My mum's put my w800i (whilst on) through the washing machine. How dead is it / how likely am I to get it working again? Any tips?

[wiz]

Could try taking it to bits as much as you dare ant put it under a lamp for a week. If it was on when it went in the wash I doubt it will work again

The buttons were actually lit up when I removed it from the machine. I'm going to hairdryer it for a while! Think the screen's bust tho!

[NGD Boy]

this happened to my wifes nokia 5210 before.... it was in a rubberised case, spalsh proof case, it did suffer water damage and i dried it out very carefully with a hairdryer over a few hours and it worked perfectly...... she also was lying on the setee a while ago and her samsung d500 fell out of her shirt pocket and directly into her cup of tea..... she got it out straight away and did the deed again with hairdryer.... still works, but screen is slightly cloudy...

[Mylo]

Don't apply any direct heat. Leave the phone near a radiator or in the airing cupboard for a few days and see if it dries out.

Disconnect the battery and remove the Sim first.

[Joe90sDad]

If it was off during the wash and you haven't tried to power it on since then you still have a chance.

Take it apart and dry every board/connection before corrosion sets in. Then reassemble and try to power up.

If the board looks fine and the phone still doesn't power on then reflashing might get it back to life.

[meansizzler]

People should take care of their property..., I mean why keep your phone in your pocket when your drinking a cup of tea or sitting on the sofa?, i put it down to the fact that most people get there phone for free, from a family member, or husband.., maybe if they put £100 of there own money down on the phone they would treat it with more respect...

OK, cheers for advice. I've taken the casing off and submerged the board in warm dried rice (which apperantly is quick at soaking up water) - then put the bowl of rice and phone in the airing cupboard. It can stay there a few days, then will see what happens.

PS. w800i for sale :P

[Uridium]

Originally Posted by meansizzler

People should take care of their property..., I mean why keep your phone in your pocket when your drinking a cup of tea or sitting on the sofa?, i put it down to the fact that most people get there phone for free, from a family member, or husband.., maybe if they put £100 of there own money down on the phone they would treat it with more respect...

What a ridiculous post

Are pockets not designed to keep things in!

Accidents happen that's why the OP was asking for advice, not to receive replies like yours. If you've nothing useful to add don't bother.

[Uridium]

Originally Posted by xelallah

OK, cheers for advice. I've taken the casing off and submerged the board in warm dried rice (which apperantly is quick at soaking up water) - then put the bowl of rice and phone in the airing cupboard. It can stay there a few days, then will see what happens.

PS. w800i for sale :P

Fingers crossed

[apolloa]

This similar to a previous post of a phone getting wet. I think the screens are the main things that bugger after a soaking. You'll have to strip the phone down as mentioned as much as you dare, then leave it in an airing cupboard for a few day's.

[siany]

If it's still within its 12 month warranty and doesn't work after you've tried all that, take it to your nearest Carphone Warehouse and they could send it off for repair free of charge. Though it could take around 2 weeks to come back and don't tell them that it's water damage as they probably won't even bother taking it in.

I didnt buy it from Carphone Warehouse :S

[siany]

No it's fine as long as it's within its 12 month warranty they'll send it off for you doesn't matter where you bought it. I know because I work part-time at Carphone and we send off people's phones that aren't bought from us.

I might try that.

Having dried it out for a long period of time, in a warm place, the phone actually starts up, the screen however is just lit up, white, no colours.

[siany]

Take the battery out and look at the top of it where there's a little rectangular indicator strip. It's supposed to be white and if it's red it means water damage and the phone could be BER (beyond economical repair). But if it's not working at all then you have nothing to lose by taking it to your nearest cpw. The repair guys can sometimes work wonders with these things

My battery doesnt actually have a strip on the top of it, the three main power connectors, and then a little box on the otherside with two small circles.

[siany]

Is it the silver battery with black writing on one side and plain on the other? There should be 3 gold connector strips in the middle (middle strip being smaller) and a box on the right hand side when you place the battery with black writing facing down (iirr). There's supposed to be a little white sticker that turns red in the box if your phone gets in contact with water. But if it's been in the wash I suppose it could've fallen off.

yup that's the battery, it probably has fallen off to be honest.

After frantically searching and trying everything to get my poor phone to work, I took a chance by putting it in the oven for half a day, at 50 degrees. Would you believe it.... it now works!

