Help S5 Active fell in shower, doing weird things

[VengeancExZero]

So today I dropped my S5 Active in the shower right before I was getting in. My shower pools a little, so there was about an inch of standing water. When my phone hit, the back immediately popped off and the battery flew out, so the phone and battery were floating in water for a couple seconds.

I got them out, dried them off really well and waited about an hour. I am impatient and a paranoid individual with bad anxiety so I had to make sure it was working. I powered it up, and all seems to be swell except for the power button no longer working and it will occasionally flash that it is charging and then go off charge, prompting the "check back/charging port" messages.

Camera, speaker, SIM, memory and everything else seem unaffected, just the power button and this charging glitch.

Should I take the battery out, let it air dry for a while in front of a fan and then factory reset it? I can live without a power button, but I'm hoping being fully dry will help get rid of this charging error.

Any advice would be appreciated, and yes, I know I jumped the gun on powering it up, lol.

 

[mrsmumbles]

Try to stick the battery and phone separately into a sealed bag of uncooked rice for at least a couple of days. Unfortunately, you may have fried some circuits when you powered on a damp phone and battery.

You can also try swabbing the circuits with rubbing alcohol to dissolve any impurities that will corrode them from the water. Sorry to hear of your mishap, I dread these kinds of things!

 

[FLAWLESSVW]

Sorry to hear.
Unfortunately it sounds like the damage is done. I'd still follow above advice, but next time take a Xanax and give it 24 hrs.
This makes a good argument for having a case on the phone. I never thought of the possibility of the impact popping the cover off or even popping the charging port open. I've been using my S5 Active naked... As soon as I finish this post I'm ordering a case. If nothing else, just to hold everything together in this scenario.
Did you get the insurance?
Really sorry to hear this man. We've all got our fingers crossed that there may be a little residual moisture that will clear up.
When I submerged my Galaxy Prevail and my GS2 saved them both by putting them in a sock filled with rice with the hair dryer blowing into it on medium / low (don't get it too hot) for several hours. Some have frowned on that method from what I've seen for whatever reason, but it saved 2 phones of mine.
Any question on why I chose the S5 lol? In my case, waterproof is critical haha.

 

[AZgl1500]

1st, without bawling you out for being in a hurry, never, ever power up any electronic device that has gotten wet until after you have done one of two things.

1st and easiest is to get a gallon, or preferably a 2.5 gallon ziplock bag. Fill that bag with new fresh white rice and position all of the phone's parts in the middle of the bag. Zip it closed and leave it alone for a minimum of 2 days. 3 days is much better.

That will suck out all of the vapor moisture from the device.


2nd, and not as easy, is to find a container large enough to put the phone in and seal it up. Attach a brass hose nipple (tapered) and push on a rubber or vinyl hose/tubing.

Find a vacuum pump, beg, borrow or steal one for a while. Pull the vacuum down to 26 inches of vacuum and hold it there for 2 hours.

This method will also totally remove all moisture from the contaminated parts, even if there is a bit of skin oil, it will pull the oil off also.


Method #2 is the fastest of course. You can find a vacuum pump at any Harbor Freight for about $25 or less and it will have a vacuum gauge on it. If a Harbor Freight is not close by, then visit any decent auto parts store and talk to the counter folks.

It is still worth a try for you to thoroughly dry out the phone. Make sure the battery is removed and all removable parts have been taken apart.

There is a good chance that you can still get the phone to working again. But make sure you take everything apart that can be removed from the phone and place all of it in the container/baggie.

 

[VengeancExZero]

Update!

As of 7 hours after the incident and the phone being left out to dry, it is back to 100% functionality. Everything works and the "glitch" is gone.

It also charges correctly.

I am going to take this experience, learn from it, bookmark this page for the next incident and buy a case. The back of the phone literally popped off like a bullet as soon as it hit the bottom of the tub.

Thanks for the replies everyone, I really appreciate it and am thankful my phone wasn't permanently damaged.

 

[acraftylady]

Yes do buy a good case. My otterbox maybe be bulky but between that and my screen protector I feel I am doing good in case of anything. Mary