[realityagent]

Never mind, fixed it via the helpful instructions on removing the trackball This site rocks.

[Micosina]

all i can say is your blackberry is cheating with you. haha

[BallHawk3]

Well in my post, I was never talking about batteries, but the device itself. John Clark asked about that "liquid" indicator on the battery.

So I had a chance to test it today. I have 3 C-S2 (7100/8700 series). Two of them are "square" while the 3rd one is the rounded version.

The "square" ones, the sticker is white with a red stripe down the middle. For the "rounded" ones, the sticker is white with some pink X, or cross marks.

The first one (square), I put some water over the indicator with my finger. Let it sit for a while then wiped it off. Waited and nothing happen (however it did later fall off). 2nd battery "rounded" I drunked that one in a cup of water, not all of it but half of the battery with the indicator down. Nothing. For the 3rd, I one again put some water on the indicator with my finger and wiped it off. Nothing again, I then put it in a phone and let some power run through it for a while. Took it out and nothing.

The batteries will sit in a box and I will see what happens tomorrow (most likely nothing).

But prob by monday I can find out what they are for, I got someone that could give me the answer to that.

[John Clark]

Yep. I'm convinced it's something else, like a heat indicator or something. I'm with you....not a liquid indicator..

[BallHawk3]

Originally Posted by John Clark

Yep. I'm convinced it's something else, like a heat indicator or something. I'm with you....not a liquid indicator..

checked it today, and no change.

I got someone I can talk to that possibly can tell me what it is, gonna have to wait till Monday. I'll let you guys know.

[bentoknwv]

not sure if anyone has posted a reply that offers a fix for the keypad issue...but I have fixed a liquid damaged pearl...and btw it is possible that the steam from a shower can cause liquid damage to any phone. It is highly unlikely but it can happen. I work for a cell provider and have seen liquid damage caused by more things than most people can imagine. I can't guarantee that my solution will fix the phone but I have fixed more than one that was liquid damaged. If you read the instructions posted on this site on the disassembly of the pearl you'll see how to take it apart. Under the keypad you will see the white strip that has a bunch of little metal tabs on the bottom of the strip ( not sure of the technical term) pull this off (carefully and be sure not to rip it) if it really is liquid damaged you will know because there will be black spots on the metal pieces due to sparking from the liquid. After you pull that piece off clean the motherboard contacts and the contacts on the white strip with rubbing alcohol or an electronic cleaning solution. Reassemble and if the device is not too damaged it should work again.

[bbckm]

Originally Posted by BallHawk3

If you want a work horse phone to take on the elements, get a nextel phone.

You can't expect a phone to be dripping wet when your using it and expect it not to get inside the phone. Especially with wet hands and your thumbing the keypad. Common sense. Are you the type to plug something into the wall why your hands are wet? Or blow dry your air while standing in a tube?

Ok that's extreme, but liquid and electronics do not mix. These phones aren't made "water" proof or even water resistant. Do you use your laptop out in the rain? That's asking for it.

My point is people need to be more careful with their phones. If you had a phone for only two months and it looks like hell, maybe you should stop and think. All the phones I've had has been mint after the years. I try not to drop it. Keep the phone protected with a pouch and avoid having it come near anything that's wet. But using it in the rain? Having rain hit it? Get under a roof at least for christ sakes. Look at a phone, there's many places for water to get in, especially with the characteristics water has, it can pretty much get into anything.

And I dunno about fog unless you got the thing strapped to your windscreen and riding through it for an hour.

And you should read the warranty again. "Liquid exposure" is only one of the very few items.

Duuude, you are making a LOT of assumptions. Knock it off! She said it got a few raindrops on it. that isn't enough to void her warrenty, it is more likely that the service rep was confused by the red lines on the water damage indicator.

[John Clark]

Originally Posted by bbckm

...... red lines on the water damage indicator.

Which we've concluded aren't water damage indicators. Relax.

[drspanklebum]

Last night, I was browsing the boards (i'm new here), and noticed this post. Just a couple hours later, I pulled my laptop up to my couch, and the power cord tipped over a can of coke on my table, yup, right onto my precious berry.. I quickly wiped it off, took out the battery and cards and let it sit for a few minutes upside down on a towel.. and... works as good as new!! Either I'm lucky as heck or these little guys are built WELL! Probably a bit of both I'm sure. I think I cleaned it in time because the water indicator is still white as snow. Good lil machines!

[BallHawk3]

my sources told me it is NOT a liquid indicator on the battery.

All they really told me was that the sticker is just for "idenification" purposed only. That's all.

Still scratching my head on that.

[drunkle]

Originally Posted by BallHawk3

my sources told me it is NOT a liquid indicator on the battery.

All they really told me was that the sticker is just for "idenification" purposed only. That's all.

Still scratching my head on that.

here's my story.

my phone died on me sunday. my battery wouldn't power my brother's phone and we neglected to check if his battery would power mine. the battery (and phone) were getting warm as well, so i removed the battery and left it out.

next day (today), i went to the cingular store i bought my phone at, they turned me right back out with just a phone number. annoying. while calling the warranty dept, i fiddled with the phone a little, put the battery back in to retest it and it booted up. since i had already taken the sim card out (and i didn't want to keep the phone operating on the advise of my father, an electronics tech, who said these batteries can literally explode), i didn't keep it on and continued with my warranty claim.

the woman in warranty was helpful, sent out a replacement phone and told me to get a replacement battery at the shop. she had asked some questions regarding stickers, to which i had no clue at the time. i did tell her about the pink sticker on the battery and about how it was getting warm. her directive on getting the battery replaced did not entail cost, nor did it entail water damage. she said it needed to be replaced due to heat.

so i go back to the store. the people there denied my warranty claim on the battery, telling me i had to buy a new one at $50. very very annoying. the "manager" or whoever the senior guy was even pulled his battery out and showed me that it was white with pinkish red crosses. i was pissed and left. to be clear, i did not drop my phone into the tub or anything else. i do work out with the phone and on occassion shower while listening to tunes. obviously, not with the phone in the actual shower.

btw, when i bought the phone, no one walked me through the indicators. the phone turned on, that's all that mattered. right? well how the fck do you know if an employee didn't swap his bad phone or battery for your new one? they don't do a gdamn walk through on the product when such a show stopping warranty voiding thing can kill the value of the phone. and the phone is in an open package even so how do you *know* you're not getting someone else's return??? and like i said, even with the pink sticker battery, my phone booted today. the phone has crashed on me several times in the past couple months, the trackball has "stuck" quite a few times... i'm pretty sure i either got a lemon or the design is crap, but being an open box phone, how do i know it's my fault or not?!

so i started looking on this wonderful thing we call the internet for "blackberry pearl water damage" and found this very informative thread. the testing you guys have done has been enormously valuable, to the tune of $50. i called warranty back, had a talk with another fellow who, while eager as a labrador puppy to be helpful, had no definitive answer on what the battery sticker does. he checked his internal resources, he even called the manufacturer and talked to someone there. the only result was that *by consensus*, the sticker was a liquid indicator. no documentation. just consensus. after telling him about the postings i've read and the testing you guys have done, he finally mentioned that there is an accessories warranty department, for which, battery claims can be refered. lo and behold, 10 minutes later, i'm being shipped a new battery, no questions asked.

now, at this point, i risk losing my free battery (did i mention "no questions asked? they dont even ask you to return the "bad" one!) by asking him if he knew what the sticker was, whether or not it was a liquid indicator. he didn't. but he did specifically state that they never ask about liquid damage with regards to accessories.

ok. so i have a replacement phone on the way and a new battery as well. the liquid indicator on the phone is white, i'm positive there's no other water damage, i should be fine and not have to worry about the $300 freaking dollar water damage contigency fee (in spite of the fact that i paid half that much for the damn phone).

