Took cell phone into the hot tub

[mike_n_herrin]

Hey folks.

I occasionally take my cell phone down to the hot tub with me to keep track of the time. the timer on the hot tub doesn't appear to be real accuarate. anyway on tue night i wanted to be back to the apt in 15 minutes so i took my cell phone with me. i dropped my keys when i came out of the apt so i put my cell phone in my trunk pocket and picked them up to lock the door.

got to the hot tub and walked in. I immediately realized my cell phone was still in the pocket. I took it out and took out the battery. it was in the water for about 5-7 seconds. i tried the battery the next day and nothing.

i tried the batter on thurs and it came on but no signal. i took it to verizon told them what happened. they messed with it for a several minutes and said i had to buy a new phone, which is what i expected them to say. water damage not covered by the warranty/insurance and i didn't have it anyway.

there is an internet web site that says they can repair water damaged cell phones: FASTcpr.com. i was wondering if anyone had ever used them or some other service. or if they were able to repair their cell phone after getting it wet on their own.

thanks folks.

i have verizon as my carrier, samsung sch-a850 is my phone model.

 

[Hair Hunter]

Hey Mike, Sorry to hear about your phone I have Cingular and the insurance and it does cover water damage so I haven't had that problem. But a friend of mine dropped his in the toilet and said that he put it (the phone) in the freezer for an hour and when he took it out and thawed it out it worked I didn't believe him at first, but he swears it worked. I guess it was just enough to dry out the moisture in the phone. I don't know if it has been too long now and the damage is done or not. As far as the site, I don't know anything about that....Good Luck, and I hope you find something that works!!
Mike

 

[mike_n_herrin]

well the thing is the phone works, except for not getting a signal. i mean my contacts are all there, my pictures are there, the camera thing works, it charges, i can set all the various features (volume, change ring tones, set the alarm, etc etc). it just doesn't get a signal and says "searching SVC." so it's not "broke" per say. i found the same phone at amazon.com for 135 which is cheaper than the phones the verizon wireless place said i had to chose from. also if i get the same phone i wont have to buy all the various accessories since i have them. i don't know how or if i can transfer my existing service to another phone or not...my sister says i can. and that she got the same phone for her son when he took his swimming once. she said she even got it off ebay.

 

[swerve]

Did verizon try replacing their little card inside??? That is what communicates to their network your phone information.

I guess they probably did.

Just a thought

 

[bryce]

Can you go to a different cell phone store and not tell them what happened and just play dumb about it not getting a signal? I wouldn't think they could tell it had been in the water if it isn't still wet inside and there is no oxidation.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

Did verizon try replacing their little card inside??? That is what communicates to their network your phone information.

I guess they probably did.

Just a thought

no the little 18 year old looking "technical support" girl didn't do that. i stood in front of her the whole time. she just pressed a bunch of buttons, which is not much more than what i did. i see the same model phone at amazon for 135 so it would would with all my stuff. but another little verizon girl didn't know if they could transfer my service to that phone. they can transfer it to a different model and manufacturer apparently (they wanted me to buy a 149.99 nokia phone, with no camera), but they are unaware if they can transfer it to another samsung even if it's the same model.

Can you go to a different cell phone store and not tell them what happened and just play dumb about it not getting a signal? I wouldn't think they could tell it had been in the water if it isn't still wet inside and there is no oxidation.

there is apparently a sticker than changes color when it gets wet so they can see if it's been wet. i saw that while i was googling if there was anything i personally could do to fix it.

 

[Corny]

dismantle your cell phone as much as possible (your warranty is gone anyway). put all parts except the battery on the heater for 1-2 days. be sure it is not too hot so that the plastic doesn't melt. try if it works after that. if it still doesn't you might want to apply some contact spray very carefully to the electronics inside.
this often works for electronic stuff that got wet. ideally you do that before trying to re-activate them at all.
computer components i usualyl put in the oven at 50° but i don't know what other parts of a cellphone there are that might be heat-sensitive

 

[mike_n_herrin]

well i did take it apart. i put it in the freezer for an hour last night then let it thaw, still no signal. i've also dried it already (i had it on top of my printer transformer) and i stuck it in the oven. i don't know how anyone gets there oven below like 200, thats as low as mine goes. spots on the web said to put it in there at 150 for a couple hours. i went on "warm" for an hour it was pretty warm, but i didn't check the temp.

it still comes on and all the stuff i mentioned above, but still only says "searching SVC." i found the same phones being sold on ebay (used) with like 30 day warrenties for 54 dollars. so now my question is how do you get your phone number and stuff transfered from one phone to another? i guess i have to call verizon, but will they do that for a phone i didn't buy from them?

