Crap in my trackball - any ideas? - G1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Looking for advice from someone that's worked inside the g1.. Is the trackball a sealed unit? Mine's getting clogged up with crap and won't move in certain directions sometimes.. I want to take it a apart and clean it but as far as I can see from the service manual, the trackball is a sealed unit. Is there any way to to unclog it?
Also, a couple of the keys on my keyboard are getting a bit flakey.. spacebar works intermittently and so does delete. How much effort is it to get behind the keys and give the board a wipe? It seems like to get that far I'll have to reduce my g1 to a pile of components.. is that really the only way?

$10 gets you a whole new trackball, in any color you like!
http://www.blackberrytrackball.com/
(yes, rim phone trackballs are the same.)
Also please note that just because they are sold as single units and the service manual refers to them as single units does NOT mean that you can't take them apart. Judging by the pictures, they should come apart quite easily.

goldenarmZ said:
Looking for advice from someone that's worked inside the g1.. Is the trackball a sealed unit? Mine's getting clogged up with crap and won't move in certain directions sometimes.. I want to take it a apart and clean it but as far as I can see from the service manual, the trackball is a sealed unit. Is there any way to to unclog it?
Also, a couple of the keys on my keyboard are getting a bit flakey.. spacebar works intermittently and so does delete. How much effort is it to get behind the keys and give the board a wipe? It seems like to get that far I'll have to reduce my g1 to a pile of components.. is that really the only way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trackball is fixed very very easily. If you have alcohol prep pads, those work the best, you can also use rubbing alcohol and q-tips.
Prep pads:
Turn phone off
Unfold prep pad
Place on trackball
Rub the hell out it, very vigorously in all directions.
Repeat a few times
Let phone sit for a few minutes to ensure alcohol has evaporated
Power on and test
Alcohol + Q-Tips:
Wash hands
Dip Q-Tip in alcohol
Dab a good amount onto the trackball
Rub trackball vigorously in all directions
Repeat a few times
Let phone sit for a few minutes to ensure alcohol has evaporated
Power on and test
As for the keyboard, I really hope someone has a fix for that cause my spacebar has been screwy and this is my second G1. I never type with dirty paws so I don't know what gives...

lbcoder said:
$10 gets you a whole new trackball, in any color you like!
http://www.blackberrytrackball.com/
(yes, rim phone trackballs are the same.)
Also please note that just because they are sold as single units and the service manual refers to them as single units does NOT mean that you can't take them apart. Judging by the pictures, they should come apart quite easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link, thats the best close-up picture I've seen. I'll try taking it apart and keep that in reserve for when I break it.

r4d14n7 said:
Trackball is fixed very very easily. If you have alcohol prep pads, those work the best, you can also use rubbing alcohol and q-tips.
Prep pads:
Turn phone off
Unfold prep pad
Place on trackball
Rub the hell out it, very vigorously in all directions.
Repeat a few times
Let phone sit for a few minutes to ensure alcohol has evaporated
Power on and test
Alcohol + Q-Tips:
Wash hands
Dip Q-Tip in alcohol
Dab a good amount onto the trackball
Rub trackball vigorously in all directions
Repeat a few times
Let phone sit for a few minutes to ensure alcohol has evaporated
Power on and test
As for the keyboard, I really hope someone has a fix for that cause my spacebar has been screwy and this is my second G1. I never type with dirty paws so I don't know what gives...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got some alcohol wipes somewhere.. I'll give that a blast before I go to the screwdrivers, thanks.
I think the spacebar thing is possibly pocket fluff or corrosion on the contact board.. I've not seen the g1's keyboard internals but the conductive paint they use on full size boards is prone to evaporating into thin air after a while. I've seen some unbelievably corroded ones. Fixing it is a delicate job but I've done it on a few laptops.

Related

Dropped Kaiser in Mop Bucket, not working, any ideas?

