I recently dropped my Fairphone in water. The metal case fell off so water definitly got inside the phone. I tried to dry the phone as quickly as I could and then put it in some rice to soak up any excess water. I left it for 24 hrs and decided to try and see if it worked.
The phone seemed to work ok, however, a warning sign kept popping up saying the voltage is too high, even though the phone wasnt on charge. I had tried charging but it, but the phone doesnt seem to recognise that it is charging.
Does anyone know if this is a problem with the battery and whether I should replace it, or if the damage could be more serious? Any help is much appreciated!
I have the same problem as liztweedale1.
I did not drop my phone in to water but it may have been exposed to water as I work outside. The battery started to act strange and the message āYour charger is over voltage, please disconnect the chargerā kept popping up. Now I have been unable to charge the phone as it wonāt accept the charger. Iāve had the battery up for drying now for a few days and initially the charging seemed to work when I tried this morning again, however when I opened the phone again to install my SIM-card and then tried charging it again the same message popped up. So I guess itās something permanent. New batteries out of stockā¦ Maybe the problem is on the software rather then the actual battery? What if I tried a system reboot?
If you need one-on-one-support (especially now in the summer holidays, when few forum members are online), you should contact them using the contact form.
This is a community forum and Fairphoneās employees are not very active here.
My FP1U got wet in my pocket during heavy rain. It wasnĀ“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 doesnĀ“t respond to touching at all. Neither do the ābuttonsā 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 didnāt 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.
Soā¦ Iām left wondering which part is faulty : is it the display, or the motherboard?
Iām willing to try and replace any damaged part myself, but canāt figure which one to buyā¦ I wouldnāt want to replace the display, only to discover itās 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 āout of stockā?
Thanks for the advice. Iāll probably just send it for repair, whatever the costs itās 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 displayedā¦ the recovery menu is simple enough that I was able to backup internal user data to the sdcard).
Confirmation of my previous ādifferential diagnosisā 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 (ā¦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 āantenna interconnect cableā and two ārubber guidesā already inserted, so thereās no need to transfer any old one to the new display.
Thanks & cheers. Donāt run with scissors and donāt 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 Iād 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 donāt 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 donāt actually need to buy a whole new motherboard, but all is not lost, as i didnāt open the thing yet. I donāt think it is still wet after 3 weeks thoā¦
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 ātappingā 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 Iām saying. Iām afraid thereās 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.
