Water/physical Damaged Phones.

[progressivedirection]

I have repaired several mobile phones after they got wet. One went into the washing machine for a few seconds and one fell into the sea. Having said that, I did have one flip top phone which never fully recovered but two out of three isn't bad.
To get the phones to work I immediately take out the battery and sim card and put those anti moisture packs which come in shoe boxes, handbags and pill bottles into the battery space. I then leave the phone in a sunny (but not to hot) place e.g. an inside window ledge for a few days.
If this does not work, leave the phone to recover a bit longer. If the display and sound work and you can send and receive calls, chances are, the phone will be ok.
There are lots of places online to get advice. Some people say rice will absorb the water if you don't have the moisture packs.

[Thing]

I bought a Nokia cheapy for pre -paid. On a walk in a national park I was caught in a torrential downpour. The phone resembled a fish tank with water visible in the screen 3/4 full sloshing about.
Wrapped it in a towel, it worked for a few weeks then Sim Card error constantly displayed and phone stopped working.
3 months later I recharged it & its worked perfectly ever since

[boutime]

It all started one hot Feb day picking Blackberries in the Adelaide Hills. It was good. No busy City noise,no MOBILE calls just the occasional p**ck from the bush's.
Next day was explaining to the mobile Ph repairer that I hadn't immersed the ph in water,in fact it hadn't been near it in weeks. So how could it be? He even showed me the discolouring on the main board.
THE only explanation was that my Sweating during my blissful outing had entered the Ph & caused the damage. What a poor build quality of mb that lets sweat damage the Ph. Will never buy another Nokia.

[brcw]

I personally know of 7 people who had mobile phones stop working while under warranty. They were all told that the phones had water damage, however not one of them had ever got their phone wet. One was told it might be simply the humidity in Brisbane. Sorry, that's not good enough - if you sell a phone here you are you are making a statement that it will work here. Put the water damage excuse away guys !!

[mwato79]

I notice HTC and other companies are now putting stickers on battery compartments that change colour when exposed to moisture.

I remember talking to work mate after he left to manage a Nokia Care Centre and discussing Liquid Ingress. He would set the last hour on his short day to handle all the angry customers when they found out their phone wasn't covered by warranty. His techs would take multiple photos because there were a few people who challenged the claims. Nokia took these claims seriously.

When asked if there was any pressure to create 'liquid ingress' damaged phones to keep costs down, he said that if there was, he (or one of his techs) could go to TT or ACA and earn a couple of thousand $ as an insider whistle blower and easily get another job.

[peach69]

Having repaired phones as an independant for nearly 3 decades I can say that liquid damage is painfully obvious. There are phones with IP ratings that can resist liquid ingress to some degree as measured by the IP rating. Don't blame anyone else, your phone was your choice of purchase (usually) and so is how you treat it. Older phones were often very repairable when liquid damaged however the newer high tech phones are much more intricate and have far less recovery rate from liquid damage. I still can't figure out why most of the time they have been dropped in the toilet. Seriously, isn't the toilet a rather private place where you realy don't want the phone to disturb you?

[Brisque]

I too have a good Nokia (E66)....I only ever buy Nokia now. I have dropped it several times, I think I actually dropped it the day I got it. And it have never played up on me. My husband washed his and it did not work for about a month, but after a few hot days it works fine now.

I do not remommend washing or droppingyour Nokia but at least you know it wont be instantly broken 100% of the time.

[magius]

Seriously though ... taking the phone into the bathroom so that you can hear it ring when you are having a shower (not that I do it) isn't something that I would expect would damage a device nowadays. Nor would I expect that having the phone in your pocket and getting caught in the rain would damage it beyond repair.

I think that "water damage" is a cop out that is used because it is impossible for the consumer to disprove. And given the nature of the mobile phone in today's society I would think that the manufacturers would take "reasonable ex[posure to moisture" into account when they make them.

That having been said .. if you drop it, run over it with the car or jump in the pool with it - Suck it up princess.

[blondy50]

My Nokia 2600 fell into the toilet about 2 years ago, plonked right to the bottom, no steam not a few drops of rain, but completely submerged, I quickly removed the covers and put it down in front of the hair dryer for about 15 minutes, and it works perfect ever since.

[kadee]

I've spent years and countless $ on teenagers phones. Replacing those that came back from warranty claims "water damaged" and unrepairable.

One phone went back 4 times in the first year and I just knew eventually they'd use the water excuse not to repair it. They did.

I took the phone about 10 metres away to a phone repairer and for $20 and 10 minutes it's fixed. 6 months later and it's still working just fine.

I wonder how many people toss away phones as unrepairable when the warranty claim is rejected on this basis. Funnily enough it was Virgin Mobile.

[Cas98]

I have to agree with the "customer should start taking responsibilities" part. People these days seem to think that EVERYTHING is somebody else's fault.

How many kids take their phones into the shower room? Only to have the moisture from the air damage the phone? But on the other hand, why is it almost 100% of the time a phone goes in for repair that it is determined to be water damaged? Even when the user does NOT take the phone anywhere near water?

[blondy50]

YES SIR!!!! and now, lets all join virgin mobile, yea right!

[temp-authoreq]

The constant stream of customers who feel that they can mistreat their mobile is shocking.

Mobile phone warranty does not cover you smashing the phone or getting it wet. If you throw something at your tv and break the screen no one will replace it for you. Same goes for mobiles.

Also in regards to water damage if you are taking a hot shower a leave your phone in the bathroom you can damage it.

Customers need to take some responsibility. You break the phone, then pay out the contract or buy a cheap prepaid to get you by untill your contract runs out.