Need Urgent Help! Android phone acting up; potential water damage
Need Urgent Help! Android phone acting up; potential water damage
Hello, Tonight I got some nasty error with my phone, Asus Zenfone 8 after I rinsed it off with water. After I got some messy hot sauce on the phone at dinner, I rinsed it briefly with water, as I have done many times before (this is a phone that has been exposed to water many times without any issues for the past 3 years). Yes - it is always a risk (a stupid one at that), but please don't focus on just bashing me right now. Focus on trying to solve the issue at hand. At first, everything seemed fine. But then after an hour or so, I noticed it had shut down, despite me knowing it had 16 % battery left. When I put it in the charger, it started going mental: Went up to 20 %. Then 100 %. Then down to 4 %, then back up to 100 %, down to 70 %, up to 100 % and so on, until it eventually shut down. I thought this is just moisture messing with it. So I let it be to airdry for a while. After another hour or so, this issue remained. For a short while, when not plugged into a charger, it seemed like it was back to normal, and I could even enjoy watching some youtube for 15 - 20 minutes. Then I was stupid enough to try to plug it into the charger again. The battery percentage insanity then continued. Now I can't keep it on for more than a few seconds, a minute tops, before it shuts down again. If I charge it while it is off, it shows 2 % charger. Then goes black. Then it wakes up and shows 0 %. Then it goes black, and then shows 2 % again and sometimes goes up to 15 % or more, just to go back down to 2 %. One interesting observation is that now it starts up the phone when plugging in the charger; something that the phone shouldn't feature; or at least has never done before (unlike my previous LG phone which had that feature as standard). I guess my main question here is: Is this just a battery issue? Because if a battery swap is all that is needed, then I'm less bothered. That is easy to do. In fact, I have already done that once on the phone. Because it doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with the rest of the hardware. When it is running (for the short minutes it is) it works normally and snappy. It is just the battery that seems to go haywire. What do you guys think? Is it just the battery? Right now I'm drying it in the oven at about 50 C, and will try to open it up later to really get all moisture out from within. Please advice! Thank you!
Power it down and let it air dry in a warm spot for a few days, hoping it works. For other periods just wipe it clean with a damp cloth. It’s water-resistant but not fully waterproof; the seals deteriorate over time. The recent battery replacement has made it impossible to rely on rinsing. Water can take days to leave a phone, so turn it off and let it rest for several days. Avoid using a faulty battery—this is how you start a serious issue.
I received brand new original components with the original sealing adhesive intact. That was exactly what I needed. Otherwise, closing it up again would have been impossible. The old adhesive completely breaks down when exposed. Now that it's opened, nothing on the moisture indicators suggests any humidity. It looks like only the battery suffered damage, likely from the charging port. I plan to let it air dry overnight on the kitchen table. With everything open now, the drying process should be quicker.
So a small update on this matter: After letting moisture evaporate, phone won't start. Or rather - the battery won't take on any charge. By all indications, the phone itself is fine, except the battery. So now I will try to find a new battery for this phone...