Are you an owner of a wet or water damaged Galaxy J5? In this short troubleshooting article, we discuss some of the things to consider when you are in such situation and what you can do to have the phone fixed.
Problem: What to do if Galaxy J5 got water damaged and screen stays black
Hi! Basically my phone was in my bag when a toddler spilled water all over the inside of my bag. my phone was soaked I wasn’t at home so I dried it with a tissue and someone put it on the charger. once I had got home late at night, I put it and the battery in a bowl of rice. in the morning, I tried to turn it on again with no results. it just vibrated. it vibrates quite a lot as well. I was just wondering if there’s anything you can do though I’m might get it repaired tomorrow. the weird thing is it doing normal things like I have a tracking app and it told my parents when I got home despite not working turning on.
Solution: Unlike other Samsung Galaxy devices, your Galaxy J5 does not have dust and water resistance. If spilled water affected it and liquid came in contact with the internal components, you may be looking at a hardware issue. Hardware problems are generally not fixable on an end user’s level so the best thing that you can do right now is to have the device checked by a professional. Right now, the phone may not be completely dead that’s why apps continue to work normally. It’s possible that the screen may be damaged though that’s it stays black.
Disconnect the battery
One of the the worst things that can happen in an electronic device is when the motherboard or components come in direct contact with water while it is powered on. Such a situation is usually a death sentence for phones as water can cause a short in the motherboard. Once this happens, a component or components can get damaged for good causing a chain reaction. This is the main reason why water-damaged phones usually end up dead. The best thing to do right after getting a device wet is to take out the battery. This limits the chance of having shorted components or shorted motherboard.
Dry the phone
In some rare cases, drying a wet phone may prevent permanent damage. While the immediate effect of water contact is a shorted component or board, the other bad thing that can happen to the hardware is corrosion. Sometimes, corrosion can set in just hours after a device comes in contact with seawater. Corrosion in the motherboard or in components can’t be reversed so eventually, the phone will still die even if it works fine right after drying it.
And speaking of drying your phone, putting it in a bag of rice is overrated, and rarely works. The idea behind using rice to dry your phone is the fact that it requires time to work. Rice absorbs water and moisture but it can take this before all traces water or liquid can be removed. If you only put your phone and battery in rice for a few hours, don’t expect that you’ll get a bone dry device.
Also, keep in mind that rice won’t fix damaged components. If the motherboard has already been shorted right after water came in contact with it, even a year of drying in rice won’t help.
Get professional support
If you want to have a more accurate assessment of the situation, allow a technician check the hardware. This is the only way for you to know if the phone can still be fixed, or if the damage is isolated to the screen only.