TARTAR IN MY CELL PHONE? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

euronatura · #1 06-16-2009, 07:19 PM

Guys, this is new to me!!!!!!

Long story short. I was driving near the border of Guatemala and El Salvador (I was in Guatemala) the other day and all of a sudden my Nokia E65, 11 months use, stopped recognizing the SIM card. I know that it was jumping between service providers from El Salvador and Guatemala depending where I was driving.....

Anyway, took in to the cell company the other day and I just got back to see what the problem was and they told me that the phone could not be repaired and that my warrenty was no longer valid cause the phone had water damage. In short, I told them that they were high cause the phone has never gotton wet, then they took it apart in front of me, and were the SIM card reader hooks into the phone (this is down near where I hook in the charger), they showed me some white stuff, it looked like dust to me, and they told me that it was tartar, and that this was a sign of the phone getting wet. I told them that was not true then they went onto to change the story that we live in high humidity country (it was more humid when I lived in Miami and there my phone lasted 4 years) that and is what caused the tartar and therefore it was due to water cause of the humidity and therefore warrenty not valid.

Needless to say I was LIVID!!!!

Anyway, I took off out of the service center and went to the mangements central offices in another part of the city to register my complaint with the manager of the service centers. I had to this cause the supervisor at the service center said that he could not connect me via phone or give me his managers name or number, anyway he said that he was going to check into it but I need to be informed on this issue before I talk to him tomorrow and really let him have it.

I just figured out that phones have water protection stickers. Anyone know where it is on the Nokia E65 and what it should look like without water/humidity damage and what it should look like if I did dunk my phone in a bucket of water?

Anyway, I am searching to see where humidity causes tartar on electronics and I am coming up zero on the internet, all I get is gum disease and so forth.......

I am just sick and tired of changing cell phones every year. Yes, my cell phone here lasts only a year, now granted, I use my cell for work and log over 2500 minutes a month on them, but this time I am not going to let this cell company get away with anything. Before I would just pay the deductible and renew my contract, about $300 bucks out of pocket but not this time, I spend over $3,000 a year in cell service and I am tired of letting these people treat me like a chump.

And if at least, if they are going to, tell a lie that I can believe. Not tell me that I got my phone wet and I know I have not, and then say that it is cause is has "gum disease" (tartar) in it!

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks (I had to let loose)

Medmech · #2 06-16-2009, 07:37 PM

The best waterproof phones won't hold off the conditions you live in, its not the carriers fault that humidity ate your phone either. GSM phones are super cheap so its easy to keep a back up handy. Back in the day military grade electronics barely survived a month in your region.

euronatura · #3 06-16-2009, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Medmech

The best waterproof phones won't hold off the conditions you live in, its not the carriers fault that humidity ate your phone either. GSM phones are super cheap so its easy to keep a back up handy. Back in the day military grade electronics barely survived a month in your region.

I do not find that it is that humid here, especially where I live at about 800 meters above sea level. I found the humidity much much worse in Miami when I lived there.

Then also, I think that the cell company, if worried about humidity, should only carry and sell products that deal with humidity also. Not to mention that the people there changed their story in mid stride. First they told me that it got wet then when I told them they were wrong they said "oohhh, ok then it is the humidity..."

I just take this as standard trying to rip me off.......

Larry Delor · #4 06-16-2009, 08:53 PM

My current cell phone is a Casio G'zOne I can accidentally take it into the pool with me, and it will still work. I has o-rings at entry "lids" and can be charged by setting it in a cradle - not with one of those flat multi tipped fragile plastic plugs.
Perhaps it got "wet" not through the atmosphere, but by the perspiration on the side of your head.

MTI · #5 06-16-2009, 09:26 PM

I'm not familiar with other hardware makers, but Apple does utilize "moisture detection" parts in their iPhones, iPods and laptops. It's a common reply to warranty claims that the detectors indicate that the device was exposed to the wet.

Medmech · #6 06-16-2009, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by euronatura

I do not find that it is that humid here, especially where I live at about 800 meters above sea level. I found the humidity much much worse in Miami when I lived there.

Then also, I think that the cell company, if worried about humidity, should only carry and sell products that deal with humidity also. Not to mention that the people there changed their story in mid stride. First they told me that it got wet then when I told them they were wrong they said "oohhh, ok then it is the humidity..."

I just take this as standard trying to rip me off.......

