Water Damaged SCP-9000

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aftm

27 posts

Geek

#10141 6-Nov-2006 21:33

Hey there,
Anybody got any Old Wives Tale cures forwater damage in a flip-top cellphone, besides letting it sunbathe?

Cheers,
Adam

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#51344 6-Nov-2006 21:35

Soak it in 95% alcohol... seriously

sat

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Master Geek

#51345 6-Nov-2006 21:36

Hotwater Cupboard

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aftm

27 posts

Geek

#51348 6-Nov-2006 21:39

As outstandingly trustworthy as the alcohol thing sounds, I think I'll leave that to the professionals.

Thanks anyway,
Adam

bradstewart

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#51351 6-Nov-2006 21:41

Actually it works very well. It evaporates the water and doesnt damage anything else. I saved a laptop this way

aftm

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Geek

#51354 6-Nov-2006 21:45

Really? Like rubbing alcohol? Well i guess I could start maybe considering believing you enoguh to try itas a last resort when I run out of options. Maybe.

Adam

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#51355 6-Nov-2006 21:48

Hey Mauricio doesn't make just any untrustworthy monkey a moderator... Unless it is tonyhughes, cokemaster, chiefie or JAMMAN2110.

I can be trusted!!! Trust me... :-p

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sat

142 posts

Master Geek

#51358 6-Nov-2006 21:52

lol

aftm

27 posts

Geek

#51359 6-Nov-2006 21:52

Alright,
I'll have a look around the house tomorrow and get back to you with either rage or gratefulness.

Thanks for the (at least attempted...) help,
Adam.

P.S. Please excuse the masses of typos in my previous and probably this message. I'm so tired...

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#51362 6-Nov-2006 22:01

Ok but if you start suffering from rage please direct it at JAMMAN2110

grant_k

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#51365 6-Nov-2006 22:14

aftm: Really? Like rubbing alcohol?

Ideally you should use Isopropyl Alcohol. Chemists used to sell it in small bottles but they have tightened up the rules in recent years. It's the same stuff you use on cotton buds to clean heads in tape drives or cassette recorders.

After draining out the alcohol you could speed up the drying process by using a hair dryer on a low heat (not too close or you might melt something!).

Good Luck!

aftm

27 posts

Geek

#51467 7-Nov-2006 16:05

It would appear that, although the phone is completely dry, the damage has been done. When the phone is off, I can turn it on with the usual END/(i) button, but as soon as it loads up, all the buttons - including the END/on-off button - don't work. So it can't be a broken connection, as the ON button worked fine when the phone was off, but for some reason buttons don't work when it's on. Recieves calls and texts fine.

Any help/opinions?

Adam

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tonyhughes

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#51468 7-Nov-2006 16:13

yes, its stuffed. throw it away, sell it for parts on trademe, claim insurance, whatever.

your only hope is the hot water cupboard for a few weeks, then it will either be going, or not. even then, dont trust it.

what if you really needed your mobile one day for an emergency, and it played up from being wet. You would kick yourself for not paying the $50 excess on you insurance to get a new phone.

i have dealt with enough damaged phones in my tim to know that it just aint worth the time and effort.

grant_k

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#51470 7-Nov-2006 16:18

aftm: Any help/opinions?
Adam

Exactly the same thing happened to an Ericsson T68 I used to have. The keypad got full of grit and the phone was effectively useless even though it could still boot up and receive calls.

As Tony has suggested, I sold it on Trade Me and got $30 for it because the battery, charger, extra faceplates and hands-free were all still good.

aftm

27 posts

Geek

#51471 7-Nov-2006 16:24

Well, it's a Trademe phone, albeit very new, so insurance I suppose will be a bit of a battle considering no proof of purchase. I don't want to sell it, as there is a whole stack of info I have saved on there if I could just get to it. The buttons worked for a while but i think i used it too soon and so probably caused the damage myself. WHY DOES THE ON/OFF BUTTON ONLY WORK TO TURN IT ON? WHY??? Excuse the caps.

I guess i'll just leave it for a while.

...Tear.

grant_k

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#51473 7-Nov-2006 16:34

aftm: WHY DOES THE ON/OFF BUTTON ONLY WORK TO TURN IT ON? WHY???

Having designed microprocessor (uP)-based equipment with keypads like that, I can hazard a guess as to why:

The ON/OFF button will be on a separate part of the circuit to the main keypad, which will be scanned as a matrix by the uP. All it takes is for 2 or more lines in the matrix to be shorted together, and the uP ignores (or cannot sense) the other keys because it is an invalid combination. It's to prevent against people pressing 2 or more keys at once.

Your only hope is to take the phone apart and use a magnifying glass with a good lamp to examine the circuit board for minute signs of corrosion. You might be lucky and find something, which could then be blown out with compressed air or swabbed out with a cotton bud.

But as Tony says, basically it ain't worth the trouble.

If it's the saved info you are after, and your phone has a removeable memory card, you might be able to find a USB card reader that matches the type of card in your phone. In that case it will be an easy job to transfer the files, if you can decipher the contents. Otherwise, if you have saved that precious info to the SIM card (e.g. a Contact List), it should reappear in whatever new phone you decide to get.

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