I accidentally dropped my Kaiser in a mop bucket. I dried it off immediately and took out the battery / sim card to let it air out. After 3 days I left it for 24 hours in a box of clumping cat litter because I was told it can pull the moisture out.
It's now been 5 days and it's doing the exact same thing as it started from the moment it came out of the mop bucket:
1) None of the hard buttons work on the face (green & red phone, start, ok, select, rocker)
2) Power & Camera buttons work but side Buttons on other side do not
3) Keyboard does not respond
4) It randomly beeps and pulls up the phone typing letters into it C D E F
5) It randomly goes to Notes and starts voice recordings that fill my memory
6) The touchscreen and onscreen keyboard work except for the Backspace key
7) The phone soft keypad works also except for the Backspace key
8) It randomly brings up voice dialing
These are my symptoms. It is obviously is a moisture problem, but it hasn't improved at all in 5 days. I was thinking about trying to unscrew things and blow a dust remover in there wherever I can. Is that a good idea or a bad idea? Should I send it for repair instead? What's that gonna cost me? I bought it directly from HTC and don't think it would be covered by any warranty. Should I just be more patient and wait another week? I'm looking for some educated opinions.
Thank you so much for your help!
Its not covered under the warranty and if you send it in they will most likely charge you the full replacement price (~$400 I believe) as they will see it was water damage due to the sticker inside that changes colors when it get wet. Its one of the first things they always seem to check.
htcoveblue said:
I accidentally dropped my Kaiser in a mop bucket. I dried it off immediately and took out the battery / sim card to let it air out. After 3 days I left it for 24 hours in a box of clumping cat litter because I was told it can pull the moisture out.
It's now been 5 days and it's doing the exact same thing as it started from the moment it came out of the mop bucket:
1) None of the hard buttons work on the face (green & red phone, start, ok, select, rocker)
2) Power & Camera buttons work but side Buttons on other side do not
3) Keyboard does not respond
4) It randomly beeps and pulls up the phone typing letters into it C D E F
5) It randomly goes to Notes and starts voice recordings that fill my memory
6) The touchscreen and onscreen keyboard work except for the Backspace key
7) The phone soft keypad works also except for the Backspace key
8) It randomly brings up voice dialing
These are my symptoms. It is obviously is a moisture problem, but it hasn't improved at all in 5 days. I was thinking about trying to unscrew things and blow a dust remover in there wherever I can. Is that a good idea or a bad idea? Should I send it for repair instead? What's that gonna cost me? I bought it directly from HTC and don't think it would be covered by any warranty. Should I just be more patient and wait another week? I'm looking for some educated opinions.
Thank you so much for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you insure it?
No, I just payed HTC the $700 or so dollars that it cost without a contract.
Next time be a real man and have your wife do the mopping!
I was installing a DSL line in a utility closet at work and I just got clumsy. There wasn't much water in the bucket and the phone hardly looked wet. I thought for sure it would work fine. When it didn't, I thought that a couple of days of drying out would fix it. I dropped an iPaq full in the toilet once and it recovered fully after about 5 days.
htcoveblue said:
I was installing a DSL line in a utility closet at work and I just got clumsy. There wasn't much water in the bucket and the phone hardly looked wet. I thought for sure it would work fine. When it didn't, I thought that a couple of days of drying out would fix it. I dropped an iPaq full in the toilet once and it recovered fully after about 5 days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my friend dropped her touch in the bath and she took the batteries out and put it in a towel and place it on a radiator with a5 degrees room temperature and it worked again
duttythroy said:
my friend dropped her touch in the bath and she took the batteries out and put it in a towel and place it on a radiator with a5 degrees room temperature and it worked again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What temperature? Should I try exposing it to low heat? Maybe a blow dryer?
Wash it with distilled water. The mop water will have been ull of minerals that have now dried on the circuit boards and they are causing shorts.
Then leave all the bits on a towel in an airing cupbpard or similar for 72 hrs.
unwired4 said:
Wash it with distilled water. The mop water will have been ull of minerals that have now dried on the circuit boards and they are causing shorts.
