So for about 2 seconds, my shiny new Samsung Galaxy S4 (Verizon) was submerged in water. I pulled it out, jerked the battery and fed it to the rice for a couple of days.
Amazingly enough, the unit survived - but with one caveat.
Anytime the speaker is powered up to play a sound, you can hear "radio noise" ... popping, clicking, etc.
Most of the time, the audio DOES PLAY as well, but even if you have the sound muted complete, the speaker still gets a power hit when a sound is "supposed" to play (muted or not), so it makes it impossible for me to use my phone in silence with all the popping and snapping and noise.
Audio clip available upon request.
I ordered and replaced the loudspeaker assembly (four screws, no cables - seemed like a brain dead easy solution). This had ZERO effect on repairing the issue.
Can ANYONE point me in the right direction? I would have thought replacing that speaker assembly would have been a slam dunk win but I'm no expert.
Thanks so much!
By the way, no other audio is affected. Headphone sound is perfect, earpiece sound is perfect. Mic appears to be perfect.
Rice doesn't remove moisture completely from your phone. You have a short. Silica works the best for an emergency situation. You best bet live with the speaker or its time to use the insurance
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4
Bloodcrav said:
Rice doesn't remove moisture completely from your phone. You have a short. Silica works the best for an emergency situation. You best bet live with the speaker or its time to use the insurance
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I had no silica at the time
Insurance is not an option (I don't THINK) because Verizon considers it "customer supplied equipment" - and I still have 11 months to "pay it off". Very depressing.
Probably not going to be cost effective to repair either. Sigh.
Well then .. turned out to be insured after all. $100 deductible. I gotta say, they got the replacement system down pat.
I had a new phone and was up and running withing 36 hours.
Related
I've always read many people telling tales of their phones being ruined by being dropped in water and pretty much either having to do the rice bowl treatment for a week or giving their phone a tear jerking burial/insurance return. Well here's my tale:
While defrosting some zip lock bagged steaks in a kitchen sink full of water my Galaxy S II which was streaming Pandora at the time decided it either didn't want to sit on the counter with the seasoning or decided that it would be nice to go for a swim - actually it was probably the grocery bag being moved that knocked it into the sink - me not paying attention noticed the change in sound of the streaming music from clear to muffled looked for it then in disbelief saw the phone at the bottom of the water filled sink!!!!
I think my heart grew 10 times smaller as I thrust my hand into the sink pulling the phone out from under the depths of the water and zip locked frozen steaks, as I pulled it out from the water the music was still playing but sounded rather tinny so I frantically took a towel and wrapped it around the phone to get the water off of it then pushed the power button to see the screen light up to the lock screen. I then swiped the unlock screen and quickly closed pandora and frantically pressed the power button choosing the shutdown option dreading the worst that the phone was playing it's curtain call song and was about to die any second, then the screen went thru the shut down phase then the screen went blank and all of a sudden it turned back on and I saw the android mascot and some red and yellow text (perhaps I pushed the power button too long or the phone looked like it went into recovery mode?) and started doing "something". I said oh sh*t put the phone on the counter screen down and peeled off the back cover and yanked the battery.
at this moment I started examining the phone, the inside was completely dry sans a droplet of water over by where you pry off the back, no water on around or under the battery, around the camera or flash, the power or volume rocker, or any visible leakage around the screen. I then shook he phone over the towel I had initially dried the submerged phone with and did see a drop come from the speaker slits and then I put my mouth to both the usb and headphone jacks to suck water out of those openings (phone CPR?) and got a tiny drop maybe from the USB but nothing from the headphone jack.
At this point I was still in shock but very surprised that the phone was pretty stone dry sans from the water I wiped off of it and the tiny bit that was in the speaker opening. I gave everything a once over again with the towel just in case I missed some microscopic droplets and shook the phone again put the battery back in put the back back on and pressed the power button and voila, the Samsung Galaxy S II logo popped up and in no time the phone was back on and running like nothing happened - I ran a plethora of tests for the rest of the nigh dreading the worst but everything was golden with the exception that the speaker sounded a little tinnier that it initially was which pretty much cleared up buy the morning and sound as lout as it was out the box, I think that the water on the speaker had to dry.