 

[trawler69]

Hi Mike, It sounds to me that the radio part of the phone has suffered damage. All your account info is held in the sim card which is transferable between phones. As the rest of your phone is ok you should be able to copy any contact details held in the phone memory to the sim card. Then put that card into any other phone that is not sim locked and it will work for you. When I say "sim locked" there are some providers here in the UK who will supply you with a phone that is "locked" to their network. So if you put in a sim card from another network it won't work. The nokia ones are pretty easy to unlock, I've done it loads of times! I sugest you borrow a friends phone for a few minutes, put your sim card in it, turn it on and ring your own cell number from any other phone and see if it works. It probably will, then get a cheap unlocked phone off ebay. Living on a boat as I do drowned phones are very common, the sim card is the key to not having to bother to alter your account in any way. We often have to wait for the tide to go out to retrieve the phone and card but it has never failed.

Hope this is of some help.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

/\ thanks trawler. it is my understanding that verizon does not use SIM cards after i googled around for it on the web.

they say that on ebays site rather clearly and i saw it mentioned in some posts in other spots. here is where the ebay thing says verizon doens't use them: http://reviews.ebay.com/Do-I-Need-a...0001530145?ssPageName=BUYGD:CAT:-1:LISTINGS:3

 

[Corny]

regarding the sim card i can't be of any help, everybody in europe has a sim card.

but why did you FREEZE the phone? freezing water increases its volume .. = BAD BAD if the water is in your mobile ..
oh and with 50° i meant 50° C of course, sorry

 

[mike_n_herrin]

/\ because one site said to try it. it still "works" as much as it did prior to the freezing i only did that last night, and it was only for about 50 minutes. the phone was well dry after being taken apart for 5 days.

50 C is still well below the 200 F my stove starts at.

so...do any folks in america that don't have SIM cards (since it looks like no carriers in the US use them) known how to transfer a wireless account from one phone to another? is there something special i need to look at while looking at these "used" phones on ebay even if it's the same make and model as the one was using?

another site has suggested soaking it again in distilled water to remove possible mineral deposits then rise with 95% alcohol (all i could find at the store was 91%). so i might try that tonight. can't hurt since the phone wont get a signal anyway.

 

[tx_doc]

cingular and t-mobile are the only carriers in the US that use SIM cards.
I used to have Verizon and bought a phone off eBay once. I just went to the eBay kiosk and told them that I wanted my service transferred to that phone. They activated the phone with my number. They couldn't transfer all my contacts like you could with a SIM card but it can be activated.

 

[tx_doc]

Sorry, I meant to say Verizon kiosk - not eBay kiosk.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

/\ so you mean like at a verizon outlet store thing? i have a verizon wireless place right across the street. they were the ones who told me they didn't know if i could transfer my account from a phone i didn't buy in the store. stupid people...

 

[mike_n_herrin]

cingular and t-mobile are the only carriers in the US that use SIM cards.
I used to have Verizon and bought a phone off eBay once. I just went to the eBay kiosk and told them that I wanted my service transferred to that phone. They activated the phone with my number. They couldn't transfer all my contacts like you could with a SIM card but it can be activated.

ooh ohh thank you. i see i can do it online. i just have to plug in the "new" used phone's Electronic Serial Number (ESN) or Mobile Equipment Identifier (MEID) and that's it!



thanks folks!

 

[Hair Hunter]

Mike, as far as Verizon stores, I don't know about Verizon but if they are similar to Cingular, they have company stores as well as franchise stores. You should get better technical service from a company store. And again, Cingular stores have a computer program that will transfer numbers and other information. You may want to check with your nearest Verizon company store and see if they have a similar program for transfering info.
Mike

 

[Chino05]

hey mike first off ya no sim card for verizon, what u have to do is just buy a new phone because u fried the radio, nothing will fix it, then u can either go online and have the service transferred to the new phone, but make sure it is a verizon phone, in order to transfer all of your contacts go to verizon and they will hook the two phones together to transfer all the contact info, also if you have bought anything off of like get it now, they can credit ur account at the store, i have a friend who works for verizon and i use it myself, and believe me i've been in the same situation, that's ur best bet good luck

 

[Aussieguy01]

My phone dropped in water when my cousin was mucking around , i simply took it apart and left it in the sun , around 10 hours later it worked again and has never stopped working lol , and another cousin of mine lost his phone and anyway a few months later he found it........... in the freezer , he used to keep it on top of the fridge and it had fallen into the frezer lol , im not sure if it worked after that though

 

[mike_n_herrin]

thanks folks! i'm waiting for a used replacement i got off an "ebay store." hopfully it will arrive tomorrow and i can do exactly as austexfeet and chino said and transfer the service online. i hope it works. cross your fingers!

t-rex...where was that phone a week ago! durn it.