[Q] Galaxy S3 - Replaced external speaker after water damage, still no sound

My S3 took one of those unfortunate, unexpected dips in a porcelain pool. It was buzzing and crackling before I could get the battery out. Let it dry out and everything was working except for the external speaker. No ringtones, speakerphone, music, etc. So I ordered a replacement for the external speaker module, dissected my phone and cleaned the couple spots that showed traces of water, and put it back together... and the speaker still doesn't work. So assuming there is nothing wrong with the replacement, there is probably nothing wrong with the original... and now I have no clue what to do.

I'm not generally real adventurous with my phone. It's not modded; still running the original OS that came on it from Sprint, but it's not under any kind of warranty or service agreement (and the indicator is now purple anyway.)

The internal speaker works and it vibrates. Microphone and camera are okay. Any suggestions? Please?? "I didn't answer my phone because I didn't hear it ring" is already getting to cause me problems.

prboy1969 said:

There's a good chance that when your device took a swim something else may have been damaged. Did you make sure to check that all the connections were carefully placed, before connecting the new speaker ? Also you said that there were signs of water still in the device when you opened it. How did you dry the device ? Did you use Rice ? Or descant ? Most times just air drying the device does not do the job.

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I did just air dry it. When I opened it up there was no actual water remaining, but there was a white residue around what I am guessing is the internal speaker. I used rubbing alcohol on that to remove it. All the ribbon cables are securely in place and while I'm not adept at circuit boards I don't see anything on the motherboard that would appear to be loose or damaged. I can put it in rice if you think it would make any difference at this point.