Why is battery life so short after water damage?

[Abi Morrison]

My Samsung Galaxy 6S decided to take a spin in the washing machine. After 36 hours in a bowl of rice with a fan blowing on it, then charging it it amazingly powered up and seemed to be fully restored. However, I now notice that my battery drains incredibly fast. Within 10 minutes of removing the charger it drops to 95%. Within an hour with no use to 90% and with minimal use (checking emails for 10 minutes) it drops to about 85%. By mid-day with no additional use it is at 50%. The phone is already on battery saving mode, I don't have it roaming for a wi-fi signal or location, and other apps that I don't need aren't running.

Is there any hope of restoring battery life or is it doomed?

 

[razza1987]

You're seriously asking why battery life is so short if it's been in a washing machine??? It's NEITHER water proof NOT water resistant so what do you expect?

 

[Abi Morrison]

I'm new to this forum and based on the threads I've read in the past I was hoping a reply would be less condescending. I am certainly aware that water damage has caused battery problems and so perhaps I should have made my question more explicit, which is given the damage I've done is there anything I can do to help improve the battery life?

 

[razza1987]

Lol condescending? Ok

 

[Jaycemiskel]

I'm new to this forum and based on the threads I've read in the past I was hoping a reply would be less condescending. I am certainly aware that water damage has caused battery problems and so perhaps I should have made my question more explicit, which is given the damage I've done is there anything I can do to help improve the battery life?

Other than sending it in to have it fixed? Nope.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

 

[duketreo]

Lol condescending? Ok

Better than sarcastic

 

[Gator352]

I'm new to this forum and based on the threads I've read in the past I was hoping a reply would be less condescending. I am certainly aware that water damage has caused battery problems and so perhaps I should have made my question more explicit, which is given the damage I've done is there anything I can do to help improve the battery life?

Should be in a sealed bag of rice, not a bowl. The sealed bag makes the rice absorb the moisture which is what you want it to do.

Try a factory reset. See if that helps.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[bbtkd]

My Samsung Galaxy 6S decided to take a spin in the washing machine. After 36 hours in a bowl of rice with a fan blowing on it, then charging it it amazingly powered up and seemed to be fully restored. However, I now notice that my battery drains incredibly fast. Within 10 minutes of removing the charger it drops to 95%. Within an hour with no use to 90% and with minimal use (checking emails for 10 minutes) it drops to about 85%. By mid-day with no additional use it is at 50%. The phone is already on battery saving mode, I don't have it roaming for a wi-fi signal or location, and other apps that I don't need aren't running.

Is there any hope of restoring battery life or is it doomed?

It would have to be a miracle if the phone was dunked with a battery in it (whether on or off) and didn't have some component short out and permanently damage circuitry. If it somehow dodged permanent damage, it may still be damp around the battery or charging circuit and causing excessive battery drain.

 

[Rukbat]

Should be in a sealed bag of rice, not a bowl.

Shouldn't be in rice at all - that's one of the fastest ways of destroying a phone. You absorb all the water, concentrating all the impurities, making them destroy the phone that much faster.

Read Oh, no! Oh, no! My Phone got Wet!



Abi, consider your phone an expensive lesson. It's going to have to be replaced. There's a pretty bad short in it somewhere, caused by some of the impurities in the water. Charging it after it was shorted finished it off.

 

[Gator352]

Shouldn't be in rice at all - that's one of the fastest ways of destroying a phone. You absorb all the water, concentrating all the impurities, making them destroy the phone that much faster.

Read Oh, no! Oh, no! My Phone got Wet!



Abi, consider your phone an expensive lesson. It's going to have to be replaced. There's a pretty bad short in it somewhere, caused by some of the impurities in the water. Charging it after it was shorted finished it off.

I agree that IT shouldn't be in there at all. BUT it is the best way to "possibly" recover your phone, or other electronics, from water damage. Alcohol is good too because it doesn't conduct electricity. The only downside is that alcohol can degrade certain electronic component adhesives.

 

[Rukbat]

I agree that IT shouldn't be in there at all. BUT it is the best way to "possibly" recover your phone, or other electronics, from water damage. Alcohol is good too because it doesn't conduct electricity. The only downside is that alcohol can degrade certain electronic component adhesives.

Cellphones are designed to withstand alcohol baths.

Rice is the WORST way to try to recover a phone, because it concentrates the impurities. For instance, if you drop a phone into a swimming pool, there's a very weak solution of hydrochloric acid in the phone. Remove the water and you have a maybe 80%HCl solution which is a fast etchant and will eat the copper off the motherboard in minutes. Considering the other damage it does, the only repair possible at that point is replacing all non-plastic parts - which will cost more than a new phone. Just by letting the phone sit in rice overnight.

I've repaired a few hundred phones with alcohol and never had an adhesive dissolve.

 

[bbtkd]

I just can't fathom why in the world anyone buys an expensive phone and fails to put a defender-like case on it and buy insurance. Daily, there are posts from folks having wrecked or drowned their phone, they don't have insurance, and they ask how to fix them. Can't afford insurance, can't afford the phone. Are these the same people driving around without car insurance? Not dissing the OP specifically.

 

[Gator352]

Look, I get it. But some out there aren't as "tech" savy as some of us and don't understand what can be done for certain things. I also understand "rice" is bad but when you don't have the money to fix and/or replace a phone right off the bat, rice IS the next best thing. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't.

Most people aren't gonna dunk a 700 phone into alcohol. We might. But the masses won't. So really, like you said, the BEST thing is to take it in to have it repaired.