Screen not turning on.

[UltraFireFX]

So my friend's GT-I8160L was dropped in a (clean) toilet, she attempted to dry it and used it for a few weeks with 'black squares' on the screen, then, one day it was only black (but obviously lit up and not simply off), the vibrator, home key lights and speakers work like it would when starting it up normally but the screen just stays black, any ideas?

Thanks,
- UltraFireFX

 

[MarkW]

Water + Phone + Power = BAD!!!!!

The fact that even some of that phone is trying to work is amazing. I suspect there are still spots inside of that phone that are still wet. Phones are very tightly built. There is almost no airflow in many spots within one. If the water managed to get down into the circuitry leading to the display, it might never evaporate until the phone is completely taken apart, and once you take some of these phones apart like that, they almost never go back together well.

I wish I had a solution for you, but I do not.

 

[ffg7]

see what is the lowest temperature her oven will go down to as if can goto 75c then could use it to heat the water out. used to use a special oven to cure epoxy faster when doing trace repairs on circuit boards at Celestica at that temperature.

 

[UltraFireFX]

Water + Phone + Power = BAD!!!!!

The fact that even some of that phone is trying to work is amazing. I suspect there are still spots inside of that phone that are still wet. Phones are very tightly built. There is almost no airflow in many spots within one. If the water managed to get down into the circuitry leading to the display, it might never evaporate until the phone is completely taken apart, and once you take some of these phones apart like that, they almost never go back together well.

I wish I had a solution for you, but I do not.

Thanks for that, I suspected as much, I might pull it apart, someone else suggested I put it in an oven at 75 degrees, what do you think about that suggestion?

 

[MarkW]

I do not think it would end well for the phone. Like I said, once you take one apart, they almost never seen to want to go back together like they used to be. I'm also fairly certain that some of the sensors and other things inside the phone have been damaged by the water.

If you remember back a couple of years ago, there were a fair number of people complaining about a sensor in their Apple iPhones triggering, and when they would go in for repairs, Apple would tell them the phone had been wet, and refuse to fix it. The reason that sensor was put in those phones was because of just the situation her phone is in now.

Every now and then, you see a phone that can handle being dropped into water. AT&T is supposed to have one on June 12th. I do remember "Active" being in the name. I'm no longer an AT&T fan, but I brought it up just to show that they do exist. Your phone company might have one you can get. Also, most phone companies try to sell you a protection policy in case of theft or accidents with the phone. If she got that, she may well be able to get a replacement phone. But if you take it apart first, they probably would refuse that.

 

[UltraFireFX]

I pulled it apart and it went back together well, I dried the motherboard and cleaned the rust of and the same thing occurred, I'm planning on purchasing a new LCD for the phone and replacing it.