Then leave all the bits on a towel in an airing cupbpard or similar for 72 hrs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do I need to take it apart or just rinse the outside in distilled water?
Do you have anything really nice and warm in your house you can set it on (obviously not hot enough to melt it)? Place it in a bowl covered in uncooked rice or plasic baggie with rice. My cable box/DVR, HDTV and also my computer case with that 8800GTX gets toasty.
Do you have an electric blanket/throw/heating pad? If so you can wrap the bowl/phone/rice in that to keep a raised temp over time to help it dry. During the summer most people leave it in their car in the sun for a few days.
There is a disassembly procedure in the Wiki... it's for a modification to the angle of the tilt screen... but it walks you through pulling it apart.
Back in the day, there was a hobby shop located on West Fairbanks Ave in Orlando (near Rollins College). It had a huge rocket on the outside... couldn't miss it. I think you can see it from I-4. Anywho, back when I used to tinker with circuit boards, I used to go there. They have (had?) everything you need to properly clean your board. It's basically the Super Walmart of electronics shops. They have everything there. They had some people who work there that are electronics experts and very helpful also... and can give you advice. Keep in mind, this was a few years ago and I don't know if they are in business still... but that's what I would do.
I'm surprised it still works... I think there is hope, but you don't want to make it worse.
htcoveblue said:
Do I need to take it apart or just rinse the outside in distilled water?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As per pm - good luck.
BTW... I wouldn't use anymore water. Not a good idea. Yeah, distilled water is theoretically an insulator electronically... until it comes in contact with your hands... or a circuit board... etc. There are alcohol based solvents and aerosol types that will dry immediately. I worked as electrician for 12 years and I've never cleaned anything with water... distilled or not. That's just my opinion.
Denatured alcohol is what I've always used to clean dirty or wet circuit boards. It's cheap and readily available, plus it dries very quickly pulling moisture as it goes.
Just my 2
MAN....that sucks
My son did that to my 8525......thats who I ended up getting the tilt......my dad took my 8525 and had HTC replace the mother board.......I think it's dead...sorry my friend
What about spraying the board with WD40? SHould be able to displace the water, should have done it immediately after you dropped it though
My main question was should I attempt to open it up and clean the board or am I likely to do more damage? I think I'm gonna try the distilled water thing lightly first and see if that helps. If not, I guess I'll try to open it up and clean the board directly with an electronics solvent. I'm not looking forward to that though. I'm no electronics wizard. I'll probably loose the screws.
Do not use WD40. Yes its a water displacement but it will just gunk up the insides. If you did have to rinse the device to clean out containments its best to use alcohol as mentioned (not rubbing alcohol). When I was in the Army we use Trichloroethylene (Trike) .. That stuff was the best before they started banning it.
And for what it's worth my opinion.
Dismantle
Clean contact areas particularly the d-pad and hard keyboard (under the keys).
Use an alcohol based cleaner but I'm not a fan of immersing circuit boards except as a last ditch effort.
Initially I would take out only the ribbon connectors that are essential to dismantling.
Leave apart, use a hair dryer for a while and leave in a warm place (eg radiator top) for a day/two.
Reassemble but without replacing every screw, you may well have to dismantle again.
There are clues to the problem areas in the symptoms you see eg certain letters typing themselves and the phone buttons not working so any "key" areas need thouroughly dismantled.
To be honest from what you describe it sounds hopeful but I'm worried about the phone functions. Ensure the sim card slot is completely clean and dry.
Mike
PS - personally, I would not douse in distilled water or containers of alcohol. Yes, in theory they are safe but as said above they will pick up contamination and spread it around. The problem could get worse not better. Also water and even alcohol can get trapped into microscopic areas and even penetrate multi-layer m/boards and that can take a loooong time to dry and in the mean time can disolve or corrode essential parts.
The WD40 idea above I do not like for the same reasons and also because you'd be left with a film of oil on everything - ok for a car engine not for an 8925!
You either just wait or you clean it by opening up. Cleaning may be the only reliable answer.