Apart from the keys, pressing 0 thru 9 gives 01213914536917839, and it's impossible to hear phone calls. I'm going to dry it out a bit more, then get a new battery and get it repaired as still under warranty!

[hardiz]

Originally Posted by siany

If it's still within its 12 month warranty and doesn't work after you've tried all that, take it to your nearest Carphone Warehouse and they could send it off for repair free of charge. Though it could take around 2 weeks to come back and don't tell them that it's water damage as they probably won't even bother taking it in.

They are not going to repair it if its water damaged, It will come back BER. The Repair centres used by phone retailers do NOT REPAIR water damaged phones. The 12 months warranty does not COVER WATER DAMAGE thats why some people pay mobile insurance

[ram33]

if you cant hear calls then the speaker is prob damaged but can be easily changed
can the other person hear you? if not then the mic is damaged by liquid and is not easy to change as its soldered to the pcb but the solder pads are underneath the mic.
the keys can prob be fixed by reovibf the white keypad membrane and cleaning the contacts
as said in the post above, it will not be repaired under s/e warrenty

[Dan7]

If the phone's dead and useless there's no harm in sending it off as a last resort. If it's within its 12 month warranty (They check by putting the IMEI number into their systems) they'll take it but whether it actually GETS REPAIRED is a different matter. If it's out of its 12 month warranty then the repair will be chargeable should they have to do anything with the phone.

The repair guys can surprise you sometimes (In a nice way! :P)

[philst68i]

Originally Posted by xelallah

My mum's put my w800i (whilst on) through the washing machine. How dead is it / how likely am I to get it working again? Any tips?

You mean you left it in your pocket, how many times have you been told about putting things in the wash basket without emptying your pockets
My 21 year old son never checks his pockets and complains when his mum does'nt check them .......... kids eh

*All tongue in cheek mate*

Actually I left it on my bed, and she changed my sheets.

There's now no sign of any water damage, it's going in to Phones4U on wednesday, see what they think.

[philst68i]

Am I right in thinking, especially on SE phones, that little round rubber thing near the battery changes colour when its been wet,and thats how they can tell ?
My wife dropped hers in a toilet once,long story, but Vodafone changed it so fingers crossed

[ram33]

Originally Posted by xelallah

Actually I left it on my bed, and she changed my sheets.

There's now no sign of any water damage, it's going in to Phones4U on wednesday, see what they think.

the indicators are usually inside on the pcb, but most repair centers now xray the pcb if they think there may be liquid damage. you will prob also be charged £10 + vat to get your phone back if they find evidence of liquid damage even though they wont repair it

[mutamist]

My wife put my Sony Ericsson K750i through the wash a year ago and for a few months it showed a few faults, including poor batterly life. One year on and it works as normal, I just have no use for it now!

[Autopilot]

Originally Posted by meansizzler

People should take care of their property..., I mean why keep your phone in your pocket when your drinking a cup of tea or sitting on the sofa?, i put it down to the fact that most people get there phone for free, from a family member, or husband.., maybe if they put £100 of there own money down on the phone they would treat it with more respect...

Wow, how helpful that was. You are right, people are crazy to keep stuff in their pocket, what idiots!!! Especially in a public Cafe, no they should leave it on the table.

Thats great meansizler, but i think you will find most people would put it down to just being an accident. Jesus


Now for some real advice. The problem with accidents like this is that that you can never get the water 100% out. The phones circuit board is actually made up from many many layers/wafers and water will get get sucked in between these layers (capillary action). I found this out the hard way when i was pushed into a pool on holiday. I dried the phone on a radiator for a day or two, and then after i found it working again i started using it. A month later is stopped working permanently. What i should have done is left it for much longer, like a week, in an airing cupboard to have given it a real chance.

Originally Posted by xelallah

There's now no sign of any water damage, it's going in to Phones4U on wednesday, see what they think.

Trust me, they should find it The PCB will be discoloured.

Either way, good luck!

[gkf9]

Originally Posted by siany

No it's fine as long as it's within its 12 month warranty they'll send it off for you doesn't matter where you bought it. I know because I work part-time at Carphone and we send off people's phones that aren't bought from us.

Dont think they will repair it for free,not when its been incontact wi moisture.