Water Damage, or is it? - Discuss

Hotspur

MissKeith wrote: »

Top tips to avoid liquid ingress would be to not take it in the bathroom whilst showering/bathing, not use it in the rain (you wouldn't believe how many people admit to this one) and be aware of condensation when leaving it in the car all night or moving from a hot place to a cold one and vice versa. Don't let a store turn you away for liquid damage, always request for it to be assessed by an engineer by a place such as Carphone where they don't charge to return an unrepaired phone.

Thanks MissKeith :beer:

gjchester

zenmaster wrote: »

There is no incentive for the manufacturers to do this though as they would certainly lose sales of replacement phones.

Possibly, but us as a nation do love our gadgets, most people change a phone every 18/24 month at each new contract. Phones don't have to be built well, just well enough, and extra waterproofing would cost more.

Remember many phones will have activated stickers and still work fine and be in use. It's only an issue if it needs a repair and most phones get replaced before anything goes wrong with them.

zenmaster

gjchester wrote: »

Possibly, but us as a nation do love our gadgets, most people change a phone every 18/24 month at each new contract. Phones don't have to be built well, just well enough, and extra waterproofing would cost more.

Remember many phones will have activated stickers and still work fine and be in use. It's only an issue if it needs a repair and most phones get replaced before anything goes wrong with them.

I would still expect a high end phone costing around £600 to be better protected than they are. A membrane and rubber sealing would cost pennies.

Ironically, I now have a water damaged Blackberry. Can anyone recommend a reliable repairer (charging problem)?

I have googled and found a lot of websites offering this service but all the sites look the same and it doesn't actually inspire me with confidence.

TIA

GeoThermal

Motorola do a modern looking android touchscreen phone that is dust proof as well as water and scratch resistant. It's called the Motorola Defy and it gets good reviews.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-phones/review/2010/12/16/Motorola-Defy/p1

Parva

gjchester wrote: »

Car radios don't go from being used in the rain to a warm house whist still in use. The air in the car interior acts as a buffer.

Being totally and utterly pedantic, the interior of a car can go from -5c to 20c within 10 minutes or so. If that's not a dramatic event for a cars electrics then I don't know what is. Anyway, apologies for derailing, I shall shush now because I'm as curious as anyone else as to why modern mobiles suddenly suffer from 'damp' conditions.

I've drowned a couple in the past and after drying out one of them worked as it should, the other one had some display problems but still worked. The moisture sensors are just a get out clause in my opinion.

smothy

Looks like this is a pretty common problem. My lad was given a blackberry curve, on contract, for his birthday. Because a couple of his mates have had their phones nicked whilst out and about, he refuses to take his out. He uses an old one we have for emergencies.

Now the indicator near the sim and the one on the battery are showing water ingress and carphone warehouse refuse to even look at it. I lost my rag with the guy in our local branch today when he offered to sell me a new one for 'only a £130 sir'.

Not his fault I know, and I will be popping in to apologise. Can't even sell the damn thing because they don't accept water damaged phones.

My son can make/receive calls and, more importantly for a young lad, send texts. The only thing not working is the trackpad (it has stuck on messaging luckily enough), but it is extremely annoying.

gjchester

Parva wrote: »

Being totally and utterly pedantic, the interior of a car can go from -5c to 20c within 10 minutes or so. If that's not a dramatic event for a cars electrics then I don't know what is.

But they don't generally go from a cold but high humidity area (outside in the rain) to a warm dryer area that causes a lot of condendation. My car steams up inside when it's raining out and I get in slightly (or really) rained on. The air in the car stays dry ish rather than being highly saturated with humidity.

Parva wrote: »

I've drowned a couple in the past and after drying out one of them worked as it should, the other one had some display problems but still worked. The moisture sensors are just a get out clause in my opinion.

Thats the crux of the matter. The problem is phones are such integrated devices it's usually not cost effective to repair them is the circuit boards are damaged.
Rainwater (or any other liquid) is not pure, there will be salts in the water that can crystalise out and cause corrosion, bridge the tiny component parts, and blow capacaters. To diagnose and fix these problems probably cost mroe than a new phone in many cases, so thats what they do.

Are the sensers get out clauses, maybe, but people don't treat phones well either.

dave49

I was fobbed off last year by o2 with a Blackberry.

Taken to their shop, it backed up ok - -in the shop - sent for repair, returned 'water damage' now a brick.

I must pay out the rest of contract.

Considering issuing claim in County Court - Anyone been there done it?

The logs appear clear the phone worked when handed in to shop - but hey the their engineer finds 'Water Damage' !

JJ_Egan

Considering issuing claim in County Court - Anyone been there done it?

You would require a report from a mobile phone engineer in writing to say water has not damaged this phone .

jje

Baihaki

Guys_Dad wrote: »

"Water damage" is a convenient excuse to avoid warranty repairs, in my opinion. How can "water damage" be responsible for broken charging points, for example?

Everyone should check their water indicator before sending back the phone for repair and take a dated photo of it if it is clear.

It's a bit like "scratched screens" etc excuses that phone recyclers use to reduce the offers they make on your old mobiles. Again, take a dated photo before sending it back.

However, having said that, condensation can arise but if that is due to carrying the mobile in jacket top pocket or using phone in Borneo (or other humid climate) then is phone fit for purpose?

My wife has had her mobile returned recently by Three as having suffered moisture damage, but this would not appear to be the case. As far as humid climates go, we have been using mobiles for 15 years with the first six in Java Indonesia, where the climate is similar to Borneo and never had any trouble when we were there, the phones being exactly the same as they are here. In our case, it seems like a convenient excuse by Three to substantially upgrade her contract and regularly phone her trying to offer ridiculously expensive new contracts. They can stuff them!