Do you carry the phone in your pocket? If you do while working its enough to shorten the life of your cell phone. I don't hold it against the auto manufactures for supplying Michigan with vehicles that are worthless in the winter so be easy on your cell carrier.

Simple advice, buy cheap phones and use them like a rental or buy a waterproof/resistant phone. Cheap GSM phones are less than $10.

mgburg · #7 06-17-2009, 01:35 AM

I think the "techs" are using the word TARTAR because they heard an older tech use the term and they picked it up, not knowing what the term actually stood for...

I think what they are calling "tartar" is really "corrosion" - a white, powdery substance that results from 2 (or more) different metals being in close proximity and when subjected to skin perspiration or "salty water" - the metals act like two plates in a battery and start "trading" molecules back and forth...that shows up as "corrosion" or "tartar" - just taking your cellphone from a cool enviroment out into the hot, moist, sticky air of outdoors will cause condensation to appear on your gear...just like your glasses "fogging over" when you come out doors from a well air-conditioned building...just like your glasses, your cellphone will "fog up" and moisture will start blending into your electronic devices and eventually...the corrosion/tartar.

When you have the "glasses moment" - assume that your electronics is experiencing the same thing...then take the gear to a cleaner enviroment and if possible, remove the back covers, take out the battery and if possible, using a ShopVac with a blowing attachment on it, blow the gear out and let it dry...do what you can to keep the phone from getting "sweaty" or worse, wet at all...

Good luck!

compress ignite · #8 06-17-2009, 02:17 AM

They can and do make Water-Proof RF (Radio Frenquency) Devices.

BUT the Carriers do not specify them (Or Want to sell them to Consumers)
'Cause then how They gonna Rob You for the Cost of a New Cellphone every
6 to 18 months? AND if you're Dumb enough...A new 2 year contract?

Just wait until you get "Trapped" in the "Blackberry System"
You're an Un-Recovering "CrackBerry Addict"...
ONLY, your "CrackBerry" "sees" the Atlantic Ocean from North Dakota and trips
the Litmus Paper "Moisture Sensor" inside the Phone.
"CrackBerry" ceases operation.
Ain't No Warranty, EVER!

Lawyer I know files suit against them every year when it happens to him.
You know it's that "Time of the Year" ,when he stops answering his e-mails
for a week whilst he's at war with the Canadians over at BlackBerry.

I use a 10 Year old Digital Startac.'Simple , Great Reception , Cannot seem
to "Kill it".

E150GT · #9 06-17-2009, 09:36 AM

I spilled a drink on my Blackberry. No problems to date. I am addicted to my "Crackberry" though.

TX76513 · #10 06-17-2009, 10:02 AM

I believe the word used "Tartar" has been fumbled as it traveled from the lab by the CSR's. They probably mean TaTa or crevice corrosion. Ta or Tantalum is an alloy used in electronics (and other stuff) but it highly susceptible to corrosion from alkaloids (like perspiration and sea water). When we had military gear that failed and were opened for inspection to see everything corroded we would say This is TaTa (goodbye) .02

Medmech · #11 06-17-2009, 10:31 AM

There are a couple tricks to beat the moisture sensor, the easiest is to put a piece of clear packing tape over the moisture dot, the second is to but a strip of the dots on ebay.

Also you should periodically clean your cell phone especially the sim and battery contacts alsong with a pencil eraser on the sim card contact.

pj67coll · #12 06-17-2009, 10:44 AM

I don't know about all cell phones, but Blackberry's which we are issued at work have the moisture detection strip in them. You drop it in water and that will void the warrantee - as it should.. You'd be amazed how many we have to replace after idiot's drop them in the toilet, the pool, the jacuzzi etc.

- Peter.

E150GT · #13 06-17-2009, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pj67coll

I don't know about all cell phones, but Blackberry's which we are issued at work have the moisture detection strip in them. You drop it in water and that will void the warrantee - as it should.. You'd be amazed how many we have to replace after idiot's drop them in the toilet, the pool, the jacuzzi etc.

- Peter.

where is the strip? Is it in the body of the phone or viewable with the battery out?

TX76513 · #14 06-17-2009, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E150GT

where is the strip? Is it in the body of the phone or viewable with the battery out?

Thre are several differnt varieties of "snitch stickers"

theref · #15 06-17-2009, 12:55 PM

Are generally little white (when dry) square stickers underneath the battery or near the IMEI sticker. They turn pink when they exposed to liquid. (At least on BBs.)