My phone won't go to sleep.

September 25, 2011 4:18 PM

I dropped my Samsung Focus into water two days ago. It works fine (yay), except the screen keeps lighting up unbidden. Can I fix it?

Embarrassingly, this is the second time I've dropped it into water (the first time, into a mineral spring, was at least a good story). Both times, it was submerged for a very short time and has come out working totally fine. Calls, texts, and emails all go through normally, and there's no water visible under the screen. This time, though, the screen keeps lighting up as if I've plugged it in, even when I press the side button that's supposed to make it go to sleep. When it's actually plugged in, it acts normally, and when I turn it completely off, it stays off. I'm worried about battery life from the screen being lit up all the time, and also it's annoying that it won't listen to me. Is there anything I can do? I have insurance and so could just replace it, but it's otherwise totally functional, so that seems like a waste.

posted by oinopaponton to technology (3 answers total)

The only thing I'd know to try is turn it off, take the battery out, and put it in a bag/jar/vat of rice overnight. It'll get out the little bit of moisture that's shorting something somewhere. Hopefully.
posted by cmoj at 4:30 PM on September 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

A friend's phone took about a week in rice to begin working properly again. It was better after a few days but still glitchy, she put it back in for a couple more days and now it's great.
posted by sarae at 5:25 PM on September 25, 2011

Rice is good. Crystal cat litter, aka silica gel desiccant, is even better.
posted by flabdablet at 6:28 PM on September 25, 2011