Dropped phone in water..

Willeh

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum.
I dropped my Nokia 5800 in water (I know, silly me) last week and it has been drying in a bowl of rice ever since.
I tried turning it on last night and the lights came on, but the screen remained black. When I plugged it into my PC, the PC was still able to recognize it and I could still read the files off it.

Is that the screen gone then, or does there still remain some hope if I let it dry out a bit more?
If not, should I contact Nokia or Vodafone re. a repair? (or possibly a replacement which I doubt, however worth a try? It's a contract phone and there's 3 months left).

fraziola

My friend dropped his iphone into a cup of tea (?!) and I told him to take it appart as much as he could and leave it on a towel on a radiator for a least a week and this worked. For you I would suggest the same, take the back off, battery/sim out and leave it uncovered and somewhere warm; airing cupboard or on a radiator (but not directly on the radiator!!). I saw a gadget show piece on what to do when tech goes for a swim (you may find it on youtube) and the advice was as above, which worked in most cases. If this fails, do you have insurance? Is there a independant repairer nearby? Will the mobile operator or manufacturer offer a repair service? Hope you get it sorted.

4743hudsonj

I would stick with the rice idea, i dont like the towel and radiator idea as some radiators get so hot they do more damage than good. Just keep the phone submerged in rice in a warm dry place.

Generally if after 2 weeks it doesnt work its a no-goer.

Mikey82

I've heard that putting a little parcel of silica gel (the packets you get in shoe boxes) in the phone i.e. where the battery would go, can help to draw out the moisture too. Again putting it in a warm place.

4743hudsonj

Mikey82 wrote: »

I've heard that putting a little parcel of silica gel (the packets you get in shoe boxes) in the phone i.e. where the battery would go, can help to draw out the moisture too. Again putting it in a warm place.

Yes this works better than rice but most people cant get enough lol, adding it too the rice certainly wont to harm, also de-humidifiers do great jobs.

mackemdave

My partner dropped her Ipod touch in water just after Christmas...she left if on the radiator for a few days but it still wouldnt swich on.....She plugged the charger into it and it powered on.....The battery was fully charged but seemed that it just needed that little extra power to get it started....its worked fine every since...One thing we found out is that there is a small piece of litmus paper in the touch and this changes colour when dropped in water this stops people trying to get this sort of thing fixed under warranty

4743hudsonj

Again it may work but its a bad idea as heat isnt good for solder. You may permanently break your device if your radiator is particularly hot.

redux

4743hudsonj wrote: »

Again it may work but its a bad idea as heat isnt good for solder. You may permanently break your device if your radiator is particularly hot.

the melting point of solder in electronics gear is a lot hotter than the radiator will reach

4743hudsonj

redux wrote: »

the melting point of solder in electronics gear is a lot hotter than the radiator will reach

Yes but its enough to affect some of the smaller joint, my mother has first hand experience:) she left her working phone on her radiator (a very hot one) and it fried it.

ukbill69

I would honestly not do this as the residue might stay on contacts or main board and short circuit it, I would suggest removing cover, getting some window cleaner, spray tiny bit on a micro fibre cloth and wipe board and everything else carefully. and then leave to dry for a day or two and then see if it comes on. Worked for me lots of times in the past.

JamCarr

You should've soaked it in distilled water as soon after as possible as it's the impurities in water that causes the damage




Good luck with nokia's horrible CS