Fairphone got wet

My 2nd batch FP got wet in the rain. I removed the battery immediately and dried it. Now I put it into a sealed plastic bag together with a handful of silica packs (kindly provided by a store which sells watches).
I switch it on every other day. After one week, I can still see white spots on bright parts of the display. Does anyone know if these are water inclusions? Or is the display damaged?
My other question: I opened the phone and searched for a moisture indicator. There are two white stickers with a round shape. Are these the indicators? White color means “good”, doesn’t it?

Thanks for help!
T4

My first guess would have been to place the phone (or its parts) on a paper towel, which should absorb the moisture. I think putting it into a plastic bag (even with silica packs) is not the best idea because plastic prevents the water from evaporating.

There’s a grid of little dots over the entire screen that kind of look like dead pixels. It’s mostly noticeable when it’s displaying a bright color. That is part of the screen and is completely normal. You sure it’s not this what you’re seeing?

Thanks for your answer. I opened the phone and dried it for three days on air. Then I got the silica packs (try to buy some in the store and you’ll earn unforgetable stares). Now the FP is in the plasic bag since 6 days. I think if there were a problem with excess moisture, there will be clouding on the plastic - there is none. Silica and Zeolith should be the best desiccants. And it is recommended from many sides to do so.

No definitely not. I know what you are talking about. But “my” spots are unevenly distributed, are quite bright, and do not correspond to the pixel pattern.

My friends’ brand new iPhone fell in the toilet and she was advised to dry it in the oven, 50 degrees celsius, with the door ajar. It came back to life after that, but doesn’t function properly anyway. She now thinks about buying a FP :slight_smile:

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This is a rather old thread, but anyway, for future reference: silica is seriously the best desiccant, but it gets saturated quickly. (No wonder you don’t see any improvement, 6 days or 12 does not make any difference if the stuff is saturated.)

My advice: get more of it, and change frequently. Also, if available, get some with a colour change indicator of the degree of saturation.

You could also dry the silica in the oven at low temperature for several hours, but this does not make sense for small quantities as well. (But if you bought more, you can re-use it like this nearly indefinitely.)

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sorry for resurrecting. but the cheapest and easiest drying solution is RICE…as soon your phe gets wet…get the batterie out and put both int a bowl of (uncooked) dry rice. Be as quick as possible cause of corrosion of different connectors and electronic stuff.

Soda

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Read my posts here and here. Trust me about this: Do. Not. Use. Rice.

(This being the internet, a lot of people will read this, and will not trust me. Please, do your research. If you still don’t trust me after doing your research, I’d like invite you to donate your smartphones for a double-blind, peer-reviewed study.)

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My Fairphone recently ‘came into contact’ with the contents of a cup of tea. I popped it in some rice and it’s working ok, but it now won’t charge from USB, and it also gives me an occasional error message when it isn’t charging or plugged in, which says “Over Charger Voltage: Your charger is over voltage, please disconnect the charger!”.

Should I be worried and what should I do?

I moved your post here. Please read the posts in this topic, especially the ones about not using rice :wink:

How long did you leave the phone to dry? Maybe it wasn’t enough.

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Hi everybody,
As I went shopping today, a cup of bottermilk leaked in my bag- across my FP :frowning:

I removed the battery and the SIM immediately and wiped away all the bottermilk I reached with a tissue.
After that I put it in a closed box together with dry rice and salt.
What else can I do ? I read something about flushing the whole phone with Isopropanole, but I’m not quite sure if I should do this…

And I’m afraid I’m not really good at disassembling oder reassembling electronic devices…

Shall I give it a try oder look for professional help ?

Thank you in advance !
Nightfall

Hi @Nightfall,
I moved your post here once again pointing out that rice is not a good option to dry your phone.
Also since you say it happened today (of course depending on how wet the phone got) I’d wait longer until I try it again. Just because every part you can reach seems dry doesn’t mean its allread save to use the phone again.

Hi @paulakreuzer,
thanks for your reply (and for moving the topic).
News from here: my collegue recommended a repair shop for all kinds of phones so I went there after work today.
Obviously well done: I didnt try to switch it on or to connect it to a charger and didn’t wait days…
By the end of the week I will probably know if it survives- the chance is ~ 70 %
Keep your fingers crossed…

Nightfall

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Just wanted to add that salt is actually the worst choice - just in case anybody comes here to look before putting a wet phone into a box with something.

BTW, I would not recommend a bath in isoprop or any other detergent (organic or not). Could lead to more damage in unexpected places.

A electronics repair shop is a good place to go, and opticians, camera shops or audiology technicians could also have a) tools needed and b) some experience in opening and cleaning electronic devices. They might also chuckle about your strange request, but I’d say it’s still worth a try. :sunny:

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Short Update: got my phone back today- IT WORKS !
And I immediately bough a waterproof case :wink:

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Good to hear. :smile:

Could you share the case you got? (maybe in this thread)
I’m sure this could interest many users.
Does it work for taking pictures under water?

I didn’t try yet if its REALLY waterproof. the packaging says up to 2 meters, I will try it later with an tissue in the shower.

It’s [this one][1]
[1]: http://www.rakuten.de/produkt/moses-verlag-gmbh-expedition-natur-wasserdichte-smartphone-huelle-1387277050.html
But I will also share it in the other thread :slight_smile:

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Hi, Fairphone fans !

I’have been on vacancy ! I’m a lucky guy of course, but I took a bath with my fairphone (in a swimming pool, not sea). The phone was turned on, fully charged and stayed 15 seconds under water. I immediately remove the battery and open the case as for changing the display. I let 8 days like this to dry up the phone.Then, I tried to turn it on. The phone doesn’t boot. The display is lighted, I don’t get the fairphone logo. Then, 30 seconds later, the phone emits a beep, turn on the vibrator for approx. 1/10th of a second, and turn the display to dark. Then, a beep is still emitted 10 second later, and nothing more happends. A 10 seconds long pressure turn off the phone. I guess that it means (also with vibrator control) that at least CPU, and bios are still working. I suppose that one of display, battery or mass storage is (are) probably badly behaving. Using a Voltmeter, I measured stable DC 3.84V / 2.85V (depending on pins choosen). Does anybody here knows something that can help me to determine more precisely the problem on my phone ?
Best regards,

Bruno
(apologies for my approximative english)

I moved your post here. Please read the posts above. 8 days on the air probably is not enough to get all the water out of the phone.