Water Damage

[middymutt]

Hello, I've got an S3 for AT&T that's been submerged in water. See, I bought a Lifeproof case and had it installed professionally. Decided to go on a boat trip and take a few underwater photos (definitely less than a foot under the surface, just a couple of inches). Shortly after, the phone began freezing and glitching and eventually shut itself off.

Unfortunately I was not able to get the phone to a bowl of rice quickly--we had to row to shore and drive home. And because of the Lifeproof case, which was difficult to remove, I wasn't able to get to the inside of the phone to separate the battery and attempt to wipe away some of the water until I got home. Despite all this, when I checked the two water damage indicators, they were both white. Apparently, they should be red to indicate water damage? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I let the phone in all its separated parts sit in the rice overnight, and then when I reassembled the phone, it would not turn on. However, when I plug the phone into its charger, a red light appears where the charging light is. This occurs both with and without the battery inside.

I guess my question is, is the entire phone fried, or is it just the battery? This red light is the only indicator that the phone works at all.

 

[Gekko]

there is no way to know without trial an error of testing a new battery in addition to maybe giving it a little more time to dry out and/or a complete evaluation from an engineer.

perhaps it's a sign from above that it's time to upgrade?

good luck!

 

[GSDer]

Samsung Galaxy S IV Active = meant to go swimming

Overnight in the rice isn't long enough - 24 to 48 hours minimum.

You probably don't see the crosshatch pattern on the moisture indicators any longer?

Since your warranty is shot anyway, you could take it apart and let all the pieces sit in rice for a couple of days, then reassemble it and plug it in (without powering it on) - if you don't see the battery graphic it's probably toast. You could try a new battery but I doubt that's the problem.

Get a refund from Lifeproof...

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM 10.2 using Tapatalk 4

 

[AxlMyk]

I think people missed the point. The Lifeproof case didn't do its job. Go after Lifeproof to fix/replace the phone.