What to do when your Samsung Galaxy A3 shows “moisture detected” error [Troubleshooting Guide]

Electricity and water don’t mix well that’s why your Samsung Galaxy A3 was given the IP68 rating to make sure it’s water-resistant. The rating however, doesn’t mean the phone is already waterproof. Needless to say, one way or another, water can still find it’s way into the phone and one of the portals is the USB charging port.

When your phone gets in contact with any sort of liquid and the USB port at the bottom portion of the phone is not sealed, the device will notify you that it has detected moisture. This error is triggered when water bridges two or more pins in the port. The error however, doesn’t mean the phone is already damaged, it’s simply trying to suggest you have to do something about the moisture in there.

So, in this post, I will suggest some steps you can use to get rid of moisture in the port as get rid of this error message. But the main purpose of this post is to prevent further damage that may be caused by water. Continue reading as this post may help you.

Now, before we jump to our troubleshooting guide, if even you found this post because you were trying to find a solution to different issue, then I suggest you visit our Galaxy A3 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most commonly reported issues with this device. Try to find a problem that’s similar with yours and use the solutions or workarounds we suggested. If they don’t work for you and if you need further assistance, then fill up our Android issues questionnaire and we will include your concern in our next posts.

How to troubleshoot Galaxy A3 with moisture detected error

The following steps are based on practical troubleshooting procedures we technician often do to phones with this kind of problem. Don’t worry, none of the steps below as too complicated or too risky for you to follow.

Step 1: Turn off your phone

Apparently, we’re dealing with a possible liquid damage so it’s better that you turn your phone off first. This will prevent further complications.

After turning your phone off, hold it upright and don’t shake it as the water may go further in. The same thing may happen if you hold it upside down, so please refrain from doing these things.

Step 2: Blow into the port

Hold the phone upright above your mouth and then blow into the port from the side. This will push the moist into one side but not further in.

Better yet, if you have a can of compressed air,  you can give the port a blast or two and the moist will surely disappear. It may even get rid of other possible corrosive elements such as dirt or any sort of debris.

Step 3: Insert small piece of tissue

You only need a very small piece of tissue that can fit into the port. Some technician might suggest using a swab, but the tip is actually bigger than the port and it’s difficult to put it in not to mention there’s a risk that you might mess up some of the pins.

Using a tissue however is much easier and it can absorb moisture better than the cotton swab. So, all you really need to do is insert that piece of tissue into the port and leave it there for a minute or two so that it can absorb the moist.

After removing the tissue, check to see how wet it is as you may need to get another piece and insert it into the port again just to dry it off. If the tissue seems dry, however, then it may have already absorbed all the moist that’s in there. This time, try turning the phone on.

Step 4: Check the Liquid Damage Indicator

After doing the first three steps and the phone is still showing the moisture detected error, then it’s time to see if water has reached some of the components inside. You don’t have to open your phone up to be able to know that. All you need to do is remove the SIM tray and look into the SIM slot. Find the liquid damage indicator (it’s a small sticker) to see if it’s still white or has turned pink, purple or red. If it’s white, then there’s no liquid damage but since your phone is still showing the error, give it another hour or two to dry off the moist. However, if the LDI turned red or pink, then the error is just the tip of the iceberg. At this point, you have to bring your phone back to the store and let the tech handle the problem for you.

Step 5: Try charging your phone

After all the steps above and the error doesn’t show anymore, then try charging your phone to see if it charges fine. If the error would show up during the charging process, repeat the procedures and then dry off the USB cable as well.

If the phone heats up while charging even if there’s no sign of liquid damage, disconnect the charger immediately and then bring your phone to the shop to have it checked. If you still have enough battery left, backup your data and files and then reset your phone to delete all your personal information saved in your phone. Be sure to disable the Factory Reset Protection prior to the reset so that you won’t be locked out.

How to disable Galaxy A3 Factory Reset Protection

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Cloud and accounts.
  4. Tap Accounts.
  5. Tap Google.
  6. Tap your Google ID email address. If you have multiple accounts setup, you will need to repeat these steps for each account.
  7. Tap Menu.
  8. Tap Remove account.
  9. Tap REMOVE ACCOUNT.

How to effectively reset your Galaxy A3

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

I hope this troubleshooting guide can help you.

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