I know people always show up and finally post when they've got a problem...I apologize. I've been lurking on and off for a while. The Big FAQ is fantastic and absolutely invaluable when I first got my BB 7130e. Now on to the problem...

Last night my BB got dropped in water. It wasn't salt water, it wasn't a hot tub, it wasn't chocolate milk, just water. I snatched it out in a second or less. I immediately wiped off all the outside water and it seemed to be functioning fine. I continued to use it to SMS for another hour or so, when suddenly clicking the trackwheel no longer performed its expected function. That's when I got worried. I immediately removed the back and the battery and did my best to remove any traces of water. I blew through the seams for about half an hour until I decided I had manually removed as much moisture as I could. I replaced the battery and turned it back on. The unit powered on fine but several buttons responded with incorrect functions (i.e. the "end call" button automatically dialing a "0"). I decided my only hope was to leave the battery out and try again later, so I left it open overnight and tried it again this morning.

In this morning's test I was able to use the trackwheel normally, but after a bit it wouldn't scroll anymore. I tried each number on the keypad in a row, and they all worked properly this time (phew!) but after another few seconds of testing, buttons started going haywire again and performing other button's duties. I removed the battery again and came here to search the forums for solutions to getting a blackberry wet.

I know I fell for the temptation of testing, but it doesn't look like my BB is fried. I didn't drop it in anything crazy like chlorinated water or salt water. It seemed to me I had pretty normal functioning immediately after the incident and at first this morning. My question is, to the experienced users of this forum, does it look like my BB will recover on its own given appropriate time to dry? I've read the thread on disassembling, removing and cleaning the motherboard, and baking it, but I think it's just moisture and not other contaminants. I don't own a T6 Torx screwdriver and even then I'm not entirely sure how to get into my 7130e. Thoughts?

And I had this accident twice and both times I took the battery out and used my highest powered ShopVac and bith times it worked without any problem.
I usually brush my pool in the morning and same thing happened to my brand new first GSM Nokia 6310i phone and I did the same thing and worked fine..
Looks like I am just like roto-rooter -

The issue is you didn't get the battery out asap. The water can be ok but not with current. I say let it continue to dry but it may be too late. There are many threads here on this and I am sure you have seen them. All you can do is be patient. Note that there is a water indicator in the battery compartment so don't expect a warranty claim sorry to say.

I agree with Stinsonddog. The problem was using the BB for an hour after it dropped in water. This is were you have the problem.

Leave it sit for a day or two and then try it again.

Does not look good , but you never know.

I've got similar feelings. The water can cause the circuits to short, which is usually temporary. I'd avoid using it for a couple of days and put it somewhere warm like your airing cupboard or by a radiator (unlikely this time of year I know).

It might be worth doing a search on here to see what you find. I think I remember Mark R. doing a post sometime ago about a procedure for taking these things apart, cleaning the board, and cooking them at low temp to get rid of water.

I think your problem is going to be not having done a thorough drying IMMEDIATELY after dropping it in the water.

This happened to me with a 7100t. I powered mine up and had all sorts of interesting colors on the screen, like a 60's lsd trip or some kinda Warhol painting. (And I have posted my procedure for drying it out should you have searched the site for suggestions earlier) of using a simple home blow dryer first on the unit while open and the battery out. Then, I GENTLY shook any excess water out.

Then, with the unit still open and battery out, I laid all parts on the dashboard of my car in the sun to dry. After 3 hours, the unit worked perfect again. No weird pshyco colors or problems. It is still in use 2 years later by the wife, now.

It can take days to get all the moisture out, and just a hint of it inside can cause the symptoms yours is displaying. Give it some time, battery out, in a warm room. Re-try it in a few days.

Recipie:

1. One Wet Blackberry
2. 2 1/2 gallons of compressed air (90psi)
3. Warm, dry location

Directions: Take the wet blackberry and add 90psi of air for 2min, be careful not to mix with speaker or microphone. Once all 2 1/2 gallons of air have been added, set near warm (75-80deg) location and "bake" for 2 days. Turn on blackberry, and voila, your now have a new lease on life.

...You can kick this recipie up a notch by vaccuuming the device with a 2hp shop vac, but it may not be of much use this late in the situation.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies! I actually did do a search before posting and read a bunch of threads, but it seemed like most people really needed to CLEAN their BBs and not just dry them out. I'm happy to report that about 24 hours after the incident, I've put the battery back in and everything seems to be working just fine! The 0/Space and OP/. keys aren't as responsive as they should be, but they still work. I'm hoping they'll get better with time. I just left the battery out and let it sit on the windowsill in the sun today with the seams propped up. I turned it a couple times, but god only knows if that made any difference whatsoever.

Anyway, thanks for all the replies, and I'm proud to announce that my 7130e is alive and well!!

You won't believe this!!! Two weeks ago I got hit by a wave in saltwater. My 7100 did not get submerged, but it did get wet. I did not notice it wet in my coat pocket until the next day. Needless to say, it was having problems. The phone was still working, however, the trackwheel and keypad were not responding (no I/O). I could not navigate using the trackwheel and I could not answer the phone with the keypad when a call came in (but calls did still come in to the phone and the phone rang). So for the most part, my 7100 was garbage at this point. I transferred my SIM card to my old phone and ordered the 8100.

In the meantime, I read this thread about water damage. I thought what the heck, I don't have anything to lose. So I disassembled my 7100 and removed everything off the motherboard. I reasoned it had a little salt corrosion going on. So, here's the crazy part....(taken from "you only need two items to make things work in this world - If its loose, use duct tape; if its stuck, use WD40"). I sprayed the whole motherboard with WD40. I sprayed it good and let it soak in for a while. Then I tried to rinse the WD40 off with warm water. This wasn't taking off the WD40 so I added a little dish soap. This took off the WD40, but now it was soapy. So rinsed it several more times in warm water (warm water taken from our water cooler). With that complete I now had to dry it off. I read in this thread to bake it in the oven. My oven's minimum temperature is 170. So I baked the motherboard at 170 for 1.5 hours. Then let it sit over night. This morning I re-assembled the phone ....... and it now works perfectly again.

try this.. don't use it for one day, take out the battery and the sim.

The BB will likely not recover on it's own and may suffer intermittent reliability problems (or outright failure) down the road. Back up you data now, search the forums, and plan for the worst.

Your mistake was to not immediately take the battery out, then clean and throughly dry the unit for several days. By using the unit repeatedly and immediately you have likely killed your long term chances. But who know for sure? You might get lucky. But somehow I don't think the probability is that high. Sorry.

You can of course buy used units on the for-sale forums on this site, howardforums, or on eBay. (*Aroc ducks)

Everyone has their suggestions, but I bet you know doubt heard of my situation since you refered to chocolate milk. Indeed mine suffered a similar fate a while back and Mark Rejhon suggested a low heat bake. I suggest doing a little more digging. From other posts i have heard, the low bake is really the ticket. good luck!


the Gecko

I've been reading all threads on water damage and ended up here. My 7290 took a bath. I've read the posts about taking it apart and cleaning the motherboard in distilled water and baking it in the oven. I've taken it apart, but one thing is not clear to me. I've removed the screen from the motherboard, but below this is a white plastic covering (the keyboard sits over the top) under which is what appears to be a thin plastic sheet but which I think is maybe glued (?) to the motherboard. Does anyone know if this can, or should, be removed when trying out the baking method.

Thanks

The white thin plastic sheet in the 7290 is only glued on with a small amount of glue. I would recommend to remove this sheet before trying out the baking method, else the risk is to high that the sheet melts away.

Thanks for that acnst, but do I reglue it and if so how?...Questions questions questions