After tilt was washed in landry machine

Accidentally, I put my tilt with clothes into the washer when I was doing laundry yesterday. Yeah, it does look much cleaner after one hour's wash with detergent, but I couldn't start it any more. After one day baking on top of the monitor, it was able to boot up, but the device will automatically shut off after showing the message " Sim Door is unlocked and the device will shut down in 10 seconds". I've checked the door, locked and unlocked it, but it doesn't work. Liquid has caused a short?
By the way, the warranty has expired, so I have to fix it all by myself. Would appreciate any suggestions
rubbing alcohol and toothbrush try cleaning the guts
Warranty would't cover this anyway. I'd eBay it as "for parts only" and buy something else. Good luck.
Most cell phones as I understand from a tech...they have "indicators" like small dots for example that change color when introduced to liquid. Quick way to say no to the customer in regards to warranty.
UR2L8 said:
Most cell phones as I understand from a tech...they have "indicators" like small dots for example that change color when introduced to liquid. Quick way to say no to the customer in regards to warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're called Liquid Damage Indicators (LDIs). They're behind the battery on pretty much every phone.
Friend of mine laundered her Treo. She let it air out on a windowsill for a week.
She let it sit on a couple of silicone packets she had from a camera box.
(Water WILL evaporate, but soap will NOT. I hope it is rinsed.)
It works fine now. Hope this helps.
zhiheng said:
Accidentally, I put my tilt with clothes into the washer when I was doing laundry yesterday. Yeah, it does look much cleaner after one hour's wash with detergent, but I couldn't start it any more. After one day baking on top of the monitor, it was able to boot up, but the device will automatically shut off after showing the message " Sim Door is unlocked and the device will shut down in 10 seconds". I've checked the door, locked and unlocked it, but it doesn't work. Liquid has caused a short?
By the way, the warranty has expired, so I have to fix it all by myself. Would appreciate any suggestions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clean it with alcohol and toothbrush as GuySparkz said.
Best to use is isopropylalcohol, if not in specialized electro shop, you still can get it in pharmacy shop. but it will still not dissolve all parts of soap. You should use demineralised water for this, from gas station. yes water. then alcohol. demineralised water act like sponge to minerals and stuff from soup and regular water.
dissasemble it completelly, bath mainboard in dem. water for an half hour, use toothbrash don't be shy with it, then bath in alcohol half hour, now use toothbrush VERY carefully, without too much power. It could tear smd's away.
you can put it to bath on top of working wash mashine to use vibrations from it.
after bath I am using pressed air to drain and blow away drops which still contain unwanted substance, don't use the one from gas station because it contains condensed air drops, better use straw and blow on it fastly.
use fan during your presence or beware of breathing fumes too much and don't let fumes go to your eyes too. it's irritating.
don't bath battery, LCD, cameras, vibra device, keyboard, speaker and mic. use just brush.
if water get in touch panel, you'll probably need to get a new one.
if battery will stop working in few days, you can open and bath board inside it.
now to just drying method. it's risky, water is not 100% conductive, but rust which will be created after few days is and that could finish it off.
I cleaned plenty of phones & cameras after my friends been rafting with them with 100% success. only one camera which had been only drained and used for another 2 days was really dead.
You may want to try taking the battery out and washing it again with rubbing alcohol. It may sound stupid but soap will conduct electricity as it is an electrolyte albeit a bad one i think, this could be causing the short especially when these devices use such low voltage. Get all the residue off and let it air dry I did it once before with my Blue Angel. Dropped it into a blue toilet when i was deployed and I did that and it worked. And before I get a comments from the peanut gallery... My phone was not sh*$y or blue or anything like that just a phone.
Thanks for all you guys. your suggestions really helps!
In fact, I was going to wash it by alcohol.
Anyway, just want to try one more time before I open it.
It does boot up today W/O any error message, even though you still can see some weird areas on the screen.
It is really amazing!
Just to be safe, currently it was sitting in a big bottle of CaSO4 (moisture absorber), hopefully it can be fully cured.
zhiheng said:
Thanks for all you guys. your suggestions really helps!
In fact, I was going to wash it by alcohol.
Anyway, just want to try one more time before I open it.
It does boot up today W/O any error message, even though you still can see some weird areas on the screen.
It is really amazing!
Just to be safe, currently it was sitting in a big bottle of CaSO4 (moisture absorber), hopefully it can be fully cured.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of the reason why using alcohol to clean is good is because it will evaporate itself (and whatever liquid or dust it mixed with) almost instantly when you apply on the surface. It's the best cleaning solvent.
This may also help you for your screen problem: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14919
After rinsing pack it in white rice for several days, it will suck out all the moisture.
JohnnyGTO said:
After rinsing pack it in white rice for several days, it will suck out all the moisture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very good advice
joihan777 said:
Friend of mine laundered her Treo. She let it air out on a windowsill for a week.
She let it sit on a couple of silicone packets she had from a camera box.
(Water WILL evaporate, but soap will NOT. I hope it is rinsed.)
It works fine now. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Treo seems to fair exceptionally well in regards to water damage. My father flushed his twice, both times he had to remove the toilet to retrieve it. He placed it overnight in front of an air vent and it worked flawlessly afterward and has been working for 6 months since it happened.

