Omnia + Salt Water

[Guest sfam]

I guess you already know what this topic is about just from reading the title :D

Beautiful day at the beach, terrible idea to take a walk with my wife along the shore... end up with my omnia underwater for about 1 or 2 seconds.

- 1st attempt to start the phone, and all I get was the Omnia logo.. and stuck there.

- head home after a while, tried to dry as much as possible, but stuck at logo again.

- removed all screws, and disassemble all parts I felt comfortable enough to proceed... after that, directed a hair drier (hot) for about 30 minutes to remove all remaining humidity. That actually improved something... phone now starts (slowly than it used to), date/time ok, reception, battery indicator, Bluetooth on, etc... all seems ok except... the touch panel! can´t even unlock the phone in the slide to unlock screen. the touch input is dead!

Need some ideas from you guys... what else can I try?

Here are some facts that might help to get some ideas:

- boot seems slower

- apparently, most basic function works. I can even receive calls (although I cant accept then)

- connecting usb cable, no response (not in PC nor in phone)

- after I plug the battery, the phone automatically starts. I don't need to press power button. strange.....

out of warranty period, but this would probably be out of coverage.

all ideas are welcome!!

thanks in advance!

Edited August 15, 2010 by sfam

[Guest GazzaM]

Salt is the enemy... if its in there you need to get it out. Maybe its worth the risk of a rinse with filtered water? Disassemble, run the water over it to wash away any residues. Leave it to sit some where warm while still disassembled. Blow air over and through it with a hairdryer on cool and kept away a distance. When you are sure its all really dry... and I would leave it open for 24 hours... reassemble and hold your breath...

all ideas are welcome!!

thanks in advance!

Edited August 12, 2010 by GazzaM

[Guest cruddasj]

Hello there.

For future reference or people who are reading this in a similar position, here is what you should have done.

If your mobile does suffer from water damage, the first thing to do is to remove the battery. Where you have heated the circuit board (electronic microchips are very sensitive to higher temperatures), a better way to dry it, is to take a plastic container (needs a cover) and fill it with dry rice. Then place your mobile in the dry rice and cover it slightly. The rice is too large to get into the phone however will absorb all of the moisture in the device if left overnight (or 24hrs)

As for not responding to touch, I think the problem lies in the ribbon connecting the digitizer (if the digitizer itself has not been damaged) Due to the design of the omnia digitizer, I think it will be the ribbon.

Check the connector on the back of the PCB (when you open up the back, it is on the underside). The digitizer connector is the 4 track ribbon (the thinnest of the ribbons) Remove that gently (you may need to open the latch) and check the copper connections on the end of the ribbon. Wipe it with a towel to make sure that it is completely dry. Following this make sure that the connector on the board is dry.

Hopefully if you then reinsert the connector, it will start to respond.

If it does not, then you may need a new digitizer, or worse (but unfortunately more likely) a new PCB.

It may be worth taking it to a local mobile engineer and asking whether they have equipment that can give circuits a 'sonic bath'.

Hope this is of help

Regards,

Jay

[Guest sfam]

As for not responding to touch, I think the problem lies in the ribbon connecting the digitizer (if the digitizer itself has not been damaged) Due to the design of the omnia digitizer, I think it will be the ribbon.

Check the connector on the back of the PCB (when you open up the back, it is on the underside). The digitizer connector is the 4 track ribbon (the thinnest of the ribbons) Remove that gently (you may need to open the latch) and check the copper connections on the end of the ribbon. Wipe it with a towel to make sure that it is completely dry. Following this make sure that the connector on the board is dry.

Thanks Jay. Found the 4 track ribbon you mention. Didn't remove the ribbons the first time, but now I did. That 4 track ribbon had a lot of residues around it. probably salt and probably some corrosion caused by it. Cleaned it the best I could, and while I'm at it, cleaned all ribbons :D. The one right next to that 4 track ribbon was also in a pretty bad shape... some connectors look a slightly dark (oh god, burned? btw, what is this one related to?). This is the definitely the worst affected area... some IC connectors around these 2 ribbons look dark and dirty (hope its dirty, and not worst, :D)

ok, all back in place now, deep breath... oooohhhhhhh

- phone doesn't starts automatically now. thats good news... I need to press the power button again... red led on, nice... but...

- screen is all black, not even the backlight turns on anymore.

