Water damaged, what's my best solution? - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi all
Some how my S3 has become water damaged and the neither the speaker or haptic keys work. I've opened it up and there#s some burn on the pcb.
What do you think my best solution is? (It was bought in August). I don't have insurance on it, and I've rooted it.
Many thanks

monkmeister901 said:
Hi all
Some how my S3 has become water damaged and the neither the speaker or haptic keys work. I've opened it up and there#s some burn on the pcb.
What do you think my best solution is? (It was bought in August). I don't have insurance on it, and I've rooted it.
Many thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can, the first step I would think, would be to make use of triangleaway to resent binary counter. Then you could try speaking with Samsung directly. No guarantee that they would do anything however.
Are you sure the phone is completely dried at this point? No residual moisture causing any problems? Could try the bag of rice for a day to leech any possible remaining moister to see if it improves, although not likely if it has burns.. but might be worth a shot.

Related

Forcing USB connection with broken screen? Also broke screen without dropping etc

So....
Without dropping it, nor can i remember leaning on anything etc etc the inner screen has cracked, its a small (1cm diameter) area thats shattered in the lower right corner.
Ive read some other threads, but none about forcing usb for droid razr. From what ive read the advice is just try and go as high up and complain and hope they repair it under warranty, but so far they keep telling me it must of been from misuse =/
I need to get my contacts and photos for uni, the removable drive comes up but it hasnt mounted anything. Ive tried holding power and vol - and booting it like that, but to no avail....
currently installing adb and hoping I can figure out a way to mount it through that
Cheers for any help =)
Sorry to hear that. I have heard those stories that the phone screen cracks all of the sudden with no reason.Ex: People will be holding or talking to their phone and screen cracks on it. I am sorry but warranty does not cover that. I would suggest you to be prepared for that. If you have insurance thats geat but if you dont call verizon(if you are with verizon) ask them to add TEC(total equipment coverage). they have open enrollment right now.
Then you can file insurance claim. Hope it helps.
A motorola tech said that physical damage voids warranty but I can get it checked by a verified tech and if it's found to be caused from a factory defect it'll be covered. I've heard of gas buildup from defective battery causing it, but the phone was only a month n a half old....
Also, im guessing its the lcd screen thats cracked, but how can I tell if the digitalizer is as well?
Flinchie said:
A motorola tech said that physical damage voids warranty but I can get it checked by a verified tech and if it's found to be caused from a factory defect it'll be covered. I've heard of gas buildup from defective battery causing it, but the phone was only a month n a half old....
Also, im guessing its the lcd screen thats cracked, but how can I tell if the digitalizer is as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you hear about the gas buildup from a defective battery?
Sent from my XT910 using XDA
Possibly heard it about another phone... any ideas forcing usb?
I am not too sure, but it might work!! Not too sure though..

Smoke when recharging...