Water damage questions

Hello,
I recently did one of the stupidist things ever-my tilt was water damaged. It was a whole 3 to 5 minutes before I figured it out. As soon as I realized it I hopped out, removed the battery, SIM, SD card, and wrapped it in a towel.
When I got home I did some breif reading on the ATT forums, some people said that you should completely dissasemble it. After taking out some Torx screws and having no idea how to take it apart, I saw some little "tamper strings" under the cover above the battery and decided to leave it alone.
This was in a residential pool with light chlorine. I read that if you get salt water in it, you should rinse it with distilled water, but I'm not sure if I should do that now?
It's been about 24 hours since it happened. It is currently sitting in a plastic bag with several silica gel packets. Luckily I can't see any water behind the screen.
The most interesting thing is that the little moisture indicator hasn't really changed. When I got it (refurbished from ATT) it was white with a tiny hint of pink at the very top. It doesn't look any different now. But I could see how a very grumpy ATT employee could mark it as water damaged.
How long should I wait before trying it out again? Should I discard the existing battery and buy a new one? Any other advice?
I would really appreciate your help. I know that there is info out there but I didn't see any that specifically dealt with chlorine and also I was wondering what you all thought about the water sensor.
Thanks, have a great day.
I don't pretend to be an expert, but I would not allow it to "air dry" because of minerals and rust setting up. I would use compressed air to force the moisture out, followed by a blow dryer to clear up any residual moisture. I'd then let it sit in a nice sunny window for a while, just in case. Never dealt with it in a phone, but this is the method I've used for other electronics, including a Nintendo DS. Sometimes successful, sometimes not. I think it really depends on the initial short.
Thanks for your response. It's not drying in open air, it is drying inside a small ziploc sandwich bag along with a three silica gel packets. Are you suggesting that I take it apart and then blow it out with the compressed air? Seeing as my water sensor hasn't really changed much color I'm hoping there's a sliver of a chance I might get a help at an AT&T store.
How long do you think I should wait before giving it a try? Do you think the battery I have is safe to use?
You are on the right track:
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index....t=3475797&referralPlaylistId=search|cellphone
Well sadly after 4 days drying out in the silica gell, I put the battery in and right away the LEDs at the top were flickering on and off-blue, white, green, etc. Then, I pushed the power button. The vibrator buzzed lethargically but nothing came onscreen.
Now when I plut it in I get the dreaded "red light."
I tried to start opening it up, but I couldn't even get that cover above the battery off. I don't want to damage the plastic even though it's out of warranty.
Any suggestions on places to get repair? If it would be under $100-120 it would probably be worth it to me to get it fixed.
you do not need to take it apart, dip in rubbing alcohol (prefereably a high percentage) then let sit for a while, depending on the amount of water you will need to soak or longer or several times. using a toothbrush after soaking can help.
No -- don't soak it in anything -- you'll get fluid inside the touchscreen.
Better to let it dry then try it -- and if it still doesn't work properly take it apart and clean each piece.
Check out www.ppctechs.com they did excellent work on both of my Tilts.
Wow they are expensive! $60 just to diagnose probably not going to be worth it. Anyway, I think I'll just wait another 3-4 days and then try it again. I'm a little wary about taking it apart cuz I can't seem to get the hang of it, but my warranty is over anyway so what's to lose?
@noodles21o2, do you mean to take it apart before soaking and brush the inside?
Thanks everybody for your suggestions.
no, just dip the thing in rubbing alcohol. it is proven to work...which is because alcohol is highly volatile. will absorb the water and evaporate much quicker. the brush is for if that doesnt work completely and would have to then take it apart. and worst case senario...it still doesnt work
before trying the alchohol thing, I plugged it in with the battery in. for about 10 seconds the orange lights up, but then switches to blinking which I haven't seen before. when i try to boot it up, it buzzes as normal but the LCD doesn't come on. then it just randomly buzzes likes it's trying again after a few seconds. this is after 5 days.
this is better than when I tried it after 3 days-it was red when I plugged it in, then when I tried turning it on all of the LED's flashed randomly.
I am going to suggest that you follow the advice of the guy who said submurge it in rubbign alcohol.. You really hsoudl do it right away... it will prevent minerals and otehr corrision inside it that will ruin it, the alcohol will displace the water inside, and as you have probalyl noticed if you ever spilt any rubbign alcohol, it evaporated very quickly... It is better to do it sooner than later before you get rust and other currosion inside it
Well I bit the bullet and submerged it in isopropyl rubbing alchohol in a covered plastic container. How long do you figure I should leave it in there?
chambo622 said:
Well I bit the bullet and submerged it in isopropyl rubbing alchohol in a covered plastic container. How long do you figure I should leave it in there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
generle rule i follow is to let it sit there about as long as it was in the water, probably longer. though by turning it on you may have screwed it, so good job
You should have just listened to me in the first place.
Well sadly I didn't even get in into the silica gel until about 6 hours after the initial submission as I was far from home. Unfortunately this probably will be a lost cause, had I had better luck and followed procedure immediately it probably would have been fine.
I left it in there for about 30-40 minutes, now it's drying. Quite a bit of the liquid got behind the screen. But I'm pretty sure the screen is shot anway. This poor thing will probably end up on ebay unless I'm insanely lucky. But thanks for your help I appreciate it.
I decided to take it apart to see if I could dry out the screen faster that way. Anyway there was a lot of corrosion on the screws, plastic, etc. in the battery compartment, but as I got further in, it didn't look too bad but definitely not new lol.
I think I'll put it together in a few days and see if anything has changed. Not sure if its worth spending $$ on a new screen cuz if that doesn't work I don't know how to fix anything else.
Rubbing alcohol is good if you can get good air supply to the parts, which in this case, you weren't. High purity alcohol does dry quickly with little to no residues, but it also wreaks havoc on ink, glues, etc. I would have NOT gone with the alcohol dip. If you were able to disassemble it, then I would have gone with the alcohol/canned air route.
Also, silica gel packets only absorb water, they don't "refresh" once they dry (to a certain extent). Consider filling a ziplock bag with dry rice, and then sticking your phone inside. This is actually a very effective way to absorb moisture that continues to work, versus silica gel packets which decrease their absorbancy as time goes on, especially in a sealed ziploc.
If you are seeing corrosion inside the phone, you're most likely SOL. The fact that the phone was ON when you jumped into the pool greatly decreases your chance, as the water likely had time to get into the phone while you had electricity running through the circuit(s). At best, you can now try and clean the board(s) with a good quality circuit cleaner (not just rubbing alcohol, it will likely not touch any corrosion).