- booting seems to be ok, because of the led color... red at start, green after a minute or so.

this seems a lost cause... ;) :D :D ;)

[Guest tensor123]

Here's what i did last summer, i think u're a bit too late, but still...

I dropped my Omnia into the sea while getting on boat. When i got it out, i immediately

took out the battery and put everything under the pipe water. When i arrived home after 3 hrs,

i disassembled it as much as i could, rinsed it several times with destilled water, blew all

the parts with compressed air and left them dry over night.

I still have it, works without any problem :D

[Guest Compuse]

Good call, if you drop your phone in unclear water, the best would be to wash it with distiled/cooked water; before letting it to dry!

[Guest cruddasj]

Thanks Jay. Found the 4 track ribbon you mention. Didn't remove the ribbons the first time, but now I did. That 4 track ribbon had a lot of residues around it. probably salt and probably some corrosion caused by it. Cleaned it the best I could, and while I'm at it, cleaned all ribbons :D. The one right next to that 4 track ribbon was also in a pretty bad shape... some connectors look a slightly dark (oh god, burned? btw, what is this one related to?). This is the definitely the worst affected area... some IC connectors around these 2 ribbons look dark and dirty (hope its dirty, and not worst, :D)

ok, all back in place now, deep breath... oooohhhhhhh

- phone doesn't starts automatically now. thats good news... I need to press the power button again... red led on, nice... but...

- screen is all black, not even the backlight turns on anymore.

- booting seems to be ok, because of the led color... red at start, green after a minute or so.

this seems a lost cause... ;) :D :D ;)

Hello again.

Try and reseat the LCD ribbon. It is the one at the right of the board on the side that is facing you whilst opened.

Blow on both the socket (on the board) and the connections on the ribbon of it. Leave it a few seconds to evaporate as the moisture in your breath wont do it any good.

Also, as it is a lever style socket, make sure you have everything straight before you push the latch down.

If it was working previously, that is a good sign as the LCD itself is fine and it just sounds like a connection is being stopped on the socket.

It's quite firm, so make sure you push it in fully and rock your finger from left to right (smoothing over the latch)

Edited August 14, 2010 by cruddasj

[Guest sfam]

Hello again.

Try and reseat the LCD ribbon. It is the one at the right of the board on the side that is facing you whilst opened.

Blow on both the socket (on the board) and the connections on the ribbon of it. Leave it a few seconds to evaporate as the moisture in your breath wont do it any good.

Also, as it is a lever style socket, make sure you have everything straight before you push the latch down.

If it was working previously, that is a good sign as the LCD itself is fine and it just sounds like a connection is being stopped on the socket.

It's quite firm, so make sure you push it in fully and rock your finger from left to right (smoothing over the latch)

lcd is back on working... the lcd ribbon was not connected properly... just needed that extra push! thanks for helping identifying the correct ribbon!

touch is still not working... :D did some extra cleaning around that 4 track ribbon, but still no luck...

do you think its time for drastic actions? maybe a quick wash with distilled water like GazzaM suggested? maybe there is some salt hidden in other places affecting the touch...

[Guest solarone]

lcd is back on working... the lcd ribbon was not connected properly... just needed that extra push! thanks for helping identifying the correct ribbon!

touch is still not working... :D did some extra cleaning around that 4 track ribbon, but still no luck...

do you think its time for drastic actions? maybe a quick wash with distilled water like GazzaM suggested? maybe there is some salt hidden in other places affecting the touch...

I'd Try.....Picking Up A New Digitizer On E-Bay Or Craigs List......About 10 to 20 Bucks.......The Digitizer Is Stuck Above The LCD Screen With A Pretty Firm Glue, Be Careful When Removing It From The LCD Screen....IE: No Really Sharp-Pointed Objects, Because You May Crack The LCD...I Used A Single Edge Razor Blade.....Hope This Helps........Good Luck

[Guest cruddasj]

lcd is back on working... the lcd ribbon was not connected properly... just needed that extra push! thanks for helping identifying the correct ribbon!

touch is still not working... :D did some extra cleaning around that 4 track ribbon, but still no luck...

do you think its time for drastic actions? maybe a quick wash with distilled water like GazzaM suggested? maybe there is some salt hidden in other places affecting the touch...

Your call here really.

I would reccomend before doing so, you weigh things up.

Is it now charging? Or is the block still not accepting charge?

