[PJ-]

Last night I managed to actually drop my pearl (which was in my right hand) in my glass of water (which was in my left hand). I'm clumsy. Frankly, I'm surprised this didnt happen sooner.

So I broke the tape seal on my battery cover (go go poor latch design!) and yanked the battery and sim out.

I let it sit for about 12 hours then put it back together. It began flashing the red led and not booting, which apparently means hardware failure, etc.

While at the tmobile store (I have the insurance, was filing a claim) the phone magically booted up. After about 2 minutes, it said "turning handheld off, next time on..." like I had held the END key. It wouldnt turn back on, I took the battery out put it back in, and it worked normally. Then suddenly, it acted lke the END key was being pressed. I figured there was some fluid under the keypad, so I took the entire unit apart and cleaned it up. There was no fluid I could see on the board, but a little behind the screen (the LCD is 100% intact however).

Once i put it back together, the END key began functioning normally. However after about 10 minutes of use, it acted as if it had been pressed again, and turned the unit off. Since then the key is completely dead and does not respond (nor act as if its being held down).

At this point I fear the key is shorted. I don't know whats under the plastic on the board, but I am fairly certain I can not seperate it and look without destroying the unit. I'm referring to the white plastic that is around the buttons actually attached to the mainboard. Has anyone dealt with that part of the hardware?

Any thoughts, or ideas? Is it possible there is fluid still there and drying it out could prove useful, or is it simply shorted? Based on its behavior I think there was still some fluid and it just shorted.

I can live without the END key, I think. I don't ever really turn the unit off (and I have soft-reset), and calls can be ended by MENU->END. Am I forgetting something else the key might be needed for?

I realize I'm reaching here, but hey, you never know. Might save me my $110 deductable for insurance. =)

-Paul

[aaronnichols]

First off, i have no clue how to fix your problem.. but,
I have just as bad luck as you...

One time i was talking on my cell phone in the bath, dont ask, and it slipped out and went under water, i did the same ripped my battery out asap (it was a T509 though) and blow-dried it for about an hour, then it worked fine, go figure...

I had a V360 i was talking on the phon in my right hand and it slipped out and fell into the Sweet Tea from mcdonalds in my cup holder--- I never dont use a lid, but the lid broke, so i threw it out the window, I guess Liter-karma.. That phone never worked again...

I had a V330 i was washing clothes and put the phone on the edge of the washer, and then it went missing, i thought it was my sisters or something playing a joke and the dryer was shaking and shook the phone into the washer while it was open, i didnt know this until later, when i finished washing some Towels, and at the bottom was my V330.

I had a Razr too, I got pi$$ed at am ex girlfriend for not answering my calls, and just snapped it in half.

I had a Nokia 3220 that i was talking on in my LEFT hand, and it flew out the car window LUCKILY i was driving through corn fields... I turned around to get it, but to my luck it had hit the biggest Rock in the field, it broke.

and now i have a Pearl. which i am taking Very good care of...

Dang., now i realize it might have been smart to buy insurance. heh.

[Terrain]

...

I would have loved to have seen you drop a phone from one hand into a glass of water in the other...

[aaronnichols]

Originally Posted by Terrain

...

I would have loved to have seen you drop a phone from one hand into a glass of water in the other...

I think it must have been a lauging motion, whree the right hand flew over the left hand, What do you say?

[John Clark]

When the BB gets that wet, it needs about 3-5 days to completely dry out. If you get impatient and put the battery back in before it's totally dry you will kill the device.

I have a pearl that went for a swim for about 15 minutes. I let it dry completely for several days in a warm place and it's good as new (except for the red moisture indicator.)

[davedcraig]

Originally Posted by aaronnichols

I had a Razr too, I got pi$$ed at am ex girlfriend for not answering my calls, and just snapped it in half.

If you hadn't of snapped your Razr it probably would have broke anyhow. I went through nine of them before I finally gave up, it was absolutely the worst phone I've ever owned. Also, the Razr OS was so hard to use and the address book was horrible. On the other hand I probably never would have bought my Pearl if it wasn't for the Razr, it showed me that your better of shelling out a lot of money for something that works then cheeping out and buying the model everyone else has that's discounted to save some cash.

The difference between the two is night and day and I wish I'd bought a BlackBerry sooner.

[rickdek]

I had/have the same experience with my 8100.
I'm living currently in the philippines and there tend to be a lot of moister in the air if its not on the tables from the beer bottles

It stopped working twice now. The first time I opened it up, couldnt find anything, put it back together and it was working fine again after a day or so.
The second time I had exactly the same problem. All keys wont work anymore, so opened up again. Inspected the keypad a bit closer this time and I noticed that was moister under the bubbles of the keypad. With my finger i pushed out all the moister and wipped it with some dry cloth. Used the hair dryer for a while and put it back together ...
It has been working fine ever since ....

I did bought a 'sock' after those incidents though. Just to keep the moister out of the unit ...

I bed when you open up your unit and you with your finger lets say from the # key up to the 3 key you probably will see some fluents under the plastic ... Thats what you need to get out.

I need to say that 8100 has not been really made for easy repairs with regards to water damage!

Cheers,
Rick

[Terrain]

Well, electronics weren't really meant to get wet so... yea designing them so that water damage was easy to repair was probably not a high priority.

[erikthegreat]

I know your pain. I have broken many phones in my day. Antenna's, flip phones breaking, etc. The one phone that I absolutely loved and relied on was one of those Nokia brick phones. Darn that phone is reliable but lacked the features of a modern man's business phone.

My pearl is like my baby. My fiance discovered how much I love it during a little daytrip to DC for a social. I can't tell if she wants one or hates it.

Erik

[rickdek]

Originally Posted by Terrain

Well, electronics weren't really meant to get wet so... yea designing them so that water damage was easy to repair was probably not a high priority.

True enough ... but the current design of the 8100 makes it very sensitive to moisture ... unfortunately the units is one whole piece. Replacing the keyboard itself (not the keypad) means replacing the whole unit ...

[John Clark]

Originally Posted by rickdek

True enough ... but the current design of the 8100 makes it very sensitive to moisture ... unfortunately the units is one whole piece. Replacing the keyboard itself (not the keypad) means replacing the whole unit ...

The 8700 is the same way. Keyboard is integral with the mainboard.

[Terrain]

Well I agree that it's unfortunate but it's hardly a new concept to have a number of electronic parts integrated with the system board. Bottom line is if it gets wet it will be difficult if not impossible to bring it back to life. I wish you all good luck with your devices.

Back when I worked tech support at Dendrite we got a jornada in that a lady had apparently dropped into a pot of spaghetti sauce that she was cooking. Still scratching my head over that one, almost as hard to do as bb one hand glass of water in other.

At least it was only water. Could have been worse ^^

[rickdek]

Originally Posted by John Clark

The 8700 is the same way. Keyboard is integral with the mainboard.

What about the 8300 or the new pearl? I suppose its the same?

[John Clark]

I've never been disassembled the 8300 or the Pearl2. I'm guessing they are the same.