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Isopropyl Alcohol and the water damage square

Ok i was cleaning my battery contacts and my usb pins with 91% isopropyl alcohol and got some on the white square and it turned kind of pink (small faint pink spots)...like as if water damage was done...any suggestions? am i screwed on warranties?

Buy some new water detecting stickers off ebay and cut to size. If not Satan I mean ATT will black list you for warrantys when they ask you what color it is, they dont care why its pink, its broke and your fault even if it never had water damage, no joy!
Spend the 8 dollars plus .42 cent shipping to ease your issues Just my personal experiences.

Well, it's definitely a lot better than having water on it. Alcohol boils at a lower temperature, meaning it will dry up a lot faster. Keep the battery out for a few days and put the device in rice to drain everything out. Hope it goes back to normal.

do you have a link for those stickers..i cant find them anywhere

kareem9nba said:
Well, it's definitely a lot better than having water on it. Alcohol boils at a lower temperature, meaning it will dry up a lot faster. Keep the battery out for a few days and put the device in rice to drain everything out. Hope it goes back to normal.
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I'd bet it is not reacting to the alcohol at all, but to the water in the alcohol. Remember even 100% alcohol isn't (or is only fleetingly). The instant you open the container and expose it to air it starts absorbing water.

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?
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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).

[Q] HTC HD7 water death!!!!

Hi guys, I recently fell into the sea by accident and my phone was in my pocket and it got wet. I did not know what to do and i thus took out everything and wiped it dry and then plugged it into a power source. No response. After a few tries, it started vibrating madly and the light on top of the device started flickering. The phone started heating up like mad until finally i switched off the power supply. Now it is not giving any response. Please Help!!!

you fried the board.

In future if you ever get a phone/anything electronic wet, immediately remove the power source (battery) and leave it to dry in a well ventilated place for a long time (or a bag of dry rice, which can draw the water out). And when you think it's dry, leave it a bit longer still!
Don't be curious and try turning it on "to see what the damage is", as you will invariably cause more damage.
Unless it's tap water that's spilled on it (or it's been submerged in) you will likely want to wash it out before drying it - pure, deionised water is good for this. This might seem mental, but it's not - pure water is generally harmless to electronics unless there's current running through them. The residue from dried seawater or coffee will cause short circuits and damage the thing, so best to wash it off.

Spideyrocks said:
Hi guys, I recently fell into the sea by accident and my phone was in my pocket and it got wet. I did not know what to do and i thus took out everything and wiped it dry and then plugged it into a power source. No response. After a few tries, it started vibrating madly and the light on top of the device started flickering. The phone started heating up like mad until finally i switched off the power supply. Now it is not giving any response. Please Help!!!
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Seawater? Ouch. If anything salt will kill the motherboard faster than the water. But yes, you made a mistake by plugging it into a power outlet after drying it out. Next time (which hopefully does not occur), pull out the battery, dry it out, and stick it in a bag of rice or silica gel packets. Waiting a few days before touching it would also be a good idea. You may be able to try this now and to rid of the salt, soaking the phone in 100% rubbing alcohol (only 100%!) may clean out the internals. Good luck!
By the way, I haven't tried out the alcohol method but it was suggested by other forum members. The worst case scenario with the alcohol is that some of it seeps into your screen and won't evaporate, so try out the rice first.

It's a common misconception that water conducts electricity. In fact, it's salt water that conducts electricity. The problem is our skin has minute amounts of salt on it. It has been tested already making a completely water submerged PC as an advanced cooling method such as using cooking oil. The plus side is for circulating, water isn't as thick & flows faster plus it don't "go bad". The downside is you have to be very careful not to let salt get into the water & how hard it is to find "pure water".
P.S. DO NOT TRY IT YOURSELF. Even Mineral Oil can be dangerous to PC parts if you don't know what you are doing, plus Oil dissolves rubber & plastic parts over time.

drkfngthdragnlrd said:
It's a common misconception that water conducts electricity. In fact, it's salt water that conducts electricity. The problem is our skin has minute amounts of salt on it. It has been tested already making a completely water submerged PC as an advanced cooling method such as using cooking oil. The plus side is for circulating, water isn't as thick & flows faster plus it don't "go bad". The downside is you have to be very careful not to let salt get into the water & how hard it is to find "pure water".
P.S. DO NOT TRY IT YOURSELF. Even Mineral Oil can be dangerous to PC parts if you don't know what you are doing, plus Oil dissolves rubber & plastic parts over time.
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Are you joking? Water conducts electricity. Distilled water (saltless) conducts electricity. Mineral Oil != water! And it does not conduct electricity (the pc cooling projects).