I have had my Samsung Galaxy S2 for a bit more than a year now. I have had some proper trouble with it from the start (ranging from forced close loop to rebooting or simply turning off randomly).
About half a year ago I installed a custom rom (GalaxyMOD I believe), with which I had little to no issues (thanks for providing those, by the way).
This morning it wouldn't turn on (even though it was on before I went to sleep). I simply thought the battery was low (it had reasonable % the night before, though) and connected it to my charger. Then, all of a sudden, smoke came out of my phone near the micro-USB port. I immediately removed the charger.
Just to be sure, it's impossible that the custom rom caused this, right? I'm thinking that somehow the inside must have gotten damp. Should this be the case, will it still qualify for warranty service? I mean, the smoke was not caused by irresponsible use. Of course, the phone might have been dropped once or twice since I own it, but that's still no reason for the smoke to occur... I didn't place it anywhere different than I do usually during the night and it has never directly been in contact with water (I don't use it in the rain f.e.).
Thanks in advance.
smoke
Dam, i know you can alter the amount of juice through a USB cable to fast charge but it should be no where near enough to cause ignition or
smoke.
Even if the phone was damp it isn't going to generate that amount of heat to get smoke.
And even if you had a bunch of lint (dust) in the exact right place you still shouldn't have smoke.
Im at a complete loss as to why this has happened??
sounds like a serious issue, have you dropped the phone?
IF the phone is damp, best way to get rid of that is to place it in an air tight container overnight covered in dry rice.
The dry rice will slowly pull any damp into the gains and out of the phone.
Good luck
Seutekop said:
I have had my Samsung Galaxy S2 for a bit more than a year now. I have had some proper trouble with it from the start (ranging from forced close loop to rebooting or simply turning off randomly).
About half a year ago I installed a custom rom (GalaxyMOD I believe), with which I had little to no issues (thanks for providing those, by the way).
This morning it wouldn't turn on (even though it was on before I went to sleep). I simply thought the battery was low (it had reasonable % the night before, though) and connected it to my charger. Then, all of a sudden, smoke came out of my phone near the micro-USB port. I immediately removed the charger.
Just to be sure, it's impossible that the custom rom caused this, right? I'm thinking that somehow the inside must have gotten damp. Should this be the case, will it still qualify for warranty service? I mean, the smoke was not caused by irresponsible use. Of course, the phone might have been dropped once or twice since I own it, but that's still no reason for the smoke to occur... I didn't place it anywhere different than I do usually during the night and it has never directly been in contact with water (I don't use it in the rain f.e.).
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) If it's been exposed to moisture, unlikely to honour warranty regardless of what's wrong with it. Depends on whether the moisture indicators in the phone have been tripped
2) Rooting/flashing non-stock firmware on your phone voids the warranty. Having said that, if you go back to stock firmware & reset the flash counter, many people still get warranty service. Tho in your case 1) is a concern.
In other words, go back to stock, reset the flash counter & send it in to Samsung/authorised repairer & see what happens if the rice trick doesn't work.
hypnobabes said:
Dam, i know you can alter the amount of juice through a USB cable to fast charge but it should be no where near enough to cause ignition or
smoke.
Even if the phone was damp it isn't going to generate that amount of heat to get smoke.
And even if you had a bunch of lint (dust) in the exact right place you still shouldn't have smoke.
Im at a complete loss as to why this has happened??
sounds like a serious issue, have you dropped the phone?
IF the phone is damp, best way to get rid of that is to place it in an air tight container overnight covered in dry rice.
The dry rice will slowly pull any damp into the gains and out of the phone.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I have dropped the phone. However, the last time I dropped it was at least three weeks ago and I have recharged it without any problems multiple times since then.
I would like to try the rice idea. Do I need to take anything into account when doing so? Like removing battery, or even disassembling it?
MistahBungle said:
1) If it's been exposed to moisture, unlikely to honour warranty regardless of what's wrong with it. Depends on whether the moisture indicators in the phone have been tripped
2) Rooting/flashing non-stock firmware on your phone voids the warranty. Having said that, if you go back to stock firmware & reset the flash counter, many people still get warranty service. Tho in your case 1) is a concern.
In other words, go back to stock, reset the flash counter & send it in to Samsung/authorised repairer & see what happens if the rice trick doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would love to go back to stock, but how can I do this? It won't boot and it won't connect with my PC either.
Thanks for your replies.
Give it a few days in the rice as Hypnobabes suggested & see if you can get it to boot. If not, you're going to have to take your chances, send it in & see what happens. If they do want to charge you for the repair, ask them for a quote. If you're not happy with the price, ask around local mobile repair shops & see if they'll fix it more cheaply.
Seutekop said:
I would love to go back to stock, but how can I do this? It won't boot and it won't connect with my PC either.
Thanks for your replies.
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Click to collapse