Call me lucky but I've never never never experienced such amazement with a phone before in my life, it was as if the phone had a waterproof force field around it lol. I had initially though about taking the phone back to wait for the Galaxy Nexus on ATT but after that experience I'm totally on board with the Galaxy S II - I did get a tad paranoid that something might end up going wrong with the phone from the submerging to I took it back to the store last night to exchange it for another stating the speaker sounded tinny which they gladly did and after grueling task of reconfiguring all my settings and installing all my apps the new one is back as my main player and my Captivate is back in it's box (used it during my paranoid night of testing everything after the submerging).
Call me sold, I'll definately be keeping the wonder phone AKA Galaxy S II until the Galaxy S3 comes out , and I'll definitely be keeping it away from water, not gonna try my luck twice!!! Glad to see it's somewhat waterproof but please don't try this at home my heart could barely take it LOL!!!
Wow, I would panic if that happened to my brand new phone! Glad yours is still working
just tried this and it doesn't work
Next time (hopefully never) just leave it in a bag of rice for a while just in case instead of just powering it back on.
Coincidently, I came across this video today of the original Galaxy S:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8puSOR2wWfQ
When I used to work for best buy repairing laptops at their GSC, I had a broken keyboard laptop come in. When I went to replace it, I found corrosion from head to toe all over the motherboard from some sort of spill. But everything on the laptop still worked (sans the KB, but it did after replacing). I tested the hell out of it, took pictures of the water damage, wrote it up for the customer. Some people just get lucky with water damage
mtnDUE said:
just tried this and it doesn't work
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Lol
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
Glad you didn't wreck your phone dude, that would /could have been really horrible.
Cool, I'm gonna give it a try....... NOT!
Years ago (late 90's I believe) I had an Nokia 6130 that I dropped in a inch plus puddle in a parking lot as I ran into the store on a rainy day. I didn't notice it until I was returning to my car later. Had to be at least 10 minutes or more. I let it dry out over night and to my surprise it functioned. I don't remember but I think the battery may have come off when it hit the ground, either way it pretty impressive.
Sheesh.... I don't think I would've waited for it to shut down... I would have been yanking that battery out post-haste.
Congrats, you were a lucky one... I think you should go buy some lottery tickets tonight... Don't wait until tomorrow.
Don
Yeah I had though about the rice bowl treatment before turning it back on but since it was so unbelievably dry and water free I took the chance and turned it right back on, even plugged the sucker in to charge it back to 100% leaving it on the charger all night with no issues at all the next day. I should have kept it as a good luck charm but didn't want to press my luck and have something go awry later so since it was still working with no issues I took it back the following night to exchange for a new one - just in case.
Let's see a metal phone take such abuse LOL, like it or not Samsung knows what they are going making their phones out of lightweight yet solid feeling plastic components, survive drops, scratch resistant screen and now add to the list moderately waterproof - it takes a licking and keeps on ticking! I summarize it down to the plastic, plastic expands as it gets warm which probably made a more watertight seal than when turned off, flimsy back my foot - I doubt a phone like the Inspire would have survived that dunking without catastrophic results.
As Fragile as it seems the Galaxy S II is pretty safe to carry around naked and survive most elements, and that's how I'll continue to carry it - while making sure to avoid water like the plague!!!
phones are weird when it comes to water, I had an iPhone 3G that sat in 3 feet of lake water for a good bit -- it still works to this day -- it had the same tinny sounding speakers for awhile and occasionally an incoming call would have really odd ring sound... when that happened i would have to hang up and call back -- but rarely happened.
Glad to know the SGS2 is potentially [moderately] safe against water exposure
I have lost a few family members to water, but not my phone!
Glad to hear I might have a chance when dropping this bad-boy into my sink.
cwc3 said:
I have lost a few family members to water, but not my phone!
Glad to hear I might have a chance when dropping this bad-boy into my sink.
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would probably survive a drop into the toilet or a bath as well, LOL, just some of the experiences I've read on the net but know a lot of people use their phones around these water hazards as well LOL .
I preordered my VZW Note 2 and love it... at least I did until my husband got his. That's when we noticed that the speaker quality of his is much better than mine. Audio sounds a little "tinny" on mine, while it is clear and strong on his. Anyone else having speaker problems?
crcpeach said:
I preordered my VZW Note 2 and love it... at least I did until my husband got his. That's when we noticed that the speaker quality of his is much better than mine. Audio sounds a little "tinny" on mine, while it is clear and strong on his. Anyone else having speaker problems?