Has anyone replaced their trackball?

My trackball is broken or has dust in it. It doesn't move left unless I push it in while going left, and sometimes clicking it doesn't register.
Has anyone attempted opening the G1 to clean or replace the trackball? I was looking at the Dream pdf and it seems like quite a task.
happyface_0 said:
My trackball is broken or has dust in it. It doesn't move left unless I push it in while going left, and sometimes clicking it doesn't register.
Has anyone attempted opening the G1 to clean or replace the trackball? I was looking at the Dream pdf and it seems like quite a task.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blow the dust out with compressed air, should fix it. Or just spint it vigorously for few minutes. I don't see track ball breaking that fast (it's not BB for crying out loud ). That happened to me few months ago and a little air fixed it.
Good luck
it isnt too bad to open up the phone and clean it, but dont unless absolutely necessary. Lots of connections that can be prone to damage, and some tape that needs to be carefully removed and reused or replaced.
I've tried moving it vigorously many times, which didn't work.
So I used my air compressor and blew air into it, and that didn't work.
Then I tried rubbing alcohol with a q-tip, and that hardly worked.
I have opened my phone, wow!
I have a bronze G1 and the keyboard is not viewable, found someone in hong kong selling them for 5 bucks so i bought the black keyboard pad and replace it. It was a pain and mind you, my background is totally different than most peoples. I have worked as a Electronics Tech for most of my life and have taken EVERYTHING apart as long as i can remember. That thing has some of the smallest connectors and tiniest screws i have ever seen.
Yes it can be done, the hardest part your going to have to deal with is the splitting of the internal case, they sent a small plastic tool with the keypad and without that i would have probably destroyed the phone in the process. If you can find a small plastic or wooden tool to do that part its not to bad and you do not have to go as far as i did.
If however you do not have a background in taking stuff apart and putting it back together again. AVOID doing so!!
Your phone will NOT SURVIVE most likely. First time took me several hours even with the G1 PDF which looks great till you have to rely on it. Only issue i had was i didnt get the camera connector plugged back in so everything using the camera force closed, that was my clue. So i had to open it up a second time, everything works now and love it but it was not the easiest thing i have ever worked on truth be told.
happyface_0 said:
I've tried moving it vigorously many times, which didn't work.
So I used my air compressor and blew air into it, and that didn't work.
Then I tried rubbing alcohol with a q-tip, and that hardly worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This same worked for my trackball, thanks