If it is not accepting charge then I would say that a distilled bath of water for the board is the way to go.

If it is accepting charge, I would first try a new digitizer as it is not expensive (maybe around £7) Being a resistive screen, it may be damaged at the pressure points.

If you do go for cleaning it with distilled water. Make sure you remove the IC flash chip cover (tin cover on the back side of the board). After you have submerged it and left it for 30 mins or so (put it with the 4 track digitizer connector facing you towards you) get a cotton bud and some isopropyl (low corrosion in comparison to ethanol - Isopropyl = CD cleaning fluid). Clean over the board lightly with isopropyl. This will evaporate any remaining water as well as cleaning the board further.

On the plus side of things, giving it a soak in distilled water will hopefully stop any future corrosion.

Let me know how you get on :D

br,

Jay

[Guest sfam]

phone is not accepting charge. not from usb nor wall charger.

So I gone for the water bath (again, this time with without the salt, LOL) :D

removed the flash cover, 30 minutes underwater, and changed water 3 times.

don't have any Isopropyl or cd cleaning fluid, and I guess ethanol might not be a good idea, so I skip that, but to make sure it drys out properly, did that rice trick you mentioned earlier :D will leave it for tonight, and assemble everything tomorrow.

I bet these are 2 things most people wont ever see with their omnia: underwater and "under-rice" ;) LOL

I guess everyone would like to see an onmia scuba diving (unfortunately, its the second time I saw mine :D ). here it is:

I'm already browsing for a new phone, but sure is fun to trying to make this one back to life!

thanks Jay, for all the help so far, will post the results tomorrow.

Edited August 15, 2010 by sfam

[Guest cruddasj]

phone is not accepting charge. not from usb nor wall charger.

So I gone for the water bath (again, this time with without the salt, LOL) ;)

removed the flash cover, 30 minutes underwater, and changed water 3 times.

don't have any Isopropyl or cd cleaning fluid, and I guess ethanol might not be a good idea, so I skip that, but to make sure it drys out properly, did that rice trick you mentioned earlier :( will leave it for tonight, and assemble everything tomorrow.

I bet these are 2 things most people wont ever see with their omnia: underwater and "under-rice" :P LOL

I guess everyone would like to see an onmia scuba diving (unfortunately, its the second time I saw mine B) ). here it is:

I'm already browsing for a new phone, but sure is fun to trying to make this one back to life!

thanks Jay, for all the help so far, will post the results tomorrow.

No worries :D

Like the pics, must be a bit of a shocker to do.

What phone are you looking at getting? I have just had a few top of the range phones to play with (wireless research project at work) Also, get alot of phones coming in and out as I deal in them and repairs ;)

Using the HTC touch pro 2 at the moment, and would highly recommend it! qwerty keyboard, responsive screen, pretty much fully functional android 'froyo' as a second OS (like android on the omnia it uses haret.exe to boot in from SD) and coming down in price :D

The 528mhz processor can be overclocked up to 700mhz and sense 2.5 is available for it.

But the best bit is that the bootloader is seperate, and you can flash ROMs from the SD card! So pretty much no chance of bricking it :( (PDA part that is)

Anyhow, rant over :D Let me know what your looking at though. Have tested more than can count - N900, Milestone, Omnia pro, Blackberry Curve's + Bolds, HTC G1, Legend, Desire etc etc

One thing though :D Dont get an iPoo okay?

Regards,

Jay

[Guest sfam]

drying complete! another problem solved!! battery charging works now!!

touch does not works yet :D

But I think we are making progresses! I will purchase a new digitizer now... been looking around at ebay and found some at around 5 or 6 euros, including shipping... its worth trying!

Dont get an iPoo okay?

LOL, I wont! If I need to buy a new phone now, I need to go cheap this time... wasn't on my plans a new phone now...

One thing is for sure: I want an android device!

My operator recently launched two android 2.1 (Eclair) based phones, with very nice prices:

ZTE Racer - 2.8'' resistive screen, 140€:

http://www.gsmarena.com/zte_racer-3423.php

Huawei U8230 - 3.5'' capacitive screen, 190€:

http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_u8230-3191.php

I'm very attracted bye the 2nd one... but not sure about these manufactures, zte and huawei... whats your opinion on these kind of phones? do you think I do better to save some money until I can afford an HTC or a Samsung?

