Lumia 920 dropped in water

[Skynetz]

Hi, today I almost fell in my bathroom and dropped my phone in a bucket full of water. I immediately removed it, switched it off (I saw an error saying no sim detected), dried it with a towel and than put it in a plastic box full of rice. Now it's in the box, but I read something about using alcohol to clean it. Should I use some alcohol and disassemble it or should I just leave it with rice for 2 days ?

 

[C LaBelle]

You could try 100% denatured alcohol, it has absolutely no water and will displace any water there may be. I used this to fix a charging port on another phone after it got wet. The rice trick usually works but let it sit for 24 hours before trying to turn it back on. If there is still water in it when you turn it on it will let out all the magic smoke inside.

 

[Skynetz]

I have this: Isopropyl alcohol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, but I don't have the torx screwdriver to upen the 920 :S
Which steps should I take to clean it with alcohol ? Dip the 920 for some time in the alcohol or something else ?

 

[xratola]

Yep, if it's not totally dry when you turn it on that's it with your phone. btw DON'T use a hair dryer!

 

[Skynetz]

I won't, I'm not stupid, the other problem is not turning it on if it's not totally dry, because you can't know that :/

 

[Skynetz]

Oh, I forgot to mention, the 920 made a hole in the bucket
Lumia 920 - tank

 

[C LaBelle]

I would not use isopropyl as it still has small traces of water in it. Yes it can be used to clean electrical contacts but shouldn't be used on a live circuit like in your phone. Denatured alcohol has absolutely no water, therefore will not leave any trace of water when it evaporates. I would use denatured (available at a pharmacy but for 100% denatured you may have to ask for it since it may be behind the counter) and open any ports you can such as the sim card tray. Apply the alcohol liberally to all openings such as the headphone port, USB port (I wouldn't dunk it in it) a few times. Then put it back in the rice overnight. If you have any of those little silicon moisture packets (often found in packaging such as with shoes, other electronics, etc) use those too since they are designed to absorb moisture. Then just wait. Resist the urge to "try it out". I have had good luck with this in the past and I have also read about a few others having good luck bringing back the 920 after getting it wet. That is your best bet. If that fails then it was probably too late to begin with and went poof before you got it out of the water. Good luck!

 

[C LaBelle]

Oh and make sure the container your phone is in with the rice is sealed well, like a tupperware or zip loc bag. That way the rice will absorb the moisture in the phone, not the environment.

 

[Skynetz]

If I remove the battery can I use this isopropyl ?

P.S. I can buy 96% denatured in a local store.

 

[C LaBelle]

If you remove the battery then isopropyl might be ok as long as you air it out well. You said you didn't have the torx driver to open the phone though.

 

[Skynetz]

I don't have it for now, maybe I will get it tomorrow. I don't think it's a good idea to dip the 920 in alcohol, wouldn't the display go kaput ?

 

[Skynetz]

If the phone went in contact with some water the moisture indicator should be red ?

 

[C LaBelle]

I wouldn't submerge the phone in anything. Use a q tip or something to apply the alcohol to the ports on the phone. Depending on how long the phone was in the water will effect how far the water traveled. Components in phones are very compact and tolerances around the edge of the screen, between circuit boards, around buttons are very close. If you dropped it in the bucket and grabbed it out in less than a second the water probably didn't have time to penetrate deep into the phone. The longer it's in the water the more time the water has to work it's way in between everything. If you grabbed it quick enough the water may not have had a chance to get to the water indicator inside. If it did it would be pink, showing water made it that far. Lithium batteries themselves are waterproof, airtight actually, so the battery will be ok. The components on the other hand are not so if something fries then it will be that. It all depends on if the water made it to location on the circuit board where it could create a short between two paths that should be isolated. If it didn't you're in luck, and by the sound of it (you turning the phone off) you might be ok. The error message you saw about the SIM card just means that water probably got in between the contacts and the card, breaking the circuit. It may have made it past there, maybe not.

 

[Skynetz]

The water indicator in the sim tray is white, the other one right on top of the battery is white too, is there any other ?
Does this mean I'm safe and I can power it up ?

 

[C LaBelle]

I haven't opened my phone up so I don't know. If they are white that just means the water probably didn't get that far. It's your call when to power it on.

 

[Derausgewanderte]

to remove moisture from the inside of a phone I do not recommend using alcohol. If you use waterfree alcohol, the minute you expose that to the environment it will take up water from it. The 96% denatures for example has 4% water. You can wipe your phone with it but the water will stay after the alcohol evaporates, certainly the water that was already on there. For example: Try to use some Ispropanol or Ethanol and wipe a glass surface wet with it and see what you have left after the alcohol has evaporated - water. A dry cloth will do a better job.

I would use drierite or similar. It comes in a color changing form (it's dry silica and is blue when dry and white when moist). I'd leave the phone in together with this in a small closed container over a day (separated - you do not want this in your phone). If you can pull a small gentle vacuum onto the container, even better.
DRIERITE - Number 1 in Drying Technology For Over 60 Years

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU2138879

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU2138879

Moisture Control, Odor Control & Fresher Indoor Air | DampRid

edit: you can buy something similar at HomeDepot (provided that exists where you live)
https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...1%26selectedCatgry%3DSearchAll&token=q_RwEj7s

If you live close to Dayton I can get you some Drierite for free
if you can't get any of that just leave it open in a dry as possible room for a day or two and it should be fine.

 

[Skynetz]

I live in Slovenia
So, should I leave the phone disassembled in the rice ? I was thinking to do this, but than this rice would go in all the places it shouldn't :/

 

[Derausgewanderte]

I live in Slovenia
So, should I leave the phone disassembled in the rice ? I was thinking to do this, but than this rice would go in all the places it shouldn't :/

use a container (e.g. tupper ware with tight lid) that will be just enough for both a layer of rice (~2cm) and your phone on top of the rice, possibly separated by a layer of paper. Replace the rice every couple hours. The rice will quickly absorb water initially but exponentially loose that capability over time. You should be able to get dessicant (drying material like silica) in a lekarna.
Note that the drying material (e.g. rice) does not have to be in direct contact with the phone. The drying material will absorb water from the air in the container, the dry air will force the water in the phone to evaporate (to reach normal humidity). The rice will shift this equilibrium to the left until all the water from the phone is evaporated.

 

[Skynetz]

I placed the phone in a box with 1kg of rice, I think there's no need to replace the rice

 

[Nick_1020]

The misses dropped her phone (Nokia N8) in the toilet the other day. The phone was full submerged for a few seconds before she retrieved it...thankfully the water was clean!

She then tried turning it on. It powered on but the touchscreen wasn't responding to any interaction at all. It look pretty much facked for use.

Then her knight in shining armour arrives on the scene (that's me by the way). I galloped into the house on my trusty steed, took the phone from her grasp and set it on a warm radiator to dry for a few hours.

I then tried to turn the phone and as with all hero stories, everything worked out ok and we lived happily ever after...but only after I strolled into Mordor and kicked some ***!

Hope that helps...