to do when a smatphone was in water contact is open and dry it. Never try use or charge it without do this.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed. dry rice is the best/cheapest way to do this. Remove the battery (yes, I know that means unscrewing the 2 torx screws to get the back off....just do it!!) then drop the phone and battery in a ziplock bag so they are covered completely with dry rice and let it sit for 24 hours.
I did the same thing. I didn't have the tools to remove the back, but I did have it in rice for 3 days. Removing the battery and directly charging it even over night still doesn't help (just yesterday, into this morning). I did manage to get the charging icon but after 8 hours it didn't even charge. I unplugged and tried again to charge directly to the battery overnight and this morning, I connected the battery in and it didn't come on. Plugged it in the wall charger and got the blinking red light.
Think I need a new battery and or motherboard. There was slight corrosion but cleaned it up best I could with 91% isopropyl alcohol.
Help please.
hp420 said:
agreed. dry rice is the best/cheapest way to do this. Remove the battery (yes, I know that means unscrewing the 2 torx screws to get the back off....just do it!!) then drop the phone and battery in a ziplock bag so they are covered completely with dry rice and let it sit for 24 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops - I misread this as "dry ice" and leapt to reply that rapidly cooling soggy tech to -78 degrees C is not likely to help.
I need glasses / more sleep
Looking forward to the day when phones have Liquipel type coatings as standard
Just went a Googling and came up with this http://nanostate.co/ - anyone have any experience of using it?
mgtmadness said:
I did the same thing. I didn't have the tools to remove the back, but I did have it in rice for 3 days. Removing the battery and directly charging it even over night still doesn't help (just yesterday, into this morning). I did manage to get the charging icon but after 8 hours it didn't even charge. I unplugged and tried again to charge directly to the battery overnight and this morning, I connected the battery in and it didn't come on. Plugged it in the wall charger and got the blinking red light.
Think I need a new battery and or motherboard. There was slight corrosion but cleaned it up best I could with 91% isopropyl alcohol.
Help please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll bet it's the battery. They don't stand much chance when exposed to water, but your phone should be just fine. Get yourself a new battery and give it a shot....at least that's a cheaper option than getting a new phone, right?
thesoupthief said:
Oops - I misread this as "dry ice" and leapt to reply that rapidly cooling soggy tech to -78 degrees C is not likely to help.
I need glasses / more sleep
Looking forward to the day when phones have Liquipel type coatings as standard
Just went a Googling and came up with this http://nanostate.co/ - anyone have any experience of using it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol...I hear that, man....been wearing glasses since I was a kid. I'm blind as a bat without them
hp420 said:
I'll bet it's the battery. They don't stand much chance when exposed to water, but your phone should be just fine. Get yourself a new battery and give it a shot....at least that's a cheaper option than getting a new phone, right?
lol...I hear that, man....been wearing glasses since I was a kid. I'm blind as a bat without them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got some Flash Flood from Nanostate a couple of weeks back, it works, I ran tap water over my iPhone 5 for a few mins and everything was as they said, water bounced off the glass, buttons and bezel. The only downfall is you cannot completely submerge your phone underwater but I am guessing it better to have some type of protection than nothing.
I actually managed to recover my Nexus 4 from water damage.
When I took it apart there was still some water on the battery and the motherboard cover so I just wiped it away.
I took out the motherboard and saw there was some corrosion so I dunked it motherboard in 91% isopropyl alcohol for about 30 minutes and bought a new battery.
Now everything works just fine.
lilracerboi said:
I actually managed to recover my Nexus 4 from water damage.
When I took it apart there was still some water on the battery and the motherboard cover so I just wiped it away.
I took out the motherboard and saw there was some corrosion so I dunked it motherboard in 91% isopropyl alcohol for about 30 minutes and bought a new battery.
Now everything works just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just bought a water damaged n4 on ebay. when i got it it would not turn on only flashing red light with charger plug in. i replaced the battery with a one i had from a lg e790 and got it to boot and it's been working since.
i hope this helps.
Same thing happened me with the damn pool situation. After a few days in rice and leaving it in the car my nexus boots up to the welcome screen then immediately powers off due to a dead battery. I bought a new battery off eBay so im hoping it works. I hate using a Samsung note.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
..
lilracerboi said:
I actually managed to recover my Nexus 4 from water damage.
When I took it apart there was still some water on the battery and the motherboard cover so I just wiped it away.
I took out the motherboard and saw there was some corrosion so I dunked it motherboard in 91% isopropyl alcohol for about 30 minutes and bought a new battery.
Now everything works just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you actually submerge the mobo in alcohol for 30 min? Totally covered in alcohol?
Possible Water Damage
I had my Nexus 4 on the table with a glass of water. I accidentally knocked the water glass and water spilled over my phone. I immediately picked up the phone and wiped it with a cloth and turned it off. I have not turned on the phone for 24 hours and there is no water in the SIM tray. What should I do.
I have not tried the rice technique yet as I have to remove the phone but it is necessary? Or would it be enough if I leave the phone turned off for a another 48 hours?
defnow said:
Same thing happened me with the damn pool situation. After a few days in rice and leaving it in the car my nexus boots up to the welcome screen then immediately powers off due to a dead battery. I bought a new battery off eBay so im hoping it works. I hate using a Samsung note.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey dude, dropped my n4 in water a week back, left it in rice and got a new battery, installed the battery, booted the phone on and it worked for about 2 days until i was just using my phone and it powered off with still about 80% battery left, tried to switch one and as soon as the phone booted and got to the lock screen it powered down again, did your new battery fix this issue? thanks for any help!

Dropped in sink full of water and noting happened

Last night I had placed my phone in a grocery sack coming into the house, was wearing my GI so had no pockets. Put the sack by the sink, which was full of water and dish soap. Forgot my phone was in there cause I was dealing with a sick kid. Went to get my phone and it has slid out the bag and into the sink. Amazingly no issues with it. Its been 24hours and everything is still working and looks as it did...crazy. All i did was blow it out with my air compressor. They claim the pixels's are not water proof correct?
They are not waterproof. Most phones have natural water resistance because of how compact and tight they are put together. This is no exception.
The biggest concern are speaker damage from a quick dip in water, and it sounds like you got lucky. I would suggest maybe not using an air compressor next time as that kind of pressure might make the damage worse.
I thought I probably made a mistake by using the air compressor lol. Just glad there is no damages!
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Lucky you, mine fell in the pet water bowl for 5 sec and it fried something on the mobo, the lower board didn't work anymore, so no charging or sounds. I have to send it in for a replacement from asurion since I cannot find the parts to fix myself. Everything else works on the phone.
chapelfreak said:
Lucky you, mine fell in the pet water bowl for 5 sec and it fried something on the mobo, the lower board didn't work anymore, so no charging or sounds. I have to send it in for a replacement from asurion since I cannot find the parts to fix myself. Everything else works on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh man that sucks!
mrwicked said:
Oh man that sucks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have good news, I don't think the company I sent the phone to did jack. The phone didn't look any different, even though they did a lot of work to the phone. I got the phone back today, I plugged it in and still nothing. I wanted to see for myself what was inside (ifixit wasn't enough). I tore it apart and did not see any corrosion. The water sensor is visible when you take off the screen through the mid-frame. It was 3/4 tripped (1/4 was still white). So I tried unplugging and re-plugging everything in. I plugged the charger in and the screen lit up with 0%. The phone didn't charge up after a while, even with the screen still on. I did the water recovery on the board on the bottom with the charge port. Next I only got a blinking red light and no screen lit up. I let it sit for 15 min. Tried turning it on, nothing. So I help down the power button while unplugging and plugging it in multiple times, and voila it turned on! Everything works on the phone! So I put it back together, put 3M industrial adhesive, and it is currently under clamps.
TL;DR I did my own water recovery on the phone, and I got it working!
chapelfreak said:
I have good news, I don't think the company I sent the phone to did jack. The phone didn't look any different, even though they did a lot of work to the phone. I got the phone back today, I plugged it in and still nothing. I wanted to see for myself what was inside (ifixit wasn't enough). I tore it apart and did not see any corrosion. The water sensor is visible when you take off the screen through the mid-frame. It was 3/4 tripped (1/4 was still white). So I tried unplugging and re-plugging everything in. I plugged the charger in and the screen lit up with 0%. The phone didn't charge up after a while, even with the screen still on. I did the water recovery on the board on the bottom with the charge port. Next I only got a blinking red light and no screen lit up. I let it sit for 15 min. Tried turning it on, nothing. So I help down the power button while unplugging and plugging it in multiple times, and voila it turned on! Everything works on the phone! So I put it back together, put 3M industrial adhesive, and it is currently under clamps.
TL;DR I did my own water recovery on the phone, and I got it working!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome. Glad its working! Mine is still working fine. Guess I got super lucky and got no water damage.
What did you mean when you said u did a water recovery on the charging port? Can you elaborate what you did exactly..i got my phone dropped in water for 2 sec, now its off, tried connected to charger but its blinking red light,been 3 weeks..i already open it up, there are some white percipitate at few places..but no rust..put it all back but still the same..im gonna give up if nothing happens in a few days..
ShanxRoux said:
What did you mean when you said u did a water recovery on the charging port? Can you elaborate what you did exactly..i got my phone dropped in water for 2 sec, now its off, tried connected to charger but its blinking red light,been 3 weeks..i already open it up, there are some white percipitate at few places..but no rust..put it all back but still the same..im gonna give up if nothing happens in a few days..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My pixel only lasted a few weeks before the battery bloated, so I got an insurance replacement...I used 100% alcohol to clean the charge port and the flex going from the Mobo to the charge port while it was out of the phone. Plus to get it going I pushed the power button a bijillion times while plugging and unplugging the charging cable before the battery would take a charge.

