Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Water Damage - Initial efforts to revive phone failed, please advise remedies

[skdaddle]

My Note 3 fell into 12' of fresh water at the lake and was submerged about 5 minutes. We retrieved the phone and took the battery out and shook out all the water we could and left it to dry in the sun for about 2 hours. When we put it back together and tried to power it up nothing happened. I took the phone home and plugged it up to the charger but nothing happened. Online self help sites said to put it in rice so I took the battery out and placed both in uncooked rice in a baggie for two days, then put it back together and tried to power up and nothing happened. A YouTube video gave instructions of soaking in isopropyl alcohol, so I found 91% isopropyl alcohol, took the motherboard out and soaked it, then scrubbed it with a q-tip and toothbrush. I dried everything on low with a hair dryer, found a brand new spare battery and put it all back together, then plugged it up to the charger to charge the battery. After an hour I tried to power it on, but nothing happened. The water damage indicators inside the phone had turned pink, also the indicator on the phone's old battery. My SD card has all my photos, but no contacts so I was able to retrieve some saved data at least. Today the phone has been out of the water a total of 6 days, it should be completely dry so I am guessing I did something to it when I tried to charge it initially.

At this point I am asking for some ideas as to what I may have overlooked or if there are any suggestions on how to revive the phone, any insight into a different repair approach is welcomed, please help!

Thanks

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Hello there!

I'm afraid to say it, but I have some bad news. Since you tried a whole heap of things to bring that phone back to life and with the phone still dead, the phone probably might be toast.

A useful bit of advice is to immediately remove the battery (like you did) and put it in either a container full of silica-gel packs, lots of rice or a Bheestie bag for about a day or 3, depending on how long the phone has been in water for.

Drying it out in the sun isn't really as effective as you might think because while it might help with the outside, drying out the inside can be tricky.

 

[skdaddle]

Yeah, thanks for the quick response, I kinda figured that, was hoping I might still have a shot at reviving it. I found a used motherboard on ebay for $69.00 that they guarantee, any suggestions on spending $$$ for that as a replacement to correct?

I would like to keep the phone if it can be repaired with parts at a reasonable cost.

Also, any chance the screen is bad? I haven't looked into any repair self help sites about that.

Thanks for any help you can offer

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Yeah, thanks for the quick response, I kinda figured that, was hoping I might still have a shot at reviving it. I found a used motherboard on ebay for $69.00 that they guarantee, any suggestions on spending $$$ for that as a replacement to correct?

I would like to keep the phone if it can be repaired with parts at a reasonable cost.

Also, any chance the screen is bad? I haven't looked into any repair self help sites about that.

Thanks for any help you can offer

I don't usually recommend buying parts off eBay, as some can be quite sketchy.

If you know how to take a smartphone apart, you might have a better chance at buying a Note 3 in fairly good condition at a good price off Swappa. Or you can get one with some faults but with a working motherboard and cannibalize that phone in order to fix yours.

Note that some data probably won't match if the motherboard is swapped.

 

[skdaddle]

Thanks again -
I registered an account with Swappa and found a couple of good prices, but I forgot to mention that I did not have this phone thru Verizon for service as it never worked from my own living room, they did not have service where I live unless i drove 1/2 mile down the road. I switched to an I-Phone and have excellent service. I only kept the Note 3 for its picture taking capabilities and apps, it still worked on wifi and I could send photos to my email address, etc. with it. It is just a cool device in that respect. I will not be using the phone (or its replacement) for any other purpose at this time.

What would happen if I take my old motherboard and try it in a replacement phone (in an effort to save/retrieve data on the board), would this be a futile effort?

Thanks

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Thanks again -
I registered an account with Swappa and found a couple of good prices, but I forgot to mention that I did not have this phone thru Verizon for service as it never worked from my own living room, they did not have service where I live unless i drove 1/2 mile down the road. I switched to an I-Phone and have excellent service. I only kept the Note 3 for its picture taking capabilities and apps, it still worked on wifi and I could send photos to my email address, etc. with it. It is just a cool device in that respect. I will not be using the phone (or its replacement) for any other purpose at this time.

What would happen if I take my old motherboard and try it in a replacement phone (in an effort to save/retrieve data on the board), would this be a futile effort?

Thanks

It's likely that you'll lose all data from the old motherboard as the NAND is soldered onto said board.

By data, I mean user data, like apps and photos.

 

[skdaddle]

Ok, thanks again, I guess I'm just slow at coming around to the fact that I screwed up a perfectly good phone

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Ok, thanks again, I guess I'm just slow at coming around to the fact that I screwed up a perfectly good phone

No worries. It happens.

 

[aspenedelen]

This is what I say to do. Put your phone in a small room (preferably a closet with a dehumidifier and let it sit for two or three days. Your dehu will do what the sun and air can't do and that is to completely remove any moisture from the unit. If it fails to turn on after 72 hours it's toast.