Water damage/electronics

[lloydwatkin]

Looks like my phone got a little wet on the walk home on Saturday. It's not reading the sim card now I've pulled it apart and it looks like the only damage to the phone is on the sim card contacts, the look slightly eroded/greenish. What's the best course of action here? Scrape off any crap and apply a little solder? The rest of the phone is fine (it's a PDA thing) except the...erm....phone!

Any help appreciated Lloyd

[Marky Mark]

Hi Lloyd, I wouldn't use solder, those contacts are really fine, I would give them a rub with a glass fibre brush (KR61R at Maplin.co.uk) or something slightly abrasive. Make sure it's fully dried out.

Good Luck

MM

[fade]

Heya,

Just give them a bit of a rub down with a cloth and a mild detergent, possibly some WD40, to try a remove the "green stuff". If this fails then vvvvvvv fine sand paper, wet&dry paper, or the aforementioned brush.

Also make sure it really is dried out, put it in a airing cupboard over night fully dismantled, it may look dry but just a tiny bit of water can short it out.

I've been in the water twice with phones in my pocket never learn, and even though they look dry they only worked again after a night in the airing cupboard.

Hope that helps,

Pete

[lloydwatkin]

Originally Posted by fade

Heya,

Just give them a bit of a rub down with a cloth and a mild detergent, possibly some WD40, to try a remove the "green stuff". If this fails then vvvvvvv fine sand paper, wet&dry paper, or the aforementioned brush.

Also make sure it really is dried out, put it in a airing cupboard over night fully dismantled, it may look dry but just a tiny bit of water can short it out.

I've been in the water twice with phones in my pocket never learn, and even though they look dry they only worked again after a night in the airing cupboard.

Hope that helps,

Pete

Well it is working, except reading the sim card. Everything else works. It was reading the sim card ok yesterday, now its not Will plonk it somewhere warm for a few more hours and try again, but I definately think I'm going to have to do something with the contacts. BTW its not the contacts that touch the sim card but where the sim card reader units reach the main board.

Cheers, Lloyd.

[Paul_K]

Well, if it was a Nokia I'd have said your problem was not the SIM contacts but more likely a chip on the board itself. Used to see this all the time when I was a Nokia service engineer Toothbrush and cellulose thinners, wash that board down. That will help get rid of any bits of corrosion shorting the underside of any non-sealed BGA's. If you can access a ultrasonic cleaner all the better...

Oh, and for the contacts themselves, try one of the blue pencil erasers, does a great job of removing corrosion without actually stripping the coating itself off!

Cheers, Paul K

[lloydwatkin]

Originally Posted by Paul_K

Well, if it was a Nokia I'd have said your problem was not the SIM contacts but more likely a chip on the board itself. Used to see this all the time when I was a Nokia service engineer Toothbrush and cellulose thinners, wash that board down. That will help get rid of any bits of corrosion shorting the underside of any non-sealed BGA's. If you can access a ultrasonic cleaner all the better...

Oh, and for the contacts themselves, try one of the blue pencil erasers, does a great job of removing corrosion without actually stripping the coating itself off!

Cheers, Paul K

That's exactly what I think the problem is the corrosion has shorted the connectors. It was working yesterday and probably didn't allow it to dry out fully so its stopped reading the sim. This morning it would read it for about 2 minutes and then give in

[String]

Not too hard for your phone supplier to get you a new sim keeping the number etc if it comes to it.

[lloydwatkin]

Originally Posted by String

Not too hard for your phone supplier to get you a new sim keeping the number etc if it comes to it.

The sim card works fine, I have my old v3i to test it. The problem is the other phone is one of these pda types and I've kind of become dependant on it for business. Home insurance will cover it but would like to see if I can get it working first to save hassle.

[chas49]

Originally Posted by lloydwatkin

The sim card works fine, I have my old v3i to test it. The problem is the other phone is one of these pda types and I've kind of become dependant on it for business. Home insurance will cover it but would like to see if I can get it working first to save hassle.

If your insurance will cover it, I would suggest you claim and get a new one - even if you get this one going again it's unlikely to be all that reliable..