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Could be a lot of things tbh. Are you sure the volume is turned on? I think there is also a limiter that can be checked. Are they the same songs? Are you using a different EQ setting for each phone? Etc...
In other words, if this is true i'd just exchange it.
We're going to do a much more detailed comparison this evening. I'll post the result.
I would swap yours out under warranty. My speaker volume is crazy loud no matter how low I turn it down. I wear very small hearing aids in both ears but still its a very loud ear piece.
This is one of the loudest and clearest cell phone speakers I have heard. It rivals my tablet for clarity at higher volumes.
Loudest and clearest speaker I've ever had the pleasure of having on a cell phone. I do recall way back when I purchased the Samsung Vibrant off Ebay. Phone was brand new but speaker didn't work. I told Samsung I bought off Ebay and they fixed it no questions asked. Worst case scenario, Samsung will fix it.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda premium
Well, I removed my case and the battery cover, gave it a blow with a duster, and replaced the battery cover... sounds just as good as the hubby's. It may have been that the battery cover wasn't well seated.
Thanks everyone for your input!
Everyone says it is very difficult to hear me on the speakerphone and that I sound distant or garbled. Anyone else experiencing issues with using the speakerphone? I have a silver One from launch day on AT&T.
I'm not sure if it is my phone or a common problem. A friend of mine has a black HTC one and his speakerphone sounds fine.
I have no issue when not using the speakerphone.
Thanks
I got the same complaint when new with the phone. I researched and it seems the noise cancelling mic on the back can make this occur when lying on a flat surface (face up, back on surface). I make sure I don't have it lying flat and speak into the mic on the bottom. Usually I hold it. Haven't had any complaints since. YMMV.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD
Other Possibility
Then there is this thread in the Sprint HTC One forum. Hmmmm.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2262648
For some reason, I feel like my old Galaxy Note had better call quality than my One. I never had to repeat and raise my voice as much as I do now. I don't like the microphone placement because my left pinky tends to cover it when I take calls. It would've made more sense if the Mic was in the center since the charging port is more to the side.
Sent from the Hottest Phone of 2013 (HTC One)
My issue was the ZAG Invisible shield on the back of the phone was covering the Noise cancellation mic. Even though it looked like the the little square cut out and removed it was not. Apparently this can caused the problem as well. Hope this helps. You can test this by covering the noise cancellation mic while on speaker phone.
Idk if anyone else has had this problem, but I dropped my S4 from like 1 foot off the ground, and now when I listen to someone talk on the phone, (not speaker phone), the phone speaker on the top of the device makes a small buzzing noise whenever someone talks. I can understand everyone fine, its just an annoying buzzing vibration sorta thing. So annoying. Is it possible to get it fixed?
I had an S4, dropped it from like 1 foot off the ground once before and the screen was completely ****ed, so I needed an insurance replacement. The replacement broke in my pocket somehow so I got my second and final Asurion replacement, I just can't have this one die on me or I'm ****ed. I am extremely careful with it, I like never drop it (2 drops on S4s in my life total) and just want this one to ****ing last...
cpuxtech said:
Idk if anyone else has had this problem, but I dropped my S4 from like 1 foot off the ground, and now when I listen to someone talk on the phone, (not speaker phone), the phone speaker on the top of the device makes a small buzzing noise whenever someone talks. I can understand everyone fine, its just an annoying buzzing vibration sorta thing. So annoying. Is it possible to get it fixed?
I had an S4, dropped it from like 1 foot off the ground once before and the screen was completely ****ed, so I needed an insurance replacement. The replacement broke in my pocket somehow so I got my second and final Asurion replacement, I just can't have this one die on me or I'm ****ed. I am extremely careful with it, I like never drop it (2 drops on S4s in my life total) and just want this one to ****ing last...
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Click to collapse
I would recommend getting a case. I have an 18 month old little girl and likes to throw my phone around like its a toy. Its been dropped upwards of around 20 times, around 4 feet at the highest and havent had a single problem so far (knocks on wood). As for the speaker it probably got jarred loose or the cone is cracked. You could probably get a replacement and fix it yourself or possibly repair the one thats in it.
Hit thanks if I helped you out. Doing a little bit of reading goes a long way. Sent via tapatalk.
hexitnow said:
I would recommend getting a case. I have an 18 month old little girl and likes to throw my phone around like its a toy. Its been dropped upwards of around 20 times, around 4 feet at the highest and havent had a single problem so far (knocks on wood). As for the speaker it probably got jarred loose or the cone is cracked. You could probably get a replacement and fix it yourself or possibly repair the one thats in it.
Hit thanks if I helped you out. Doing a little bit of reading goes a long way. Sent via tapatalk.
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Click to collapse
Yeah I have an Incipio DualProShine...I am sooooo scared of dropping this phone or breaking the LCD. I guess $250 is better than $700 for a new phone but still I am soooo afraid of breaking the screen or anything like that. I had a golf ball hit my phone screen, dead on in the middle from about 8 inches away lol...got scared but nothing happened.
Quick Q for ya, can the LCD or glass or get hit by something, and not break but get weaker, making it easier to break in the future or is it just like it breaks, or it doesn't and 100% strength and integrity is kept. Just wondering...
- A paranoid SGS4 Owner lol
I have not been able to have any calls where the person is able to hear me properly. Is this a lost cause?
The mic works fine, clear and with good volume, on mine. There might be some white sealant clogging up the mic pinhole on yours. There was on mine, but I removed it carefully while cleaning the sim slot. If you are not really careful, you can puncture the seal at the back of the mic pinhole, destroying any hope your watch would have of surviving even a brief immersion, so you have to be really careful !
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Thanks...that is helpful. I seem to have poor quality on phone calls and Google search, but reasonable on the voice record function. What did you clean it with? From the outside or inside (back off)? Any advice was helpful...I was considering puncturing the seal in hopes of improving sound!
That might actually help, but probably is unnecessary and is irreversible. I am glad I did not puncture the seal.
I cleared mine out when I first got it, back really early in February with a sewing needle. I had to clean the sim slot out anyway because the same stuff was spilled or overflowed into it so I couldn't get my T-Mobile micro sim to seat. I cleaned it with a bright light shining into the hole from the outside and did not open the back. I was able to pry out of the pinhole a couple of mm of the white stuff that seemed to be almost completely blocking the pinhole, then I noticed a grayer flat material at the back of the hole and stopped then.
Mic works flawlessly now, still, for all uses. Even my mother can understand me clearly when I use the TrueSmart as a standalone phone w/o headphones (though BT headphones work too). OK Google is as accurate as on my Nexus devices, which is pretty accurate. Good luck, and proceed with caution.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
trent999 said:
That might actually help, but probably is unnecessary and is irreversible. I am glad I did not puncture the seal.
I cleared mine out when I first got it, back really early in February with a sewing needle. I had to clean the sim slot out anyway because the same stuff was spilled or overflowed into it so I couldn't get my T-Mobile micro sim to seat. I cleaned it with a bright light shining into the hole from the outside and did not open the back. I was able to pry out of the pinhole a couple of mm of the white stuff that seemed to be almost completely blocking the pinhole, then I noticed a grayer flat material at the back of the hole and stopped then.
Mic works flawlessly now, still, for all uses. Even my mother can understand me clearly when I use the TrueSmart as a standalone phone w/o headphones (though BT headphones work too). OK Google is as accurate as on my Nexus devices, which is pretty accurate. Good luck, and proceed with caution.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Okay that was miraculous! Followed your suggestion and used a sewing needle to remove any white stuff down the mic hole, and it went from crackly mess to crystal clear call quality just like that. Thanks for the suggestion.
Uh-huh ! Really good. Told you so, Mr. Lokifish !
(You were right about the seal though. I had missed that...)
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
umm... you guys are all removing the sealant? half of it? based on Lokifish photo there is maybe 2mm of it. Do you care about "water resistant"? I am not going to use a needle on it... I hope the firmware gets fixed. Thanks all.
trent999 said:
That might actually help, but probably is unnecessary and is irreversible. I am glad I did not puncture the seal.
I cleared mine out when I first got it, back really early in February with a sewing needle. I had to clean the sim slot out anyway because the same stuff was spilled or overflowed into it so I couldn't get my T-Mobile micro sim to seat. I cleaned it with a bright light shining into the hole from the outside and did not open the back. I was able to pry out of the pinhole a couple of mm of the white stuff that seemed to be almost completely blocking the pinhole, then I noticed a grayer flat material at the back of the hole and stopped then.