[Q] A tale of Cola and a Captivate

Hey guys,
A little help here if you can. The other day my step son spilt his coke and luckily it only caught a few drops on my captivate, destroyed my desktop's keyboard though. I thought I cleaned it all well enough since it was truly only a few drops.
That was last night, today my volume and power and the door for my usb cable are sticking to the point of driving me insane. The volume is the worst of them. They still work I only have to press them like I am wanting to crush them.
My question is can any of you post a fix for this problem. A simple one if there is one. If there is no other solution but to take it apart and clean it could some one point me to a respectable walkthrough for doing so.
Thanks.
MentalDragon said:
Hey guys,
A little help here if you can. The other day my step son spilt his coke and luckily it only caught a few drops on my captivate, destroyed my desktop's keyboard though. I thought I cleaned it all well enough since it was truly only a few drops.
That was last night, today my volume and power and the door for my usb cable are sticking to the point of driving me insane. The volume is the worst of them. They still work I only have to press them like I am wanting to crush them.
My question is can any of you post a fix for this problem. A simple one if there is one. If there is no other solution but to take it apart and clean it could some one point me to a respectable walkthrough for doing so.
Thanks.
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U could try putting it in a bag of rice for a couple days (with battery pulled out). Rice absorbs moisture very effectively.
diablo009 said:
U could try putting it in a bag of rice for a couple days (with battery pulled out). Rice absorbs moisture very effectively.
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Yeah I had thought of that but this is coke. I am not having problem with moisture but with the sticky sugary leftover after it dried.
Maybe try a little rubbing alcohol or other type of cleaner that would be safe on plastic and use a toothpick with cloth to get around the buttons.
Honestly I wouldn't try this unless you're not worried about losing the phone completely. I've done it on one of my old phones and it worked so I'll throw it out there but I am in no way suggesting you try it.
Take your battery out.
Get a ziplok bag and fill it with rubbing alcohol.
Throw your phone in the bag and seal it up.
Shake the phone around in the bag for a while.
While the phone is still in the bag push the move all the moving parts that are sticking until they don't stick.
Take the phone out of the bag and put it in a bowl of rice for a day or two until dry.
It may only take a day since alcohol dries extremely fast.
P.S. This method will activate your water damage sticker. (Unless you can seal around it, I siliconed a little cap over mine)
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Get yourself a can of air, the stuff used for dusting electronics and such. Turn the can upside down and spray the buttons out lightly while working them. Go easy with the trigger on the can as it will be liquid when it comes out and will be EXTREMELY COLD but it will dry almost instantly. removing the battery door will give you better access to the buttons. I have saved a few beer and soda damaged keyboards this way.
I would use a cotton swab (or ball) and some alcohol. Soak the cotton in alcohol; squeeze out most of the excess, but leave enough that some can work into the crannies around the sticky parts and rub it around where the stickiness is. Maybe use a dry tissue to suck out the alcohol afterward. Repeat until you are either happy with the way things work or you are convinced that it's hopeless.
1.) Smack your step son in the face.
2.) Even though it's Coke, try the rice method.
3.) If you wanna really clean it open it up and use a cue tip.
xThe Enforcer said:
1.) Smack your step son in the face.
2.) Even though it's Coke, try the rice method.
3.) If you wanna really clean it open it up and use a cue tip.
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I do hope your kidding..besides ya can't do that anymore these days..the kids are smart enough to scream child abuse...lol
The teardown procedure is here if it comes to that.
Samsung Captivate (AT&T Samsung Galaxy S) Teardown | TechRepublic Photo Gallery
rpicaso said:
I do hope your kidding..besides ya can't do that anymore these days..the kids are smart enough to scream child abuse...lol
The teardown procedure is here if it comes to that.
Samsung Captivate (AT&T Samsung Galaxy S) Teardown | TechRepublic Photo Gallery
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I was just being sarcastic, lol. And you're right about the child abuse part but as long as the kid isn't bleeding or really bruised most cops would just give the parent a high five, lol
just take the phone apart and clean it with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab. careful with the rubbing alcohol though, it is up to 30-40% water and can damage the phone. just like water can
Well. All things are good now. Someone suggested to just keep working the buttons enough and it would clear up. Sure enough today my buttons are like new. Thanks for all your help.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App

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