S6 Active has partial black screen after being rinsed with water

[Heidi Graham]

My son's S6 Active was getting dirty so he rinsed it in the sink and it was fine afterwards. That was this morning. Now this afternoon the display is partially black. I don't understand why it would do this when it's supposed to be waterproof and is this something that will go away?
INFORMATION UPDATE:
Other than being a bit dirty from sticky fingers, the phone is in excellent condition. It's had an otterbox on it from day one and has absolutely NO damage. No scratches or dings whatsoever. This phone is supposed to be ip68. Rinsing it shouldn't have caused this. Should I try opening it to dry it?

 

[nahoku]

The phone is NOT "waterproof"... it's water resistant... which means if it gets wet it might work later or it might not. If water got into the phone, which it sounds like it did, then it may be permanently damaged. If the symptom doesn't go away on it's own, you may need to get it repaired, or buy a new phone. People say stick it in rice for a day, but that may or may not help unless it was done right away, and even then, it may not help. By the way, NO Samsung phone is "waterproof".

 

[Tim1954]

Once water gets into electronic devices, generally you'll get corrosion eventually even if nothing was damaged. You could try warranty claim but in any case I'd be looking at a new phone before this one crashes and you lose all your data.... As nahoku said, they're not WATERPROOF, only water resistant! Research that before dunking the next one...

 

[lafountain]

It being your sons phone, I also would ask if it has ever been dropped. If it has, that could eliminate the water resistance due to the casing of the phone being damaged.

 

[Heidi Graham]

It's never been out of the otterbox and it hasn't been dropped other than a couple times on the grass while inside the case. It's in perfect condition outside of the case other than the screen. No scratches or dings anywhere.

 

[Heidi Graham]

I meant to say resistant. I know that it's ip68. But rinsing it shouldn't have caused this.

 

[nahoku]

I meant to say resistant. I know that it's ip68. But rinsing it shouldn't have caused this.

The sad truth, as evidenced on the AC forum, is that these phones seem not to be meant to be put in water... regardless of the spec, what people show on Youtube, or what online reviewers rave about. There are way too many instances just like yours that prove this over, and over, and over again on these forums. Samsung themselves state that you're not supposed to rinse the phone under running tap water... it's supposed to be rinsed in "still" water. If your son simply decided to run to the tap to rinse his phone, Samsung will/can legally reject warranty.

In my opinion, the Samsung IPxx ratings are bogus! It "may" work on some phones when new, but if the phones used, for however long, you can kiss that IPxx rating goodbye. Unfortunate, but that's the way it seems to be.

You can attempt to contact Samsung to see if they'll help. Most likely they'll say you'll need to send the phone to them for evaluation.

 

[Phoneguy108]

Samsung BS'd everyone with the IP rating!