Mic works flawlessly now, still, for all uses. Even my mother can understand me clearly when I use the TrueSmart as a standalone phone w/o headphones (though BT headphones work too). OK Google is as accurate as on my Nexus devices, which is pretty accurate. Good luck, and proceed with caution.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
What's the "white" stuff you mention. Sealant? I haven't come across any of this on my EU 1/8/2100 version. Is it visible at all from the outside on the mic slot as I don't see it at all. I would adjust it but everyone I've spoken to with my device can hear me perfectly so I probably won't play around with it.
DaBountyHunter said:
What's the "white" stuff you mention. Sealant? I haven't come across any of this on my EU 1/8/2100 version. Is it visible at all from the outside on the mic slot as I don't see it at all. I would adjust it but everyone I've spoken to with my device can hear me perfectly so I probably won't play around with it.
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Click to collapse
You would see it if you removed the back plate - it is the stuff used to seal where the antennas run through the watch body into the band.
Sometimes the worker assembling a particular TrueSmart got sloppy and the same stuff winds up fouling the sim slot or the mic pinhole or both. If it is blocking the mic pinhole, the audio picked up can sound to someone hearing your voice on a call muffled or garbled. Carefully cleaning out the mic pinhole without damaging the special plastic seal at the very back end of it can immensely improve the mic audio quality.
Since your mic pinhole is clear, there is no reason to stick a needle in there ! Also, your mic seems to be working fine already, which makes sense because its pinhole is not plugged by sloppy assembly work.
If you don't see that the pinhole is blocked inside up to near the surface with white stuff, and your mic is working fine, you don't have this problem that many others do have.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
trent999 said:
You would see it if you removed the back plate - it is the stuff used to seal where the antennas run through the watch body into the band.
Sometimes the worker assembling a particular TrueSmart got sloppy and the same stuff winds up fouling the sim slot or the mic pinhole or both. If it is blocking the mic pinhole, the audio picked up can sound to someone hearing your voice on a call muffled or garbled. Carefully cleaning out the mic pinhole without damaging the special plastic seal at the very back end of it can immensely improve the mic audio quality.
Since your mic pinhole is clear, there is no reason to stick a needle in there ! Also, your mic seems to be working fine already, which makes sense because its pinhole is not plugged by sloppy assembly work.
If you don't see that the pinhole is blocked inside up to near the surface with white stuff, and your mic is working fine, you don't have this problem that many others do have.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I haven't opened up the back yet so was wondering if this was visible from the outside of the watch! Thanks for letting me know what to look for though
Yes, you can see it, if its there, by shining a bright light into that pinhole from the outside, but it's hard to tell if what you are seeing is really the flat plastic seal that is supposed to be there at the very back end, a mm or two inside, or if it is really blocking debris !
You don't want to damage that real seal ! Its all the way through the body at the back, though.
In my case, the misapplied white sealant had pretty nearly filled the pinhole to the outer edge. It came out as a little mm long plug, using a needle and tweezers.YMMV...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Yeah ok I've definitely got nothing of the sort then from observing the outside. Looks like it's more a QA issue with the build quality. Also I almost had a minor heart attack I scrapped the screen face of my watch along a metal frame. I thought sh*t it's scratched it. Went to look at screen in the light NOTHING. Still perfect so I'm glad to report the Sapphire Glass does it's job. Haven't worn a watch in years I got to remember not to walk too close to walls etc! :silly:
trent999 said:
The mic works fine, clear and with good volume, on mine. There might be some white sealant clogging up the mic pinhole on yours. There was on mine, but I removed it carefully while cleaning the sim slot. If you are not really careful, you can puncture the seal at the back of the mic pinhole, destroying any hope your watch would have of surviving even a brief immersion, so you have to be really careful !
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Thanks trent999, after cleaning out the mic pinhole on my truesmart the mic actually works pretty good now.:good:
The Omate Truesmart project in theory was a terrific idea, and had it implemented, marketed, produced under quality control, and supported the product I believe it could have been the beginning of good things to come for Omate.
But instead Omate simply bungled badly their first project to the point I think it's reputation is so damaged Omate will simply fade into the sunset. Such a shame.
Had it not been for the support of all the individual xda developers hours of thankless support of this device most of the truesmarts would be now residing in landfills.
Again thanks trent999 and a BIG SHOUT OUT THANK YOU to everyone at xda who supported this project.