[Guest cruddasj]

drying complete! another problem solved!! battery charging works now!!

touch does not works yet :D

But I think we are making progresses! I will purchase a new digitizer now... been looking around at ebay and found some at around 5 or 6 euros, including shipping... its worth trying!

LOL, I wont! If I need to buy a new phone now, I need to go cheap this time... wasn't on my plans a new phone now...

One thing is for sure: I want an android device!

My operator recently launched two android 2.1 (Eclair) based phones, with very nice prices:

ZTE Racer - 2.8'' resistive screen, 140€:

http://www.gsmarena.com/zte_racer-3423.php

Huawei U8230 - 3.5'' capacitive screen, 190€:

http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_u8230-3191.php

I'm very attracted bye the 2nd one... but not sure about these manufactures, zte and huawei... whats your opinion on these kind of phones? do you think I do better to save some money until I can afford an HTC or a Samsung?

Hey again. Had a look at the two phones you have suggested. I would say go with the Huawei over the ZTE. Both are chinese manufactured low price phones, but huawei tend to have better unlocking/flash services than ZTE. Plus a larger capacitive screen should make all the difference :D

I think with a new digitizer should actually fix your omnia, especially if charging now works :D

Use a credit card to seperate your digitizer from your LCD and watch out for the glue! If you get glue on the LCD (like I did) it is incredibly hard to get off as you can press too firmly as would damage the screem :|

Let me know how it goes ;)

[Guest MAMBO04]

that huawei phone looks alright, but i would say save up to get either a HTC Desire or a Samsung Galaxy S, both great Android phones and you won't need to change either of them for a looong time as they have awesome hardware. I got the Galaxy S and it's awesome, so just putting those out there for you :D anyway hope you get that fixed, i passed my Omnia on to someone else now so no more WinMo for me! feels good ;) Jay long time mate, how you been? :D

[Guest cruddasj]

that huawei phone looks alright, but i would say save up to get either a HTC Desire or a Samsung Galaxy S, both great Android phones and you won't need to change either of them for a looong time as they have awesome hardware. I got the Galaxy S and it's awesome, so just putting those out there for you :D anyway hope you get that fixed, i passed my Omnia on to someone else now so no more WinMo for me! feels good B) Jay long time mate, how you been? :D

Hey Mamb! Yeh has been an age ;) Im good thanks, moving on up in the Mobile world matey :D Im now an unlocking hardware reseller and tech. Bedroom looks like a stock cupboard lol, but the money is good.

Galaxy S hey? :D I do like android, but havnt made the jump myself yet. Using work phone for a while (switch between htc tp2 and n900) Looks like a nice phone, but is still quite expensive atm =/ I hate my omnia a little less now have replaced digitizer and made a faster ROM for it, but it's still just a bit crap lol. (Although I still dont send it swimming :( hehe, just kiddin sfam)

Are you still active on MoDaCo then? I only really nipped by as I tend to once a week or so :P Thought the guy in this thread needed a hand :( Make sure no one tells him to put it under a heater or anything lol.

PM me ;)

[Guest sfam]

Galaxy S looks like a great phone! seen one today in my hands and it looks really great! the problem is it costs twice as much as the Huawei, for example...

Have some news about my almost-alive-omnia!

After disassembling and assembling all back together 500 times, I got a response from the digitizer! I managed to slide and pass the lock screen!!

the problem is that I only managed to do it once... and the touch was not aligned nor calibrated... in fact, only the "horizontal" touch was working properly and "vertical" was all messed up. For example, if i touch in the left or right side of the screen I got a proper feedback on the lcd, but touching in a top or bottom zone of the screen always give me a response on the top area of the screen.

but with this chance of exploring the phone I found more problems: the front buttons aren't working and usb charges the phone but does not connect to PC (had it set to mount memory card).

Now I'm wondering whats wrong... the digitizer itself of the phone isn't processing the digitizer output properly.

ordering a new digitizer will take a few weeks to arrive... so i would like to test the digitizer 1st, because if digitizer is ok, the whole phone is messed up (digitizer/buttons/usb) and I quit! and don't want to wait 3 or 4 weeks to do that.