beaups said:
Are you joking? Water conducts electricity. Distilled water (saltless) conducts electricity. Mineral Oil != water! And it does not conduct electricity (the pc cooling projects).
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You may be right that distilled/Pure water conducts electricity, for that matter everything conducts electricity if enough voltage is applied. Even air as proof by Lightning. Computers run on 12/5 Volts though (except the Power Supply that turns 220/110 Volts into 12/5 Volts). This is not enough voltage (the 12/5 Volts) to pass through Pure Water. The point is people have tried it & it works. Would I recommend it to someone, NO. As I said, any contaminants will increase water's ability to conduct electricity. There's parts in the PC that can give off salt & other contaminants into the water. Our devices work on less than 5 Volts. If you take the battery out immediately & let dry out completely. You can save the device. I've done it myself & helped others save their doing this. The best choice for a advanced cooling system is this 3M liquid, but it's extremely expensive.

beaups said:
Are you joking? Water conducts electricity. Distilled water (saltless) conducts electricity. Mineral Oil != water! And it does not conduct electricity (the pc cooling projects).
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Excuse me, Distilled water has no free ions which are found in normal tap water (minerals, K, Na, Mg, F) that's why it won't conduct electricity, but as " drkfngthdragnlrd " said at extreme voltages not currents, it totally can and that's what's exhibited in stun guns for example where air itself connects..

Question Emergency help need to recover my phone

Hi guys
My phone was dropped in the water. I gave time to it and make it dry by hairdryer and put it in rice to absorb its humidity. Then I opened the back panel and made it drier. INow when I press the power button nothing happened. Just when I connect it to the charger, the charging logo and then start screen appear and shows 1 percent charge, is charging and then disappear. it repeats without starting normally. What is your remarks folks?

Something is shorted, just send it to someone to fix it and tell them it's water damage.

Disconnect the battery immediately.
Rice does nothing.
Get some anhydrous (99%) isopropyl alcohol* and liberally flush the entire phone with it to absorb the moisture.
Use low pressure compressed dry oil free air to blow out as much of the alcohol as possible.
Do it in a dry room and it is flammable.
After you get it as dry as possible allow to dry in a warm, dry room with a fan on it.
Let it rest for at least several days.
Reconnect the battery and see what you got.
* never use isopropyl alcohol or any solvent around an LCD display, it will poison it. Should be safe for AMOLED displays. Try to prevent it from getting in between the display and the glass if that can happen.
Use your best judgement.
The more you can safely disassemble it before flushing it out the better. Be aware that individual assemblies like the display and mobo are sensitive to ESD damage when out of circuit.
In a dry room handling them is risky if you disconnect the ribbon cables. Unfortunately this is exactly where water tends to get trapped.
If you disassemble to subassemblies level raise humidity in the room to 50% and use a plain wood surface, or earth grounded ESD mat to work on. A ESD wrist strap is highly recommended.
It may be best not to remove the ribbon connectors other than the battery, flush it well, and allow more drying time.
Either way you want to dry the assembly in a warm dry remove to remove all residual moisture; it must be completely dry before powering up again.
If any corrosion formed as a result of the water exposure especially with the battery connected it will not be salvageable.

Lol, that sounds more complicated than having a heart transplant.

vuittion said:
Lol, that sounds more complicated than having a heart transplant.
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Well once you get a device wet, speed and appropriate actions make the difference between a paper wieght and a working device.
At least I gave known good advice*. Manufacturers won't even attempt to salvage them because experience has shown it's not worth it.
*dropped my Buds case in a full coffee cup (cream/sugar). Immediately pulled it out and apart. Flushed first with RO water to dissolve any sugar then flushed with anhydrous isopropyl.
A day later it was charging again. 2 years later it still works. And that was with the battery in it.
The coffee was still drinkable too

Phone was fallen in to the water and wont turn on. Need help!

My Samsung mobile phone has fallen into the water because of my fault. But soon after I took it from the water I turned it off. Since I have never faced a situation like this before I searched for some instructions using the internet on my laptop. While searching on the internet I found some directions to solve this and save my phone. But after following those steps still, the phone won’t turn on. To fix this phone,
Soon after I took the phone from the water I put it in a rice bag to remove the water inside it (Nearly 24 hours).
De-assembled the phone as I can (It has a non-removable battery)
Put the phone inside a rice bag for 6 hours and tried again.
But the phone won’t turn on. Is there any other way I can fix this phone? Or should I take this to a repair station?