water leaks into G6 via sim card tray - help!

i swam in a pool today and had the phone on and off with me video and taking phots for about 45 minutes.
After the swim i washed in tap water and noticed screen was off. i tried turning on. nothing.
i checked the sim card tray and opened it up (it was tightly in place !) and realized water had gotten in.
i blew out the water and placed in a bag of rice. And am waiting. i also read it just leave it out in a well ventilated placed - thats suppose to be better than the rice - any ideas?
i assume it should be dry in a few days.
will it work? or can it work?
is there anything else i can try?
thanks, Sammy
Yeah.. don't stick it in the water?
It's waterresistant, NOT waterproof. It can handle being splashed with water, it's NOT safe for swimming or a long time submerging it.
IP68 standard says it can handle being immersed in water. That means: No movement (dragging it through water can apply a lot of pressure to the seals), clean, distilled water only without additional chemicals (there's a ****ton in pool water). Also, the seals change over time. It may handle being submerged fine out of the store, but 2 years later, the seals will have hardened and lost some of their sealing ability.
IP67 means the unit can be dropped into a body of water up to a meter deep for half an hour, while IP68 guarantees protection in water up to 1.5m deep for the same period of time. Both are resistant to dust.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is it gone for good ? or can i save it? @Arak0n
thanks.
Turn it off, leave it off, and hope for the best. Wait some days before you try again.
thanks... am waiting patiently !
fastest way to dry something is to blow it with a fan not putting it in rice. It's a myth....
Arak0n said:
Turn it off, leave it off, and hope for the best. Wait some days before you try again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it started working after 5 days but kept shutting down after.
Now after 10 or so days it charges fully and works for a day or 2 BUT shuts down if it gets too hot. This never happened before AND I uninstalled all apps (since I had a spare phone which became my main phone) and so without any heavy running apps it's still getting hot every day or so and shutting down.
I wonder why this is happening - any ideas ?
Other than that all is good and everything works fine - which is good news. And i guess i won't swim with it again! :silly:
And now it turns off - and DOESN'T turn back on - anyway lesson learnt. These things aren't water PROOF yet !
:crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:
sammyDC said:
it started working after 5 days but kept shutting down after.
Now after 10 or so days it charges fully and works for a day or 2 BUT shuts down if it gets too hot. This never happened before AND I uninstalled all apps (since I had a spare phone which became my main phone) and so without any heavy running apps it's still getting hot every day or so and shutting down.
I wonder why this is happening - any ideas ?
Other than that all is good and everything works fine - which is good news. And i guess i won't swim with it again! :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LoL..went swimming with it and your wonder why it's leaking..lol.
Matt
Sent from my LG-H870 using Tapatalk
And also it turns off randomly sometimes not turning back on until the battery drains - that is I need to charge it before it turns on. It won't charge until its' fully empty. So i can use it for a half day or fully day - but randomly can turn off.
So this kind of make it un-useable!
I guess I sell it for parts -right ?
sammyDC said:
And now it turns off - and DOESN'T turn back on - anyway lesson learnt. These things aren't water PROOF yet !
:crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It definitely has some short circuit, that's why it's getting hot and turns off. It can end with cooked motherboard or burnt battery. Anyway it's not safe to use or charge phones with short circuit. To safe this phone You have to disassembly it and clean all electronics parts with 99% alcohol like IPA, (remember to clean USB port inside as well) and after cleaning carefully check if it's getting hot again. Of course some circuits might be burnt and without repair center you wont be able to fix it.
Chamelleon said:
It definitely has some short circuit, that's why it's getting hot and turns off. It can end with cooked motherboard or burnt battery. Anyway it's not safe to use or charge phones with short circuit. To safe this phone You have to disassembly it and clean all electronics parts with 99% alcohol like IPA, (remember to clean USB port inside as well) and after cleaning carefully check if it's getting hot again. Of course some circuits might be burnt and without repair center you wont be able to fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks - thats useful device.
:good::good::good::good::good::good::good:

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