I have some background on electronics, so I guess the 4 pins of the digitizer are {ground, vcc, x, y}. The voltage at x,y give the touch position, and the digitizer works like 2 potentiometers (makes sense being a passive resistive digitizer). Is this any near from the truth? the problem is I can't find the pinout for the 4 tracks of the digitizer. Do you know this (or anyone else), or where to find it?

thanks so much Jay (cruddasj) for all the help so far!

[Guest cruddasj]

Galaxy S looks like a great phone! seen one today in my hands and it looks really great! the problem is it costs twice as much as the Huawei, for example...

Have some news about my almost-alive-omnia!

After disassembling and assembling all back together 500 times, I got a response from the digitizer! I managed to slide and pass the lock screen!!

the problem is that I only managed to do it once... and the touch was not aligned nor calibrated... in fact, only the "horizontal" touch was working properly and "vertical" was all messed up. For example, if i touch in the left or right side of the screen I got a proper feedback on the lcd, but touching in a top or bottom zone of the screen always give me a response on the top area of the screen.

but with this chance of exploring the phone I found more problems: the front buttons aren't working and usb charges the phone but does not connect to PC (had it set to mount memory card).

Now I'm wondering whats wrong... the digitizer itself of the phone isn't processing the digitizer output properly.

ordering a new digitizer will take a few weeks to arrive... so i would like to test the digitizer 1st, because if digitizer is ok, the whole phone is messed up (digitizer/buttons/usb) and I quit! and don't want to wait 3 or 4 weeks to do that.

I have some background on electronics, so I guess the 4 pins of the digitizer are {ground, vcc, x, y}. The voltage at x,y give the touch position, and the digitizer works like 2 potentiometers (makes sense being a passive resistive digitizer). Is this any near from the truth? the problem is I can't find the pinout for the 4 tracks of the digitizer. Do you know this (or anyone else), or where to find it?

thanks so much Jay (cruddasj) for all the help so far!

Hey sfam,

Im pretty sure that the 4 tracks are actually a split of 2 layers, providing a positive and negative for 2 layers. One being conductive (firm lower part), the other being the resistive (flexible). Both have a continuos current running through them (the inside of the touch screen is electrically conductive on both sides with a small gap between the layers). When they touch, the voltage change is measured on the conductive layer (will increase due to having second electrical current running to it).

So yeh, kind of like potometers :D However, rather than having X and Y co-ordinates, there is just a voltage change on the conductive layer. Really I think what you would be looking at with the pinout is two negatives and two positives. Usually would be with a positive and negative on the outer two which is then mirrored on the inner two tracks.

Obviously any moisture inside shags all that and the currents constantly are making a connection, making it useless :| Or the bottom layer dies, which is why sometimes digitizers just conk out.

Front buttons may be a bit more of a pain =/ If waters under the pressure contacts, they may need replacing :D Other choice is to just wait and see if they dry out :D Just check your connections again, keep cleaning the contacts and keep your fingers crossed.

USB connection will be a covered single track. Bad news is though, I don't know the pinout lol, i'd just replace the block if a clean up with isoproplyl didnt work :D As a makeshift option though, get some tissue, fold it over on itself a few times so its just larger than the gap from the top of the charging block to the pins, rub it from left to right, and then just take your USB, and plug - unplug it alot hehehe. Might just clear the connection.

Good luck! ;)

Edited August 16, 2010 by cruddasj

[Guest sfam]

dont know what just happen... all I did was try to measure the resistance between each pair of pins to see if I could reach a conclusion about the pinout... I didn't, LOL... after that, I assemble all again and the touch is now fine (a bit offset in the bottom area, but totally acceptable). touch screen is working fine now!!!!!!!!!!!

another good news, is that the buttons work... when I press harder! :D

sometimes they don't even with an harder pressing, but they work most of times...

USB not working YET!! even after trying to clean tracks as suggested... will try cleaning a bit more tomorrow.

time/date settings are lost each time I remove battery... found the little clock battery but didn't manage to remove it to clean it... i'm afraid I break the connector. any suggestion?

will use the phone again throughout tomorrow and see if I can find any more problems...

well, thinks are looking better now...I think I can live a few months without usb and lasy front buttons. at least until I can afford a Samsung Galaxy S :D (really fell in love with this one).

[Guest djsolidsnake86]

not salt water but similar

http://www.modaco.com/content/i9x0-omnia-h...18130/wet-i900/

[Guest cruddasj]

sfam, did your phone ever get fully repair once the digitizer was replaced? :lol: