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Samsung Galaxy A7 no longer charges and keeps showing ‘moisture detected’ error [Troubleshooting Guide]

ByHarold Hisona
1 Comment

When the warning message “Moisture has been detected. Make sure the charger/USB port is completely dry before charging your phone.” shows up, that’s when the phone stops charging. In other words, the not charging issue is a result of this error and the latter is also a result of possible liquid damage or a firmware issue.

We have readers who own the Samsung Galaxy A7 who contacted us regarding this problem. It’s not the first time we tackled this issue so you may find similar posts in our site but in this post, we will tackle this issue with the A7 being the subject of our troubleshooting. This is for the benefit of our readers who reached out to us asking for assistance. If you’re one of the owners of this device and are currently bugged by a similar issue, continue reading as this post may help you.

Before we proceed, if you have other concerns with your Galaxy A7, visit our troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most common problems with this device. Try to find issues that may be similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they won’t work or if you still need our assistance, feel free to contact us through our questionnaire.

Troubleshooting Galaxy A7 that keeps showing ‘moisture detected’ error

In this troubleshooting guide, we will consider every possibility and rule each of them until we can determine what the problem is and hopefully make your phone charge again. But the course of our troubleshooting will be to make sure that it’s not due to liquid damage even if the error actually means it is. The thing is, the warning is actually handled by a service that may not work properly if the phone has some serious firmware issues.

But you know what, it’s very important that we can make your phone charge first before we move on to get rid of the problem as there’s only so much we can do about a device that won’t turn on due to a drained battery. With all that being said, here’s what I suggest you do about this…

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Force reboot your phone first and try charging again

It’s always better to begin our troubleshooting with very simple and safe procedure to address possible system crash or glitch. To do this, press and hold the Volume down and the power keys together for 10 seconds to reboot your phone. But unlike the usual reboot, this one actually simulates battery disconnect which refreshes your phone’s memory.

Once the phone has successfully rebooted, try charging it to see if the error still shows up and if so, then move on to the next step.

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Check for possible liquid damage

There’s a valid reason why you need to do this and it’s because the most common cause of such error or warning is water in the USB port. If your phone got splashed with water, then the problem might be as shallow as the charger port. However, if your device got dipped in water for a minute or two, then it might be due to a liquid damage.

Now, get a cotton swab and clean the charger port or insert a small piece of tissue into it to absorb the droplets or the moisture. If you have a can of compressed air, give the port a blast to get rid of any foreign objects or you can just blow into it. After doing this, try charging your phone again to see if the error still shows up and if it does even if the port is already dry, then it might be a liquid damage. The next thing you need to do is check the Liquid Damage Indicator (LDI) because if it’s tripped, then it’s clear what the cause of the problem is.

To check the LDI, remove the SIM card tray and look into the port. If the LDI turned red, pink or purple, then your phone is suffering from liquid damage, however, if it stayed white, then move on to the next step and rest assured the hardware is just fine.

Turn off your phone and charge

After making sure the phone isn’t suffering from liquid damage, the next thing you need to do is turn it off and charge it. We can now do this without the fear of damaging your phone further because apparently it’s not due to liquid damage.

What we’re trying to accomplish in this step is to know if the device can successfully charge its battery. Remember, the error would only show up if the phone is powered up so without the error, the device may charge properly. If that’s not the case however, then try the next step.

Try charging your phone in Safe mode

This procedure was suggested by some of our readers saying the phone successfully charges in this mode even if there’s an error message that keeps popping up while the phone is in normal mode. Follow these steps to run your device in safe mode:

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the screen with the device name.
  3. When ‘SAMSUNG’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode’.

Now try charging your phone and if it actually does charge, then allow it to fully-charge its battery. At this point, we can now say that the problem is with the firmware only and not the firmware. The next step might help you fix this problem.

Clear cache of USB Settings service

The ‘moisture detected’ error is handled by the service called USB Settings. It’s possible that its cache got corrupted that’s why it’s not functioning well and keeps on popping up the error even if there’s no moisture in the charger port. Reset it to see if it makes a difference:

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Swipe left a few times to display apps under ALL tab.
  5. Scroll to and tap USB Settings.
  6. Tap Clear cache.

Now reboot your phone and then try charging it. This might be the end of the problem but if the error is still showing up after this, then you have no other choice but to reset your phone.

Backup your files and reset your phone

Should the phone charge in safe mode or when it’s powered down, then it’s more likely a firmware issue and the reset may fix it. But before anything else, make sure you make a backup of your important files and data and then remove your google account from your phone and follow these steps to do the master reset:

  1. Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
  2. Turn off the device.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  5. 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).
  6. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  7. Press Power button to select.
  8. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  9. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  10. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  11. Press the Power key to restart the device.

I hope this troubleshooting guide can help you. If you still need our help after this though, then feel free to contact us.

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One Comment

  1. I have this problem and my phone chargers if it is power off,If i power on the phone when it is charging also is it fine.But as soon as the charger is unplugged ,the message pops up again.I cant clear the cache,because it shows 0KB,what should i do next?
    Please help,This is very annoying

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