Which modules to replace to fix issues after water damage

Hi there,

A while ago the FP3 in question was accidentally let to lie in the rain. After thoroughly drying it, at first it seemed as if everything was still functional but now there are (at least) two things that don’t work anymore.
First problem is that the phone doesn’t turn the screen anymore, even if automatic turning is enabled, so I assume the position(?) sensor is broken.
The second problem is the sensor for automatic screen brightness management seems to be broken too, since even if enabled, the phone won’t automatically adjust brightness according to the environmental lighting anymore.
If someone could please advise me which modules would need to be replaced, to fix these problems I’d be thankful.

Best,

jl

Hi @jl-cs Welcome to the forum.

There is no answer sadly as if the core module is damaged then it is a factory repair…
However the problems you mention may relate to a recent software update.

Please see

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Thanks for the quick reply @anon9989719
So the brightness problems probably are caused by the software update. But you’re saying the sensor that is responsible for screen turning is located in the core module and so cannot be replaced by myself?
That’s a pity. :slightly_frowning_face:

No that’s not what I’m saying :slight_smile:

The sensor may may not be the issue. Can you get the phone on at all?

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Ok sorry, then I misread your reply. The phone is working just fine all in all, only the two problems that I’ve described (automatic brightness and screen turning) are occuring.
When you’re saying " the sensor may not be the issue" what possible other issue are you thinking of?

Thanks for your help!

You can test the sensors:

Dial *#*#66#*#* Then Service tests > Test Single > Ambient Light Sensor in this case and then see if that corresponds to the issue linked to above.

If the Ambient light sensor doesn’t work at all then sure you have a different although related problem… By the way note the sensor is badly calibrated and reads zero when there is adequate light for reading books etc, so test in a bright situation.

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I don’t have the phone at hand right now. Will this work for the other sensors too? I think the bigger problem seems to be the orientation/position sensor right now.

Yes there are lots of options, speakers, microphone etc. There are 26 options

here’s the first page

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Thank you, I’ll try later today and let you know if I manage to get the sensor readings of the orientation/position sensor.

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@anon9989719 I’ve now used the Service menu to test the sensors and the Ambient Light Sensor seems to be working just fine, so that problem must be connected to the software updated you mentioned.
But when I test the Gyro sensor, the only output I get is:

Gyro
It's fail! SensorType = 4
no value!

So I fear it might actually be broken. Is there any chance to repair that myself or is the core module repair mentioned here my only hope?

Thanks for your help so far!

I think it’s a small chip on the core module :frowning:

Regarding the light sensor try to see what LUX reading you get indoors when the light dims. The sensor works for me but the reading drops to zero when there is ample light for reading.

So back to the water damage, what water and how did you clean and dry, maybe there’s is more you can do?

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When drying I took it apart as far as I could as I lack the tools to open it up due to the screws, maybe I should get a fitting toolset. The phone was not immersed in water, but “just” lay in the rain for a while before it was found.
I now also tested other sensors and the pattern seems to be that Compass, Accelerometer and Gyro are all broken/not responding, but the rest of the sensors seem fine.

Edit: Stupid me, after a reboot they are suddenly working again. But I’ve definitely already rebooted several times since the water damage, so this might be an on/off situation if the sensors are working? Or could this also be a software problem? If yes, is there a way to log output if it happens again and send that to Fairphone?

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The phone is supplied with a screwdriver ??

Maybe a little damp inside, keep in a flow of air for a day or two if you can, maybe a hair dryer on cool for some hours

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