Galaxy Nexus: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

[biggbrother2]

My phone was on the nightstand when a covered cup of water on the nightstand was tipped over in the middle of the night and leaked on the table. The water did not spil directly in phone but the phone was sitting in puddle of water for a while, but not immersed.

I woke up when the phone alarm went off. I picked it up and noticed it was wet but seemed to work ok. Just to be sure I took the battery out and dried it out with a blow dryer and let it sit in the sun for 4 hours. The pink moisture stickers are not pink any more.

I've powered it on and everything in Android works fine, except I can't get a signal, either voice or data: no bars. I figured the SIM was damaged by the water, but I out my SIM in my fiance's Gnex and it works fine. But I put her SIM in my Gnex, and it doesn't work.

Can I assume something with the sim tray got fried? Or is there some sort of programming that got reset so the verizon network won't recognize the phone? I'd rather not have to shell out $100 for an insurance claim, especially since everything on the phone works.. except the network. Thoughts?

 

[Jaredshoes]

Re: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

My phone was on the nightstand when a covered cup of water on the nightstand was tipped over in the middle of the night and leaked on the table. The water did not spil directly in phone but the phone was sitting in puddle of water for a while, but not immersed.

I woke up when the phone alarm went off. I picked it up and noticed it was wet but seemed to work ok. Just to be sure I took the battery out and dried it out with a blow dryer and let it sit in the sun for 4 hours. The pink moisture stickers are not pink any more.

I've powered it on and everything in Android works fine, except I can't get a signal, either voice or data: no bars. I figured the SIM was damaged by the water, but I out my SIM in my fiance's Gnex and it works fine. But I put her SIM in my Gnex, and it doesn't work.

Can I assume something with the sim tray got fried? Or is there some sort of programming that got reset so the verizon network won't recognize the phone? I'd rather not have to shell out $100 for an insurance claim, especially since everything on the phone works.. except the network. Thoughts?

Maybe the antenna got fried? :-\

 

[zkSharks]

Re: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

Any damage caused by that exposure to water will be local, meaning it has to do with your phone. Nothing on the network side. Here's what I'd do:

1. Go into a local Verizon store and tell them you need a new SIM card activated for your line. Don't show your phone, don't mention the water damage. Just get a new SIM.
2. Try out the activated SIM. Be aware that it may take a few minutes for the new LTE SIM card to provision on the network, don't give up if your device isn't immediately authenticated on the network.

If this works, you're golden. If not, you'll likely have to get a replacement. If you do have to get a replacement, I would check to see the water damage indicator in the battery compartment if you go through Verizon.

 

[biggbrother2]

Re: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

1. Go into a local Verizon store and tell them you need a new SIM card activated for your line. Don't show your phone, don't mention the water damage. Just get a new SIM.
2. Try out the activated SIM. Be aware that it may take a few minutes for the new LTE SIM card to provision on the network, don't give up if your device isn't immediately authenticated on the network.

If this works, you're golden. If not, you'll likely have to get a replacement. If you do have to get a replacement, I would check to see the water damage indicator in the battery compartment if you go through Verizon.

Thanks, but I think I have pretty much ruled out the sim card being the problem since I put my sim in another Gnex and my sim worked (i.e. I was able to make calls on my line on that phone). Plus I put another working sim in my phone and it didn't get signal with that sim either.

It appears to be damage to the SIM reader, or maybe the antenna was damaged, but I'd find that odd.

I am running AOKP Milestone 1 so I am going to reflash to stock on the odd chance that something just got screwy with the ROM at a coincidental time. I'm hoping that's the case.

 

[zkSharks]

Re: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

Thanks, but I think I have pretty much ruled out the sim card being the problem since I put my sim in another Gnex and my sim worked (i.e. I was able to make calls on my line on that phone). Plus I put another working sim in my phone and it didn't get signal with that sim either.

It appears to be damage to the SIM reader, or maybe the antenna was damaged, but I'd find that odd.

I am running AOKP Milestone 1 so I am going to reflash to stock on the odd chance that something just got screwy with the ROM at a coincidental time. I'm hoping that's the case.

Somehow I forgot about the SIM testing you did while replying. If you're going to re-flash, make sure you flash the radios again as well. It is also certainly than possible that the power amplifier or antenna in the phone were damaged if they were active when water contacted them; I wouldn't rule that out entirely.

 

[Brendan Kutcher]

Re: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

Did you ever get your phone to work? I have the same exact issue, with the same exact phone, except mine is the Sprint Galaxy Nexus.

A glass got knocked over and the phone was sitting in some water on the carpet. Everything works except for cell phone signal. Insurance wants $150 for a replacement phone.

 

[badelhas]

Re: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

I also have that problem wirh my s3 after a littlw pool swimming...
How did you fix your problem in the end?

 

[jephanie]

Re: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

"Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal"

No signal. Kind of like a brand new Galaxy Nexus. <insert rim shot here>

 

[biggbrother2]

Re: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

No, I was never able to get it to work, even after reflashing everything. Had to put in another insurance claim.

 

[badelhas]

Re: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

No, I was never able to get it to work, even after reflashing everything. Had to put in another insurance claim.

I dont have insurance. I ordered a SIM/SD Tray replacement for 5 pounds on Amazon, its pretty easy to change it, I hope it works. The strange thing is the SD card works perfectly. Your SD card worked also?
If it does work next step is change the glass (broke it a week before, talk about bad luck). Its harder to do it but theres tutorials on youtube, a new glass costs 10 pounds.
Thanks for the help, M8!

Cheers

 

[Shayes#AC]

Re: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

this just happened to me. water got inside the back cover, and the there was moisture almost everywhere. anybody figure out how to fix this?
anybody try the following:
rice?
blow dryer?
reflash radios?
reflash rom?


and how much does it cost to get a sim card replaced? would it work?

edit update: i tried all the things above and nothing really worked. i still cant use it over the VZ network, but the wifi still works

 

[nicool239]

Re: Phone was partially wet and works fine except no signal

I know this post is old, but I came across it this morning when my phone was having the same problem:
My phone got partially wet when a wave came up higher than the others at the beach and washed over my towel with the phone on it. Fortunately, it didn't look that wet inside, but there was water inside the battery case. After drying it overnight in my food dehydrator (which usually works awesome, by the way), I turned it on. Everything worked perfectly except I could not get any service. I noticed the metal connectors by the sim card reader looked a little corroded. I happened to have my old, cracked up Nexus on hand, so I experimented. I switched out the SIM card reader board and IT WORKED! If you don't have an extra phone to switch it with, you can buy the piece alone for around $30 on eBay. I attached a pic of exactly what the piece looks like. If you don't know how to take your phone apart, there is a good instructional video here: Repairing Galaxy Nexus Power Button - YouTube . It is actually pretty easy with this phone; I had never taken a phone apart before and I accomplished it within about 5 minutes. All you need is a small screwdriver and two guitar picks.
I hope this helps somebody. Good luck!