[Q] Wet S4... won't turn on...

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Pilot143

Member
Nov 19, 2009
10
0
Riding the motorcycle home tonight I got drenched for about 6 miles... normally not an issue and never has affected my phone in my back pocket before... but for some reason tonight was different...

about a mile from my house my music stopped working and didn't think much of it... but when I pulled into the garage and found my s4 was a bit wetter than normal and would not turn on my concerns grew...

Currently have the entire thing apart.. batter... case... even sim and microSD card out... there was not a lot of visible moisture on the inside... but I did find a few drops on the SD card once removed. Also the phone will not indicate a charge by led or on-screen.

I'm letting it dry out as much and as long as I can... other than just waiting it out... any tips somebody can give me? anything phone specific that I could do to help it turn on? (power+vol up+home something?) and is there a wet indicator on the phone some place? above the SD slot there are 2 brass connectors and a bright pink dot in a hole above them... is that anything unusual?
 

ViciousLSD

Senior Member
Feb 26, 2011
287
26
The phone does have liquid detectors. If you tried to turn on the phone you probably fried it. If you didn't turn on the phone yet leave it in ziploc bag with rice for a few days.
 

AxAtAx

Senior Member
Mar 14, 2011
13,116
20,412
ViSiON,Texas
Put it in a jar of dry white rice for 24hrs. It will absorb all the mosture .. one of my friends drop his g3 in tolit :mad: and he did that ...booted again...trip..

---------- Post added at 09:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:21 PM ----------

The phone does have liquid detectors. If you tried to turn on the phone you probably fried it. If you didn't turn on the phone yet leave it in ziploc bag with rice for a few days.

You beat me to it...damn...:D:D
 

_Dennis_

Senior Member
If your daring enough you could try opening the phone and use 99% isopropyl alcohol (technicians alcohol) to clean the parts. Alcohol displaces the water so as you use a small brush (we call thrm acid brushes....not sure what the 'normal' world calls them) use a single ply tissue to absorb the water/alcohol.
 

Pilot143

Member
Nov 19, 2009
10
0
Does anybody know where those liquid detectors are? are they visible with the back cover and batter out?

Thanks for all the quick responses... I will try the above and see how it goes... this is my primary way to be contacted and after just a few hours I already feel cut off... its also how I make my money (being on call.... work can't call... I can't make money!) so I'm looking at resurrecting old phones... but I was hoping for a quicker solution... but I'd rather take my time and save my phone... I was hoping the battery went dead... was yelling at me earlier... but obviously not the case.
 

plwalsh88

Senior Member
Apr 4, 2011
1,495
607
Boston, MA
Does anybody know where those liquid detectors are? are they visible with the back cover and batter out?

Thanks for all the quick responses... I will try the above and see how it goes... this is my primary way to be contacted and after just a few hours I already feel cut off... its also how I make my money (being on call.... work can't call... I can't make money!) so I'm looking at resurrecting old phones... but I was hoping for a quicker solution... but I'd rather take my time and save my phone... I was hoping the battery went dead... was yelling at me earlier... but obviously not the case.

There is no quick solution. Keep it in the bag of rice as suggested, and leave it for at least 24 hours and I would even say try to go well beyond that for as long as you can hold out. Gotta make sure as much moisture as possible gets sucked out before trying to turn her over.

(What kind of bike you ride?)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
 

galaxy808

Senior Member
May 11, 2013
192
35
I had a coworker do this.

put it in a bag with the moisture absorbers, silica gel, he left like over night in a zip lock and in the morning it started working again.
 

hamzer11

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2010
591
94
I would do the bag of rice or moisture absorbers as others mentioned. The worst thing you can do when a phone gets wet is plug it in or try to turn it on. It seems you tried both. Hope for the best. Next time, if ever there is one, if you see your phone is wet, quickly dry it up and take it apart as much as you can. Kill any power going to it (ie. remove the battery immediately). Then place it in a bag with rice or other moisture absorbers. I would leave it a day or two. Make sure it's fully dry. If you are brave, take a torx bit to it and open it up. Make sure everything is dry inside. Put it back together once it's dry and try to power it on. Most cases this will work. I hope it works for you. Sadly it's on the heels of the leaked image of the waterproof S4.
 

