Fixed my water damaged Note 3! I got pushed in the pool and thought it was dead... Details Inside

[garakhan]

You have given me hope to try my old water damaged GS4 again. Thanks.

 

[thihaz]

I wanted to post this to give hope to anyone who has faced water damage with their phone. I got pushed in the pool by a drunk guy (he felt terrible and even planned it out beforehand when he noticed I was in swimming trunks and not regular shorts... thinking I wouldn't have my phone in my pocket).

Well, I got pushed in and while falling, I even tried to pull the phone out and throw it before I landed in the water lol. I was under water for probably a good 10 seconds as I frantically swam to the edge to get out and pull the phone out.

I did everything correctly in the beginning. I pulled the wet phone out of my pocket, took the back cover off and took the battery, SIM, and SD cards out immediately. I dried it off with a towel for the moment but could not get to a bag of rice for hours. The pool was really dirty, so I knew my chances were slim.

I wasn't able to get the phone into a bag of rice for probably 4 hours. So, I finally got the bag of rice and put the phone in over night. Here's where I know I did some wrong things, but I was very impatient. After one night (about 10 hours) in the bag of rice, I tried putting the battery in and turning on. Nothing happened. So, I tried plugging the charger in and turning it on. Nothing happened.
I know this is very bad to try and do to a water damaged phone, so now I really thought I ruined everything.

I went on the forums and read that distilled water will help clean off the phone should it have gotten into salty or dirty water. So, I got some distilled water and submerged my phone in it for a few minutes thinking I had nothing to lose. I dried it off and put it back in rice for the entire day about 12 hours. That night, I tried AGAIN to put the battery in and turn it on. Nothing happened. I tried plugging the charger in again and turning it on. Nothing happened. Uh oh...

So, now I'm researching online and reading that 99% isopropyl alcohol will help with water damaged electronics. I went and bought some at CVS (they only had 91%) but whatever. This time, I took apart my phone using the ifixit breakdown. I took off the entire back panel and logic-board. I submerged each piece in the isopropyl alcohol for about 30 minutes. I gave each piece a nice gentle scrub with a toothbrush to make sure I was cleaning everything. Then, I dried with towel and I put each piece in a bag of rice over night for about 10 hours.

This morning just now, I put the phone back together. I knew this was my last shot after one night bag of rice, after one day distilled water and rice, and finally after one day 91% isopropyl alcohol and rice... there was nothing left to do.
I put the battery in expecting nothing. Then... suddenly... it vibrated! I looked at the screen and there was the logo! It was turning on!!! I was still not optimistic as I know water damaged phones can lose functionality... but I tested everything out and everything works! Air View, Air Gesture, speakers, calling, etc... everything works!

So in conclusion, I would say the isopropyl alcohol was the game changer here. That stuff really works. I've even seen YouTube videos where people submerge a turned on phone in the stuff and it still works because it does not conduct electricity at all. Pretty cool.

Crossing my fingers this lasts... but I know the lifespan is probably shortened and things may bug out on me in the future. For now, I'm enjoying that I brought it back to life.

It works. Thank you thank you thank you.
I fixed my wife's note 4.

This is how it happened.
One morning, note 4 cannot be booted.
So took out battery and tried again. I noticed some water under battery.
It was getting hot. Then unplugged. Brought the phone to the service center and let them fixed it since it is still under warranty.
But it turned out it was water damage.
Water damage was not under warranty so I was asked to pay 700+ to fix it.
Later discounted to 529.
I said f**k it. Brought it back home and Googled it.
Found this article and decided to give it a try since i got nothing to lose.

I found some tear down webpage and videos to tare my phone apart.
I bought some tools and I bought Isopropyl alcohol liquid.

Luckily I manage to tear down everything without damaging.
At first I only took the motherboard and dipped it in that liquid for about 24 hours. It didn't work.
So the next day, dipped the mainboard for one day.
Charging board which has corrosion was also dipped in the liquid for one day.
Brushed here and there.
Next day, assembled everything back.
Voila!!!!! It was bloody booting.
It worked!!!!!!!!
So I was super happy and so was my wife!
Thank you so much for the post and again don't lose hope.
Cheers.

 

[Gina Hargrove]

Okay so I bought one of those rubber pouches that are supposed to protect your phone at the water park. Well, vacationed for a week, got home and the screen went black. I took it to a servicer and when he took the back off the battery indicator was fire engine red. There was also evidence of dried water on various areas of the panel board and mother board. I went to CVS and got the alcohol. I disassembled my phone into 4 parts back cover, back panel, motherboard and screen component. I sat everything in the alcohol for 30 minutes or so then took all of it out and into the rice bed it went. I am waiting, waiting, waiting. I am so anxious to see what's gonna happen. 11:30pm will be 12 hours. I think I will go to bed at 10 so I will wait until morning and give it additional time.

 

[sambosat]

Hi there. Here is my story and hope that someone can help. Actually it is the story of my friend who brought me his phone to be fixed.
His son has dropped his galaxy note 3 in water and the phone went blank so he did the rice trick but the phone is now you can hear that it is turning on and you would see the blue led on and the red led when charging but you see nothing on the screen. Would the isopropyl alcohol fix that problem or it is something different. If different thing can anyone assist on how to fix.
The phone cant connect to kies 3 nor smart switch. Actually the PC installs all the drivers but the MTP driver fails (not sure if it is related)

Just a quick question. Is isopropyl alcohol the same as the hand sanitizer that we use daily or is it the rubbing alcohol or something else

 

[Sean74]

I sure wish this worked for my phone. I did try this and put it back in rice and it's still not coming on. I did buy another battery in hopes of it working and it didn't. I am gonna put it back in rice again though. I did this about 2 months ago and had it in rice this whole time. Then I saw this about the alcohol and tried it last night. Hopefully it will eventually come back on and work right. :-\

Hello did it work for you? I put mine in alcohol last night also for 30 minutes and then in rice. I left it in rice from around 11pm last night until after 6 pm today. It's still not coming on. I hope you have better luck than I did.