[Q] Battery problems after water damage

I am having a problem after my phone was dropped in water. The phone is now fully dry but I am having battery issues. It seems that the phone believes the battery to be empty all the time. I can charge it whilst the phone is off until it states it is at 100% but as soon as i turn it on it says the battery is at 0% and turns off even whilst plugged in.
I have flashed a few different roms to see if the software had any bearing on it. The only difference I got was with CM 10.1 I was able to run the phone whilst it was plugged in but as soon as I unplugged it died.
I have tried the battery in other phones and it works fine and I have tried batteries from other phones (ones that I know are fine) and it says they are empty.
I did have one case when the phone came on and stayed. The battery level stuck at about 70% and never decreased over 24 hours. As soon as I rebooted it it said it was empty.
To me it seems like the bit of hardware that checks the battery level is failing. I have opened up the phone and given it a clean but no joy.
Any Ideas?
Yes since sensitive electronic components dont seem to mix well with water youll have to replace them.
Start with the usb board,then maybe motherboard if nothings changed.
Can anyone point out on the boards which bits are responsible for power management.
Also where would I be able to get replacement boards from?
TheUnderling posted a link to the service manual a week or so ago, search through his recent posts to find it. That has schematics/parts lists in it.
Re: getting another board, your best bet is to find a screen damaged phone on eBay or similar, Samsung aren't in the business of selling just motherboards (they'll charge you maybe half of what a new phone would cost to replace it).
You could see if Kevin Costner is going to make Waterworld 2,then he could maybe buy it off you.
You can get a new s2 now for £199.99 from Orange.
Gold
theunderling said:
You could see if Kevin Costner is going to make Waterworld 2,then he could maybe buy it off you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
theunderling said:
You could see if Kevin Costner is going to make Waterworld 2,then he could maybe buy it off you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not funny and not useful
Sorry,I shouldnt make jokes about it.What to do is take it to the man from atlantis and get a quote for a repair.
I don't mind you making jokes actually. It means you keep bumping my question to the top of the boards and then maybe someone who actually is helpful may help me out.
You got your help. The motherboard (at the very least) is cactus. And maybe other components. What else are you hoping for anyone else to tell you ? You dropped the phone in water, think about it. Ain't rocket surgery.
MistahBungle said:
You got your help. The motherboard (at the very least) is cactus. And maybe other components. What else are you hoping for anyone else to tell you ? You dropped the phone in water, think about it. Ain't rocket surgery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hes got to start "splashing" the cash on a battery>usb board for starters.
And whos to say it aint going to end up in water again.
Best to sell the phone on and hope a mug buys it.
I guess I was juts hoping for more positive suggestions rather than sarcastic comments
Theres no point in having a go at me or mistahbungle,its "water off a ducks back" to us.
Youve been advised what to get(if you must)....in cheapest order.You can hit the search button and see threads about water damage which will give you an idea of solutions.
Ive read 100's of posts about water damage and some people have not had any problems.
So as things stand,your looking at spending between £8 to £150.

Alleged water damage - no sound from speakers, crack noises via earphones

Hi everyone,
my friend's sgs2 has the following problem: everything works fine, except for the audio. there is just no sound coming out from any of the two speakers. if i plug in earphones, i just hear constant noise with cracks in it, but nothing that sounds like what is supposed to come out of the earphones.
i sent in the device for warranty and, seemingly like many others, got the reply that the device has a water damage and is therefore excluded from warranty. my friend swore that he never dropped it into water or anything.
When i look at the pictures from the repair service it looks like there is some corrosion?? But how can that happen, if all moisture indicators are white and everything else works flawlessly?
Any thoughts?
Alleged Water damage?
did the device go near any water?
If not...
Audio drivers.
Factory Reset
the corrosion from the pictures looks like from Heat...
because that deep in the phone, being water damage would destroy the whole thing...
all pics look alright, except the chip in the 1st pic...
but try factory reset first..
I mean your device got diagnosed from phone, inaccurate...
Hi, thanks for the swift reply.
Before I sent in the device, I had already tried pretty much everything. Factory reset (the device was on Stock Rom so it can't be the drivers), FW - Update (from 2.3.7 to 4.0.x and back).
According to my friend, he never let it get in contact with water. Also, if I am not mistaken, the moisture indicators are still white as they are supposed to be. The repair service also didn't mention anything specific, just water damage .....
If you talk about the chip at the bottom. I don't really know but it seems like ... glue or something? Seeing all those posts from users with the same "water damage" response it seems like they (samsung/datrepair) just want to screw us customers -.-
dabrain23 said:
Hi, thanks for the swift reply.
Before I sent in the device, I had already tried pretty much everything. Factory reset (the device was on Stock Rom so it can't be the drivers), FW - Update (from 2.3.7 to 4.0.x and back).
According to my friend, he never let it get in contact with water. Also, if I am not mistaken, the moisture indicators are still white as they are supposed to be. The repair service also didn't mention anything specific, just water damage .....
If you talk about the chip at the bottom. I don't really know but it seems like ... glue or something? Seeing all those posts from users with the same "water damage" response it seems like they (samsung/datrepair) just want to screw us customers -.-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea...
again you said the device completely works, so it cant be water damage,
Jomari29 said:
yea...
again you said the device completely works, so it cant be water damage,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in that case their reply means that they just dont want to repair it and there is nothing i can do? ....
EDIT:
anyone from Germany around who knows what to possibly do? like is there any samsung certified electrician that i could contact? as it doesn't seem to be a water damage
no one? quite desperate at the moment
dabrain23 said:
no one? quite desperate at the moment
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Click to collapse
Don't trust those guys at the service center, take it to another place.
The first pic does look nasty, now I'm scared my device looks like that.
Reminder: Do not check out my device hardware.
Okay, so...that's not water damage, just don't trust those guys
BTW, headphones/earphones makes a scrappy noise? It really does sound like software related rather than hardware related.
But again, what the hell do I know.
Problem is, I don't know where else to take it.
Person from another forum said that it looks more like a problem with air humidity or steam .... but I have no idea how that could have happened.
Going to call the service once again. I dont expect much though. its really frustrating

Problems with SGS3 - how to read logs?

Hello,
My friend has problems with her SGS3. It's about 1 year old and it started restarting and turning off itself. Sometimes it's on a keypress, sometimes while charging and something it just went off without touching anything. She sent it to repair and they said that there is some damage on motherboard from water (but it was never wet so it's weird) and it's glass is broken (it felt on the floor and broke a few days after buying), but the screen and touch digitizer work fine.
Since the repair is more expensive than new device, she wants to check if there is some software problems before giving it to someone who can try to fix it. The phone is not rooted, so is there any easy way to check its logs (some app or something)? Is it even possible without rooting?
In case of hardware problems, what should she do now? If the mainboard is broken and the glass is broken too, it's almost impossible to sell it for parts because only battery and soem minor parts are usable. Is it worth repairing the motherboard?
Here is the picture from the repair service: http://i.imgur.com/pF92OgB.jpg
xplod2841 said:
Hello,
My friend has problems with her SGS3. It's about 1 year old and it started restarting and turning off itself. Sometimes it's on a keypress, sometimes while charging and something it just went off without touching anything. She sent it to repair and they said that there is some damage on motherboard from water (but it was never wet so it's weird) and it's glass is broken (it felt on the floor and broke a few days after buying), but the screen and touch digitizer work fine.
Since the repair is more expensive than new device, she wants to check if there is some software problems before giving it to someone who can try to fix it. The phone is not rooted, so is there any easy way to check its logs (some app or something)? Is it even possible without rooting?
In case of hardware problems, what should she do now? If the mainboard is broken and the glass is broken too, it's almost impossible to sell it for parts because only battery and soem minor parts are usable. Is it worth repairing the motherboard?
Here is the picture from the repair service: http://i.imgur.com/pF92OgB.jpg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that the USB port? Looks like it's already fried. From the looks of it, the service center is right it's a hardware problem and for them to say that the motherboard is broken probably means other components are also fried. In my opinion it's better to buy a new phone as a repairing it outside warranty is much more costly than buying of a new phone.
SignetSphere said:
Isn't that the USB port? Looks like it's already fried. From the looks of it, the service center is right it's a hardware problem and for them to say that the motherboard is broken probably means other components are also fried. In my opinion it's better to buy a new phone as a repairing it outside warranty is much more costly than buying of a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it looks like USB port. Maybe something is fried, but the phone works so all chips and electronics must be okay. They said that there is corrosion on the motherboard. The phone was never wet but it can be due to condensation or humidity. I have a friend who told me that he can fix it if there is only little corrosion, but before trying, I would like to take a look on logs if there is some software problems. Another friend told me to wipe and flash original kernel and ROM from fresh, but I don't think that this is a smart move since the port could be broken and we could brick the device if it lose connection during flashing.
xplod2841 said:
Yes, it looks like USB port. Maybe something is fried, but the phone works so all chips and electronics must be okay. They said that there is corrosion on the motherboard. The phone was never wet but it can be due to condensation or humidity. I have a friend who told me that he can fix it if there is only little corrosion, but before trying, I would like to take a look on logs if there is some software problems. Another friend told me to wipe and flash original kernel and ROM from fresh, but I don't think that this is a smart move since the port could be broken and we could brick the device if it lose connection during flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see... so the phone still works. That type of damage is probabaly because of humidity like what you suspect. In my opinion further use of the phone with an existing hardware problem can lead to a more bigger problem so no logs can be of help here. That fried usb port can also hinder on flashing a new rom like what you said as it may fail during the flash that can corrupt the internal memory of the phone. I think your friend's options are only two. Have it repaired or just buy a new one.
Yes it works but it's barely usable. It's blocking (getting stuck) and restarting all the time. Do you know maybe how to read those logs? I never used logs so I don't know. I was googling about it but I didn't understand it well. It seems that the phone has to be rooted.

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