Pilot143

Member
Nov 19, 2009
10
0
2007 zx-10r... wasn't quick enough tonight I suppose... doh!

my other phones I never tossed out are no help... the sim card won't fit... keep looking... keeps me from messing with my phone too much!
 

plwalsh88

Senior Member
Apr 4, 2011
1,495
607
Boston, MA
2007 zx-10r... wasn't quick enough tonight I suppose... doh!

my other phones I never tossed out are no help... the sim card won't fit... keep looking... keeps me from messing with my phone too much!

Because the sim is too small? Just line up the gold contacts. I was able to get the microSIM working in my old captivate which takes a standard sized SIM just by carefully lining it up.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
 

Aou

Senior Member
Aug 4, 2008
794
778
Arizona
Because the sim is too small? Just line up the gold contacts. I was able to get the microSIM working in my old captivate which takes a standard sized SIM just by carefully lining it up.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Could also go to a local AT&T store and have them swap you to a full-sized SIM for a few days, if they're willing to work with you. Some reseller stores (non-corporate) may charge a nominal fee for the card. Keep in mind that once they deactivate a SIM card, it's toast.

But as the others have said, electricity to a wet device is typically fatal, so keep the battery and charger out as long as you can. As for the red/pink indicator: your warranty is now void. I've heard of ways to "bleach" the indicator, but I'd imagine that might be against XDA rules to even speak about. Also, check out some of the disassembly vids out there, they may be helpful in getting the water out or finding more indicators. *shrug*
 

htc_doc

Member
Jun 12, 2008
27
4
Does anybody know where those liquid detectors are? are they visible with the back cover and batter out?

See that pink dot? That means the phone got wet... it should be white.

Trust me, I know. I dunked a brand new 32gb S4 into the pool on the day it was released and had to buy a brand new one at full price later the same day. Most expensive upgrade ever.
 

kreoXDA

Senior Member
Nov 22, 2010
1,077
212
New York
I've heard of ways to "bleach" the indicator, but I'd imagine that might be against XDA rules to even speak about.
I demand this person gets banned for disclosing the bleach-to-indicator trick that hits Samsung hard on the pocket chipping away at the multi-bil dollar profits. What's next? They will demand an apology for little memory? a recall for easily breakable screens? What a nerve.
Kwon Oh Hyun
 

cpufrost

Senior Member
Feb 26, 2012
1,654
616
Big Country
I demand this person gets banned for disclosing the bleach-to-indicator trick that hits Samsung hard on the pocket chipping away at the multi-bil dollar profits. What's next? They will demand an apology for little memory? a recall for easily breakable screens? What a nerve.
Kwon Oh Hyun

That "trick" is pretty well known by the manufacturers. It may get by people at the store but the phone sent back to Samsung can be checked with Orthotolidine and show evidence of chlorine from residual sodium hypochlorite it will be billed to the original customer. Since it's obvious fraud further (legal) action may be taken so be warned before trying these "tricks". ;)
 

scott14719

Senior Member
Dec 24, 2011
2,221
832
no offense, but for future reference, keep a ziplock in your jacket. or two.

LOL

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Actually, not a LOL at all (well maybe a chuckle), but it is a well known practice to avid motorcyclists to keep a few Ziploc baggies with them for such uses. I use to ride with a regular Garmin GPS mounted on my bars (before Smart phone days) and a Ziploc baggy saved it many times...and still let me use it at the same time. They save wallets, phones, and anything electronic small enough to fit in them.
 

sweetsouthernstorm

New member
Jan 20, 2014
2
0
my Galaxy Note 3

Im super bummed. I dropped mine in the toilet about 6 hours ago. I was half asleep so all I did was put it in rice. I started googling and saw to turn it off an take the battery out. I just tried to turn it on and all it does is pulsate. I have a bad feeling I ruined my phone......and no insurance:confused:
 

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