as for why there are contacts under the battery sticker; you don't need contacts for a liquid indicator. but, a resistance indicator would need contacts. now, if the battery gets hot, resistance will go up. that's the only conceivable reason for the sticker and the contacts. add to that what my father said about these batteries blowing up...


bottom line: cingular/att store employees are just like any other store employee. shoot first, ask questions later. call warranty, persist, get the accessories warranty dept (you can only get to them through the "main" warranty dept) and get a new battery.

edit:

a much bigger battery, for sure, but...
Battery explosion

[SanFrancisco]

Originally Posted by drspanklebum

Last night, I was browsing the boards (i'm new here), and noticed this post. Just a couple hours later, I pulled my laptop up to my couch, and the power cord tipped over a can of coke on my table, yup, right onto my precious berry.. I quickly wiped it off, took out the battery and cards and let it sit for a few minutes upside down on a towel.. and... works as good as new!! Either I'm lucky as heck or these little guys are built WELL! Probably a bit of both I'm sure. I think I cleaned it in time because the water indicator is still white as snow. Good lil machines!

Did not see this post until today.

Answer from the BlackBerry Gods: you are lucky as heck. The Pearl is NOT built well. Thanks for sharing the story.

[SanFrancisco]

Originally Posted by drunkle

here's my story.

my phone died on me Sunday. my battery wouldn't power my brother's phone and we neglected to check if his battery would power mine. the battery (and phone) were getting warm as well, so i removed the battery and left it out.

Thanks for taking the time to write this most excellent and detailed post. It will help others who have problems with making warranty claims.

Not to defend these people who do not know what they are saying or doing, but it seems to me that they can't be expected to know everything about every model phone they carry. There's just too many models.

I think that is why nowadays most problems, no matter how slight or minor, are handled on a "replace the whole phone" basis rather than figure out how to repair or replace the defective part.

I remember when the Pearl first came out in September 2006. I made a service call to T-Mo. While the CSR was especially helpful, he did not know what he was doing because the phone was so new. Together we worked through a solution since I knew more than him. In fact, I could hear him in the background flipping pages to the manual. He even said aloud "let's see, for problems with the speaker, turn to page 209" or something like that. It was a real headache for him. But you know what, he stayed on the phone with me for 1.5 hours with nary a complaint. It's one of the reasons I will stay with T-Mo, I appreciate their attitude about good customer service.

In the retail stores I imagine the salesmen are even less knowledgeable than the CSR/Techs on the phone.

So I would not be too hard on them. As your post shows, best thing to do is to be insistent so to get what you want [in your case a new phone].

Good job.

[Grendahl]

Originally Posted by bentoknwv

not sure if anyone has posted a reply that offers a fix for the keypad issue...but I have fixed a liquid damaged pearl...and btw it is possible that the steam from a shower can cause liquid damage to any phone. It is highly unlikely but it can happen. I work for a cell provider and have seen liquid damage caused by more things than most people can imagine. I can't guarantee that my solution will fix the phone but I have fixed more than one that was liquid damaged. If you read the instructions posted on this site on the disassembly of the pearl you'll see how to take it apart. Under the keypad you will see the white strip that has a bunch of little metal tabs on the bottom of the strip ( not sure of the technical term) pull this off (carefully and be sure not to rip it) if it really is liquid damaged you will know because there will be black spots on the metal pieces due to sparking from the liquid. After you pull that piece off clean the motherboard contacts and the contacts on the white strip with rubbing alcohol or an electronic cleaning solution. Reassemble and if the device is not too damaged it should work again.

I had a dead 3 key due to water damage, and this fixed it.

In keeping with the spirit of the thread, the indicator on the battery showed no change after this phone was dropped in the sink, but the one on the case was reddish-pink. The contacts were charred between the "white strip" and the circuit board, and a bit of isopropyl alcohol fixed it right up.

[Thatzmister2u]

The trackball is fine. It's the phone that has an issue. It may be fried already. Pull the battery and let it dry in a warm place for a few days. Do not put the battery back in until it's atleast been 2 or 3 days. If you do odds are that will kill the entire phone.

