Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

So the phone is water damaged, wont even turn on or anything, had some screen power, but only minimal almost like a backlight but thats it. But I wanted to know how can I erase the info on it if I cant even access it? Secondly if the phone is damaged to this extent is it even refurbishable? Will they be able to eventually access it?

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

If there is water damage don't even bother trying to retunr it. Just report it stolen. And you answered yourself. No, if you cannot turn it on you will not be able to erase it. I hope you have insurance on it. If you do , just report it stolen... or even send it back , but I doubt you will be able to do much with it.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

I don't think report stolen is the right option because If I'm right that requires a police report, Just report it lost if you wish to, I'm sure nothing bad will happen though if it is water damaged as the company most likely just rebuilds them... fresh start and deletes everything.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

if you can't turn the phone on, there is no way to erase it. And yes it is possible for someone to fix the problem and actually access the data. I don't know if this is going to happen but it is possible. I have been able to get mulitple liquid damaged phones to turn on when the customer could not. I use to be a tech for Sprint 3-4 years ago.

i wouldn't recommend saying stolen also, just say you lost it.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

why say anything about it being lost or stolen??? if there is insurance on the phone and you file a claim and have to pay a deductible then why lie about it????? insurance is for exactly that. its not like verizon is gonna replace a liquid damaged phone for free anyway.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

the only reason i said to report it lost is because it seems like the op is afraid of someone turning his phone on 1 day and having access to his info.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

If you report it stolen you DO NOT need to have a police report........ I'd report it stolen if you're going to to anything or buy a new screen and put it in. Takes 5 mins the rest of the phone is perfectly fine. You shorted the screen backlight.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

id say attempt a hard reset using the buttons then pull the battery if it seems sucsessful. if not run it over in the car or really get it wet. let it go skinny dipping in a glas of beer. or better yet, piss. no one will want to open it up and look at it then. i also know for a fact that if you really get a tp wet and leave it that way there is no amount of drying that can bring it back to life. i mea truly submerged.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

DUDE...you my friend are one most will not invite into their homes....lol...but it was funny.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

I agree with running it over with a car. Take lots of pics and post them.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

Does anyone have an iPhone he can practice with first?
:occasion5:

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

report it stolen

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

I would just say you lost it, then you get extra stylus, battery, batteryback, charger and spare parts just in case,
you gonna have to pay a deductible anyway, why not keep it for yourself?

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

I assume you've already opened it up, removed the battery and let it dry out? Since you said you've still got some power going to the display, you could try MyMobiler or something similar to access your phone and erase your data. Provided that it's actually booting and it's just the display that's not working now, that is.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

I had a simular situation. I have sprint and pay for the insurance, rather than water damage i droped a 540 lb motorcycle on it. , then threw it against teh house. then threw it in the house.

odly enogh, tho it wouldent turn the screen on or take phone calls, i started it, pluged it in, then accessed it through windows. (if you can itl be in my computer)

this is less likely with water damage.

as far as returning it, obviously your carrier is not goign to replace it, but with sprint all i did was call the insruance company (not sprint) and filed a damage claim, which is what you would want to do.

you do have to send the phone to them, but its not a warrantee thing so they couldent care less what rom it has. they are goign to clear any data if the memory chip is still functioning so i wouldent worry about the data past attempting to retireve it.

again, insurance, not warrantee, so dont worry about the rom. they dont care if you are running dos, they just want the hardware.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

Why not just nuke it? Remove the battery and stick it in the microwave for 1 to 2 second burst repeatedly with a 10 second or so wait in-between. Leave it in too much longer continually and it'll start to melt the case and probably show obvious abuse. It should destroy the flash memory enough that they probably couldn't access it anymore to see what was on it to begin with.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

a microwave? seriously? what kind of data do you have? the truth about 9/11?

the insurance company doesent care about who did 9/11. all they care about is refurbishing it. they wont even bother looking at the rom.

you will get your new tp2 before you even send the broken one back.

tho you should ask them if they have a clause about water damage BEFORE giving them any account info. even if they ask do not give ur acct or phone # before they answer. the insurance company shouldent care though. they are insurance. not the carrier.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

Well like I said before... just either return it as I'm sure they don't care much about what you did with you're phone or just report it lost.... or... take off your top and get killed by Greg Kinnear. <-- last part is joke lol.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

See if it still syncs with your PC maybe you can still load stock rom and relock.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

I went swimming with my phone.. It would not turn on or anything so I just sent it in. That was a year and a half ago. They never said anything to me about it being flashed. It may have just been luck though.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 8.12; MSIEMobile6.0) Sprint T7380)

+1, also if it still charges the battery you can use it to charge the spare overnight, that is unless you already have a spare battery charger.

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

Two fun words for you "Skeet Shooting"!!!

Re: Water damaged, and returning, but cant turn it on to delete, and flash back
 

It's possible they couldn't recover it. But either way, I think once it's water damage they just scrap the board. I doubt they would refurb it...that just wouldn't make sense.