I am stupid and klutzy

[LG G2 Dropped in water]

Happened for half a second and then I pulled it out really quick. Took it out of my case, turned off the phone, rebooted it, rebooted it again. Seemed to work fine. A little while later it indicated headphones were plugged in where they weren't Said uh-oh, desperately and stupidly) actually plugged in headphones to solve the problem, pulled them out, turned off phone and turned it on again, worked fine, problem went away. Went to the movies, felt it vibrate once during the movies, tried to get on it after movie, wouldn't turn on. At all. Nothing happens when I plug it in.

Currently letting it sit in a bag of rice like I probably should have done in the first place. Obviously can't remove the battery and opening it up seems to be more work than it's worth. So i guess my questions are 1) am I screwed and 2)How long should I REALLY keep it in that bag? I've heard anywhere from overnight to a whole week just to be safe.

 

[kate]

1) am I screwed

Probably, but not always, once it malfunctions from water damage it's usually gone.

2)How long should I REALLY keep it in that bag? I've heard anywhere from overnight to a whole week just to be safe.

At least 2-3 days is usually what I hear.

 

[EarlyMon]

Depends on what shorted where when you turned it on wet.

I've had them die from it and I've had them come back to life after a few days or so.

It's worse in the winter - I've found in the summer that letting the whole rice thing bask on a windowsill getting some warmth helped a lot.

If you can set it near something warm like a heat register, that could help it along. Don't go overboard to the stove or anything like that.

 

[mikedt]

Probably, once it malfunctions from water damage it's usually gone.


At least 2-3 days is usually what I hear.

Yeh, at least 2-3 days, and if you can partially disassemble the phone, or at least remove the back, that can help with the drying process immensely.

Electronics that have been immersed in water, but have dried quickly and completely, and not powered-on while wet, will often work OK. It's the shorts that liquids causes, that will fry things, as well as possible corrosion damage if left moist for extended periods. It's things like orange or coke or other sugary beverages that can cause serious damage, because those are acid and quite corrosive.

 

[Brian706]

For some more information, here's a thread in our FAQ section: http://androidforums.com/threads/so...et-what-can-you-do-to-try-and-save-it.815124/

 

[c0ntinuity]

Wow I definitely used the wrong information for the wrong fields... okay, to clarify, I am the original poster.

I'm going to go ahead and ask this in advance- if I DO in fact manage to resurrect my phone from the submerged dead, is it okay to submerge it in alcohol to prevent corrosion and then dry for another day like certain places on the Internet say? Or am I risking messing up my screen or something of the like?

Also... to clarify... this was dropped in clean toilet water...

 

[EarlyMon]

Wow I definitely used the wrong information for the wrong fields... okay, to clarify, I am the original poster.

I'm going to go ahead and ask this in advance- if I DO in fact manage to resurrect my phone from the submerged dead, is it okay to submerge it in alcohol to prevent corrosion and then dry for another day like certain places on the Internet say? Or am I risking messing up my screen or something of the like?

Also... to clarify... this was dropped in clean toilet water...

Yes that is OK - with caveats.

First, water itself doesn't harm electronics, they're bathed in it repeatedly during manufacturing. There's no real corrosion risk - or certainly VERY little.

As mentioned earlier - it's short circuits that you care about - and water is conductive.

So are the salts that can be left behind after drying.

So yes, you can wash things clean with alcohol.

But - pure alcohol is impossible and close to pure is hard to come by and VERY flammable.

So that leaves commercial alcohol - maybe 70 to 90% pure - and the rest is water.

You're going to want a good, deep bath for a while, with some agitation, to displace anything - and here's the best part -

You're likely to end up with as much water left over to dry out as the very brief trip to the toilet.

And that short of a dunk, time wise, probably means that you have minimal water penetration and therefore not necessarily a lot of salts to worry about.

If it were me, I'd just stay the course with the rice. I bet your chances are better than 50/50.

Avoid the temptation to use a hair dryer - that'll just force what little water is there deeper inside.

 

[mikedt]

So immersing my phone in vodka is not a good idea?

 

[EarlyMon]

So immersing my phone in vodka is not a good idea?

Immersing me in vodka is a much better idea!

 

[c0ntinuity]

Yes that is OK - with caveats.

First, water itself doesn't harm electronics, they're bathed in it repeatedly during manufacturing. There's no real corrosion risk - or certainly VERY little.

As mentioned earlier - it's short circuits that you care about - and water is conductive.

So are the salts that can be left behind after drying.

So yes, you can wash things clean with alcohol.

But - pure alcohol is impossible and close to pure is hard to come by and VERY flammable.

So that leaves commercial alcohol - maybe 70 to 90% pure - and the rest is water.

You're going to want a good, deep bath for a while, with some agitation, to displace anything - and here's the best part -

You're likely to end up with as much water left over to dry out as the very brief trip to the toilet.

And that short of a dunk, time wise, probably means that you have minimal water penetration and therefore not necessarily a lot of salts to worry about.

If it were me, I'd just stay the course with the rice. I bet your chances are better than 50/50.