[Blackberry556]

Ok, someone on here please help me! =[
I accidently managed to drop my 8100 blackberry pearl in the sink, which was completely sumerged for an estimated 2-3 secs. I have had another occurance w/ another non BB phone so i knew to auto. take the battery out and dry it. When i let it dry and put the charger on, the trackball turned green and the message light stayed red ( even if the chargers not in it does the same thing) im afraid to put the battery back in. but the sticker on the battery is pink with X's which is good? i think? please. someone tell me what to do. thank you so much.

[John Clark]

If you can take it apart you can dry it out much quicker. However, if you can't take it apart then you need to give it about 5 days in a warm place (above a stereo, TV, etc.) or in a bag or uncooked rice.

When you connected the charger was the device completely dried out? If not, you may have fried the device. The key here is to get the battery out and not let any electricity through the device until it's completely dry.

Water+BB=No problem
Water+BB+Electricity=ZAP!
Water+BB+Impatience+Electricity=ZAP!!

[Blackberry556]

Yes. it was completly dried out or enough to where i dnt think that would aafect it. but it still turned green even w/ the battery in it and no charger connected. its orginally white, so green scares me.

[jseah]

How long did you wait for it to dry? You may have been a bit impatient. My story was back in the old days of AT&T TDMA, I had a Nokia 8260. One of my kids spilled a cup of juice on it. I immediately took the battery out, took the entire phone apart (this was back in the days of modding a phone and changing the case) and dried the entire phone out, including the circuit boards with paper towels....and using alcohol to clean everything to get rid of any residual sugar from the juice. The phone was "dry", and I put it back together and the phone powered on correctly. However, the top two rows of keys on the keypad didn't function. Took the keypad out again and recleaned it, and made sure that the keypad wasn't being pinched when reassembled. Keys still didn't work. Ended up ordering a new phone from AT&T and left the old phone on a desk. Two weeks later, I powered the phone up again, and lo and behold, all the keys were functioning.

Moral of the story is.......just because it looks dry does not necessarily mean that it is dry.

[mizditz101]

I must say, the info about the "indicator" on the battery is a big help!

Tonight my phone decided every time the backlight turned off to delete all my texts (in and out) I was getting a little mad.. I had just done my normal (with all my phones I've had) 409/windex cleaning so I thought, well maybe for the first time in 6 years a phone got wet. Took out the battery, saw that stripe and freaked out. Good to know that its not a liquid indicator!

Now, I was talking to my Verizon techies back when I had Verizon (not all that long ago) and we got talking about water damage, and what triggers those indicators..
Some people, will put their phone in the bathroom during a shower, and see the indicator go off, some wont. It's not really the phones, more the sensitivity of those indicators, and how many times in the past its seen this exposure.
The verizon buddies I had been talking to had actually done a test with this..
On verizon phones, the circular dot on the battery is in fact a liquid indicator. They dunked 2 different batteries for a razr v3m in water for 1 or 2 seconds... one triggered, one didn't. Of course they didn't use batteries out of the package. They used old ones that weren't working/had been given back for warranty reasons. It's hard to say what the batteries had seen as far as water/liquid/moisture in the past.. but it proved the point for the day.

And I still find the whole errant raindrop comment funnier than just about anything I've seen/read today... While yes there is some open spaces on phones, and on the top of pearls as I have seen with mine.. sending a text in rain isn't gonna end the life of your phone.. Or else the 4 phones sitting in my room wouldn't be working right now..

And as far as insurance goes... What I hate right now, is if I break my phone or whatever and I have to go through insurance, it's $110.. what did I pay for the stupid thing? $100
Now I'm not complaining about $10.. (Ok, I really am)
Verizon (really the only company I've stayed with for more than a few months) Also uses Asurion, and no matter what phone you have, $50 deductible.. What does T-Mobile say to that? "wow, I wonder what their trick is"
I've never felt the need to treat a phone like it was glass, before now..

This got long.. woah.. /waves bye