My FP1U got wet in my pocket during heavy rain. It wasn´t that much, but it seemed like it easily got inside. I dried it of on the outside, and in the battery compartment. Turned it on again. It started fine, but the screen soon started flickering and behaving strange when touched. I turned it of, took out the battery, unscreewed the 5 screws on the back side and removed the midframe, I did not take out the display, and let it dry out on a paper towel for a week.
When I turn it on, it starts nornal and seems like it works just fine, but the display is all dead. It doesn´t respond to touching at all. Neither do the “buttons” at the bottom.
To clarify: did you detach components? Removing the midframe sounds like it. If so, you should re-check the contacts, and maybe use a (dry) Q-tip plus (afterwards) some pressureised air to clean contacts, and re-assemble.
Could be worth a try anyway, to dissassemble and reassemble.
As I was working, and in a proces witch cannot be stopped, I didn’t have time to save it immediately. So the phone was laying in a shallow pool, without any casing or cover for over an hour. ( I swearing)
After the rescue, i laid it in the sun with the battery removed. And 10 hours later, it works fine!
Greetings from Amsterdam
my FairPhone FP1U (from Sept. '14) got wet: while turned on, it spent a night lying in rainwater.
Having removed the battery etc., I left it to dry for a full 24 hours; subsequently disassembled all parts and left them to dry for a few days.
Now the (reassembled) Fairphone powers up seemingly fine: battery is able to charge on usb + the device vibrates upon booting and then stays powered. However, the display remains blank (or better put: it first brightens up a bit - dark gray -, then dims after a few seconds, then goes back to idle - black -, but no pretty blue background/fairphone logo ever shows up). I may be wrong but it reminds me of a damaged inverter as sometimes occurs with notebook displays.
So… I’m left wondering which part is faulty : is it the display, or the motherboard?
I’m willing to try and replace any damaged part myself, but can’t figure which one to buy… I wouldn’t want to replace the display, only to discover it’s actually some board component that got fried. Any insight?
Oh and btw, am I forever out of luck with replacing the fp1u motherboard - considering how it is currently ‘out of stock’?
Thanks for the advice. I’ll probably just send it for repair, whatever the costs it’s still a sensible move given the overall value of the phone.
For the record: I verified that the basic functions of the phone are still working. It is detected as a WiFi device by my router, it reacts when plugged on USB, and can enter recovery mode (even without anything displayed… the recovery menu is simple enough that I was able to backup internal user data to the sdcard).
Confirmation of my previous “differential diagnosis” regarding damage by prolonged immersion into rainwater (i.e. faint backlight of an otherwise blank screen, but motherboard still able to boot, headless phone able to react to calls).
It was indeed the display that was malfunctioning. Luckily the spare display part was delivered in time. Disassembling/replacing the display/reassembling was a matter of minutes (…in spite of minor discrepancies with respect to the generic iFixit FP1 howtos).
Now everything is back to normal.
FYI, the spare FP1U display part came with an ‘antenna interconnect cable’ and two ‘rubber guides’ already inserted, so there’s no need to transfer any old one to the new display.
Thanks & cheers. Don’t run with scissors and don’t immerse your phone into rainwater, kids.
Hi everyone! I have successfully dropped my fp1u in the toilet too(about 3 weeks ago) removed the battery immediately, and set them on a paper towel, then blew it with hairdryer for a while, finally set it on the radiator overnight sitting on paper towel again. It seems to be working ever since, but there are a few problems: random freezing of apps, and even more important, it only charges when off. and the cable has to stay in a very specific position. Do you think i can get away with a new battery, or is it inevitable to buy a new motherboard?
Since a few people seem to have dropped their FP into their toilets I’d like to mention that according to Feng Shui you should always close the toilet / put the lid down when you are not using it, to prevent the Qi energy from escaping. This could also lessen the risk for the FP of course if you have to take it with you in the bathroom.
A new battery might very likely not help with the problems you have with apps and charging. I think you actually don’t need to buy a new battery if it still performs well.
As you can see above, it is not recommended to dry your phone so quickly with a radiator and fans. Bags of silica seem to have worked very well for many people.
Sure you can try to find a fellow FPer who could lend you his battery but it wil most probably not fix your issues.
thanks i was afraid of this answer. i was hoping that i don’t actually need to buy a whole new motherboard, but all is not lost, as i didn’t open the thing yet. I don’t think it is still wet after 3 weeks tho…
Hello everybody,
my phone (FP1) got wet yesterday in heavy rain. I opened it completely and let it dry. I works all fine now.
BUT: I just made a phone call and hear a little “tapping” sound. It clicks or taps somehow inside the phone. The other person on the line hears it more like a really loud beating or drumming sound, they can hardly understand anything I’m saying. I’m afraid there’s a little short-circuit inside the phone?! But where? How can I find out? What can I do about it?
Thanks a lot!
Doda
Hello everyone! My fairphone 2 fell into water, I got it out right away and laid it out to dry for a few days. After drying it does boot but the touchscreen is going haywire. There is an endless amount of actions perfomed without the screen being touched.
If your phone gets wet, get the battery out as fast as possible. If no damage has occured yet, the probability is big that you will get it to work again. I very often dismantle old electronic equipment, 10, 20, 30 years old, and very dirty (lots of dust and so on). If they are not too old, that is, if the capacitors and breadbords are not made of paper (30-100 years old), I just drown them in a kitchen sink with with warm not hot water and detergent I use for cleaning dishes. Then I take a brush and clean them still drowned. Afterwards I take paper towels, dry them as good as possible, then rinse them with distilled water (to avoid crystal formation), dry them again, and then I put them next to the heating. After 1 to 2 weeks I assemble them again, and all of the worked nicely again: old radios, computers, lab equipment, and so on!
The danger is: the battery gets short cut, so you get short circuit currents, which will probably damage your phone.
For FP 3 a water protection according to IP 67 might be nice, though! Or at least a good working short circuit protection together with a water tight battery compartment.
I don’t want to go too off-topic, but please keep in mind that water protection would probably go against repairability (battery replacement, module exchange…).
Not necessarily. It is already quite safe with the bumper. And I have serveral items, e.g. data loggers, old models not being water tight, new models being water tight. The difference is not that big. You have to think of it in the design part of the project, of course. But when you compile the design inputs for a new product, you always have a lot of items to consider. I think, next to repairability, avoiding the need to repair something is even more sustainable.
Hello!
My FP2 dived into a swimming pool…
He gave some signs of life, but then… black screen.
Does not work anymore at all.
I did all what is recommended there: How to handle water damage
But no way.
Now I’m thinking about sending it to his homeland to try to make it repair. But Before, I would like to test if it is - or not - the screen which is dead.
I didn’t find any #fairphoneangels where I live, in Paris.
Is there someone in Paris ready to help me to check if my display device is broken or not ?
Would take less than 10 mn, and I offer a coffee or a beer !