Rice does nothing.
Pull the battery asap. The phone must be completely dried before connecting the battery again. Pull the rear cover, disconnect the battery and place on side in a warm/hot, dry room with strong fan on it. Give it at least 3 days.

blackhawk said:
Rice does nothing.
Pull the battery asap. The phone must be completely dried before connecting the battery again. Pull the rear cover, disconnect the battery and place on side in a warm/hot, dry room with strong fan on it. Give it at least 3 days.
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Thank you. It has a non-removable battery but I will follow the rest of the instructions.

maxsam321 said:
Thank you. It has a non-removable battery but I will follow the rest of the instructions.
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You're welcome.
You disconnect the battery via it's ribbon cable.
Even when powered off there are circuits that have power going to them. This current exacerbates the corrosion and destruction of key circuits.
Anhydrous isopropyl alcohol (>96%) can be used as a drying agent. LCDs displays can be poisoned by any solvent, do not use on LCDs.
Flush liberally with isopropyl alcohol then get as much as possible off the assemblies as fast as possible in a dry room. Isopropyl alcohol is very hydroscoppic and will grab moisture out of the air, it also cools as it evaporates, attracting any moisture in the air. It is flammable...
After doing this allow to dry for 2-3 days as described in previous post.
Avoid getting the alcohol between the display and glass as this would leave a residue stain. Use best judgment... only use anhydrous isopropyl alcohol not methanol!

blackhawk said:
You're welcome.
You disconnect the battery via it's ribbon cable.
Even when powered off there are circuits that have power going to them. This current exacerbates the corrosion and destruction of key circuits.
Anhydrous isopropyl alcohol (>96%) can be used as a drying agent. LCDs displays can be poisoned by any solvent, do not use on LCDs.
Flush liberally with isopropyl alcohol then get as much as possible off the assemblies as fast as possible in a dry room. Isopropyl alcohol is very hydroscoppic and will grab moisture out of the air, it also cools as it evaporates, attracting any moisture in the air. It is flammable...
After doing this allow to dry for 2-3 days as described in previous post.
Avoid getting the alcohol between the display and glass as this would leave a residue stain. Use best judgment... only use anhydrous isopropyl alcohol not methanol!
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Click to collapse
Ok, I will follow these instructions. Thank you for the help.

maxsam321 said:
Ok, I will follow these instructions. Thank you for the help.
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Click to collapse
You're welcome.
Bare in mind there are BGA chipsets in this phone as in most. Water can seep under the chipset and will take longer to dry. The connectors can also retain water and take longer to dry. Place on side to help in draining.
Low pressure compressed dry oil free air can be used as well, but carefully. A shop vac blower... carefully. This can also created an Electro Static Discharge hazard though. Don't touch the phone and nozzle or vac at the same time. Dry air raises the risk of ESD damage. Earth ground yourself before touching the phone; a ESD mat and wrist strap are preferred. Be aware of this hazard. Generally in circuit assemblies are relatively well protected. Points on the mobo can lack input protection and it's best not to touch them.
Heat drives out moisture ie hot boxes that are still used in humid climates to provide a dry environment for humidity sensitive equipment. Up to 120F is perfectly safe for drying. Don't expose the display to direct sunlight to speed drying though. Good luck.

blackhawk said:
You're welcome.
Bare in mind there are BGA chipsets in this phone as in most. Water can seep under the chipset and will take longer to dry. The connectors can also retain water and take longer to dry. Place on side to help in draining.
Low pressure compressed dry oil free air can be used as well, but carefully. A shop vac blower... carefully. This can also created an Electro Static Discharge hazard though. Don't touch the phone and nozzle or vac at the same time. Dry air raises the risk of ESD damage. Earth ground yourself before touching the phone; a ESD mat and wrist strap are preferred. Be aware of this hazard. Generally in circuit assemblies are relatively well protected. Points on the mobo can lack input protection and it's best not to touch them.
Heat drives out moisture ie hot boxes that are still used in humid climates to provide a dry environment for humidity sensitive equipment. Up to 120F is perfectly safe for drying. Don't expose the display to direct sunlight to speed drying though. Good luck.
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Ok, I will keep those things in mind when following those instructions. Thank you again for your kind help.