Avoid the temptation to use a hair dryer - that'll just force what little water is there deeper inside.

I troubleshoot/build/mess with computers a lot so I'm used to having to wait on things in order not to break them even more (which makes me feel even stupider to not have immediately turned it off and put it in rice). But okay. That lowers my panic a bit now. Will continue the rice treatment for a couple days and post back here. Just trying to do everything I can before shelling over a bunch of cash for repair service and finding out later it would've been a quick fix.

 

[EarlyMon]

Give yourself the same advice you would a client - don't beat yourself up, this happens all of the time - and don't panic.

I've resurrected phones that have been through far worse - including visible water between the LCD and the front glass that WifelyMon put on the charger before telling me lol.

Stay cool. It's either borked or not already. The odds on your side.

Don't panic - it could've happened to anyone and it does every day.

 

[joe71]

Don't feel bad my sister n law did last November with her device took out the battery, sim, sd card stuck it in a bag of rice and four days later, good as new. Sadly i had nexus 4 which originally had died after getting a virus but came back on after sitting for a month , i knock it into the toliet tried the bag of rice trick for almost a week finally ended up tossing the phone, hope everything works out

 

[c0ntinuity]

I think it's borked. Put it out of rice, attempted to power on, nothing. What now? Take it to a repair shop?

 

[EarlyMon]

I think it's borked. Put it out of rice, attempted to power on, nothing. What now? Take it to a repair shop?

If you can afford to wait, I'd give it two more days.

Could save you a chunk of change.

 

[c0ntinuity]

If you can afford to wait, I'd give it two more days.

Could save you a chunk of change.

I can wait, but isn't the motherboard pretty much dead after something shorts out?

 

[Hadron]

It depends what shorts. If you have a bad connection because damp shorts it out, then after further drying it should be OK. If something is damaged by the short circuit, or by the corrosion that results from the wetting plus electricity plus bad luck, then you are stuffed. There is no way of knowing in advance what the answer will be.

Seriously, try the drying techniques people have suggested. If they don't work then you've gone without a phone for a day or two longer than you would otherwise have done, while if they do you've saved a lot of money .

TBH if the rice trick doesn't do it you could try an alcohol wash, but I'm not sure I'd bother paying for a repair with moisture damage. If drying/washing doesn't fix it there's a serious risk of paying for a repair which is temporary at best.

 

[c0ntinuity]

It depends what shorts. If you have a bad connection because damp shorts it out, then after further drying it should be OK. If something is damaged by the short circuit, or by the corrosion that results from the wetting plus electricity plus bad luck, then you are stuffed. There is no way of knowing in advance what the answer will be.

Seriously, try the drying techniques people have suggested. If they don't work then you've gone without a phone for a day or two longer than you would otherwise have done, while if they do you've saved a lot of money .

TBH if the rice trick doesn't do it you could try an alcohol wash, but I'm not sure I'd bother paying for a repair with moisture damage. If drying/washing doesn't fix it there's a serious risk of paying for a repair which is temporary at best.

I can't afford to get an upgrade until the end of the year, so that's what I'd have to work with. I'll try the rice for two more days and try alcohol if it still doesn't work

 

[Hadron]

Good luck!

 

[Unforgiven]

Good luck, and this...

Yes that is OK - with caveats.

First, water itself doesn't harm electronics, they're bathed in it repeatedly during manufacturing. There's no real corrosion risk - or certainly VERY little.

As mentioned earlier - it's short circuits that you care about - and water is conductive.

So are the salts that can be left behind after drying.

So yes, you can wash things clean with alcohol.

But - pure alcohol is impossible and close to pure is hard to come by and VERY flammable.

So that leaves commercial alcohol - maybe 70 to 90% pure - and the rest is water.

You're going to want a good, deep bath for a while, with some agitation, to displace anything - and here's the best part -

You're likely to end up with as much water left over to dry out as the very brief trip to the toilet.

And that short of a dunk, time wise, probably means that you have minimal water penetration and therefore not necessarily a lot of salts to worry about.

If it were me, I'd just stay the course with the rice. I bet your chances are better than 50/50.

Avoid the temptation to use a hair dryer - that'll just force what little water is there deeper inside.

...needs more best answer votes.

BTW, I moved this to the Android News & Talk forum as it sort of a best fit for the thread. Good luck with the phone @c0ntinuity

 

[Podivin]

Often it's the battery that dies, not the phone. If you have access to a second battery (from a friend's phone perhaps) you should give it a try.

 

[funkylogik]

Wthc??

 

[Slug]

Wthc??

"Who the heck cares?"... probably what the OP was thinking as he saw his thread being derailed. I'm pretty sure his only concern is with his water-damaged phone.

 

[c0ntinuity]

The phone did not turn on after over 96 hours in rice. Plugging it in overnight just resulted in it being hot in the morning. Decided to not opt with the alcohol bath or a repair and bought a replacement with a clean ESN on Ebay for much cheaper than retail price. Not sure what to do with the water damaged one now haha. Thanks for all your help anyways!

 

[girolez]

I have found an added advantage with really big phones - they don't fit down toilet pans!