Why won't my Note 4 turn on at all after dropping it in the toilet?

[AC Question]

My Note 4 wont turn on at All after drop in the toilet!

So guys last night i dropped my Note 4 in the toilet accidentally and just as i picked it up it was fine but when i was checking everything to confirm,the front camera wouldnt open so i powered it off and removed the battery ,now when i turned it on there was a green light and the phone kept restarting itself after the samsung logo and kept flikering,after that it wouldnt even turn on when i put it into charging just showed green light and after i woke up in the morning the green light wouldnt come when i would charge it,its basically dead right now and my concern is that is it a water problem or was it because of the drop and how much money will it cost me.
Please help.

 

[belodion]

Welcome to AC.

It could be a combination of the impact and the water. Read this guide by Rukbat:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=477140

I'm guessing that the water has done the damage, that it will be ongoing, and that any repair may be unworthwhile, unless you're happy to try the alcohol treatment for a short-lived fix. A repairer could probably tell you more, however.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Danyal Khan2]

Re: My Note 4 wont turn on at All after drop in the toilet!

Belodian
So that means i have to get a new phone or what?

 

[anon8380037]

Re: My Note 4 wont turn on at All after drop in the toilet!

Your phone is not functioning and showing classic signs of water damage. There is a minute chance it is still recoverable if you bathe it a few times in Isopropyl Alcohol and let it dry out for up to 5 days.

Most people don't react correctly when a device is dropped in water.
I became involved in several threads about water damage, yet even I didn't react totally correctly when I also dunked a Note 3 for half a second in a toilet. It had a flip case covering the ports, dunked vertically in and out, and it was fine though I didn't clean it in Isopropyl Alcohol or dry it in rice.

I had learned enough not to turn it back on, or worse to charge it, and seperate the battery, cover and cards (it was mostly dry save for under the back cover, pen slot and on the battery where I wiped and dried quickly).

You probably had water ingress through the usb port and other areas.

I don't know how your warranty or insurance stands. Bear in mind there is a water indicator in the device so they will know if it got wet.

Please read the guide and try to get Isopropyl (rubbing) Alcohol from a pharmacy.

 

[Danyal Khan2]

Re: My Note 4 wont turn on at All after drop in the toilet!

It does not have a warranty and if i give it to a shop will they fix it?

 

[anon8380037]

Re: My Note 4 wont turn on at All after drop in the toilet!

We can't tell you what you want to hear instantly, we don't have the device.

The shop may be good and honest, or charge you way too much, where you should have bought another one instead.

I / we can only guide you to what many on these forums have learned.

Again, if you can dry it for a few days that may help, depending on where the water has gone - but as Rukbat who wrote the guide Belodion linked says (and he has decades running electronic /phone stores and writing software)
it's the impurities in the water, any water, that eats the metal, and creates short circuits on the motherboard which will ruin it in a heartbeat.

Bathing it promptly a few times in Isopropyl Alcohol helps wash away those water impurities before they can do serious damage, but it sounds like it may be too late.

If you have the patience to let it dry without turning it on (2-3 days for the electronics, 5 days for screen smudges to clear), and the opportunity to wash it as described it just may survive.

Or be honest and take your chances in a good repair shop, but be prepared that it may not be economical to repair.

It's really hard luck with such a new expensive device. We feel your pain. It happens to many. Just don't restart it next time and you have a chance.

 

[IAmSixNine]

Re: My Note 4 wont turn on at All after drop in the toilet!

Liquid damage isnt something that a repair shop can fix. The damage is literally board level, shorting of the processors, corrosion on board level.
The only real options are insurance or buy a new phone.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Re: My Note 4 wont turn on at All after drop in the toilet!

Mod note: please keep the discussion on topic. Thread has been cleaned.

 

[natehoy]

Re: My Note 4 wont turn on at All after drop in the toilet!

The damage is probably already done. A shop would have to replace any parts that were damaged, which is going to be at minimum the motherboard and possibly other components. It may be cheaper than getting a new one - it all depends on what was damaged and that's impossible to say without having it apart and getting diagnostic tools on it.

Your best hope is to remove the battery / SIM / back cover and put it all in dry rice for several days. The rice will help evaporate out any moisture and thoroughly dry the phone out.

Trying to charge it and run it before it was totally dried out may have caused permanent damage, but it's still cheap and easy to give thoroughly drying it out a chance. Once it's been in rice for at least three days, take it out, put the battery back in, and plug it in to a charger for a few hours. THEN try to start it.

Good luck.

 

[recDNA]

Re: My Note 4 wont turn on at All after drop in the toilet!

If you do drop phone in toilet the correct first move is to open cover and pull battery out right? Then quickly dry off and immerse in rice? Unlikely you would have 100% isopropyl alcohol laying around.

 

[natehoy]

Re: My Note 4 wont turn on at All after drop in the toilet!

If you do drop phone in toilet the correct first move is to open cover and pull battery out right? Then quickly dry off and immerse in rice? Unlikely you would have 100% isopropyl alcohol laying around.

Yes, the number one priority is to make sure there is no electricity present as fast as possible. As soon as electricity uses water as a conductor to go where it does not belong, your phone is very likely to be a doorstop. So pull the battery (another great argument for a removable battery - you can actually remove the electricity quickly and easily).

Once electricity is removed, the next task is to remove any contaminants. If it was salt water or dirty toilet water, rinse it in pure alcohol (strongly preferred) or water if you have nothing else available. Leaving a corrosive like salt or uric acid is far worse than a re-dunk in clean water, because as soon as the humidity gets high enough those corrosives will start eating away at your electronics again.

Finally, you need to dry the phone very thoroughly before allowing any more electricity to flow through the circuits. Rice, as shipped, is dried out and absorbs moisture readily. Dessicant packs are even more effective, but rice is sufficient, cheap, readily available, and environmentally safe. Put enough rice to bury the components in into a container that can be sealed, bury the components in it, seal it up, and wait a few days. The humidity in your container will rapidly approach 0% and the phone should dry out completely in 2-3 days.

 

[recDNA]

Re: My Note 4 wont turn on at All after drop in the toilet!

Great info. Would vodka be better to use than water? I know there is a lot of water in vodka but it is more likely to be available than isopropyl alcohol.

 

[Drwoolwine]

Note 4 owner dropped phone into water after catching a fish

Hi guys, I was fishing one day and had my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in my pocket. I did fall in but immediately took my phone out to see what had happened to it. The screen was working for a split second then stopped. I took out the battery, sat it in rice for a couple days. Now the screen is completely black.
However, the phone still powers on completely with the led blinker on and the multi-window/back buttons lighting up. I can also receive calls and talk to people.
Does anyone know what the best step from here is? Replace the screen? New phone?
I have replaced a phone screen or two but don't want to jump into anything nasty. I also dont want to pay someone to fix it, and then it still not work..
I'm a college kid on a budget but need this phone fixed asap... Can anyone give me some good insight???

 

[Rukbat]

Re: Note 4 owner dropped phone into water after catching a fish

The damage is from the impurities in the water (you can run a phone in triple-distilled deionized water all you want - it doesn't conduct electricity). Read the guide linked in Post #2. You may be able to save the phone or not. You won't know until you try. (Replacing all the parts damaged by the chemicals in the water would cost more than buying a new phone at retail.)