Amateur trying to fix a dead Xiaomi phone

Thread Starter

btkj

Joined Oct 29, 2020
2
Greetings,
I don't know too much about electronics, hence I'm going to ask some possibly dumb questions.
Early this year I stepped into swamp with my Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro in my pocket while being drunk. The phone died and due to lack of time etc. I just got myself a new one. I would like to find out if it's possible to repair it though.
It's 99% dead, the only responsive thing about this phone is that sometimes when plugged to a wall, a red diode lights up (I think I never saw it glowing red before, it was glowing yellow when charging contrary to many phones).
The battery had no visible signs of being destroyed. Inside the phone, the upper part (photo #2, red square) where most electronic parts are was 100% dry. The PCB with charging port/microphone etc has some possible traces of moisture though (photo #1, blue circle).

Do you think it's possible that replacing that socket would bring the phone back to life? Or it doesn't work that way and a short circuit on USB socket could ruin the phone totally?
Also one more thing - I had some of the data backed up but not all of it. It's not important enough for me to pay somebody else for recovering it but I'd probably like to try to recover it in my free time, mostly for educational purposes, if I can't bring the phone back to life. How could I recover it on my own?
Regards
 

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AlbertHall

Joined Jun 4, 2014
12,344
First, try a good long rinse under running clean water and leave it somewhere warm, not hot, for a week to dry out thoroughly.
 

Dodgydave

Joined Jun 22, 2012
11,284
Give it clean out with glass cleaner or other switch cleaner type, and put in a bag immersed with rice , that will absorb any moisture.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,839
Welcome to AAC!
Early this year I stepped into swamp with my Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro in my pocket while being drunk. The phone died and due to lack of time etc. I just got myself a new one. I would like to find out if it's possible to repair it though.
The first thing you should have done is remove the battery and let it dry out.

What you should do now is clean any corrosion and dry thoroughly before attempting to power it up.
 

Thread Starter

btkj

Joined Oct 29, 2020
2
Thanks for the responses, however that happened more than six months ago, so the phone is definitely not wet anymore. Back then I probably plugged it in too quickly - on the next day - but would like to try either repairing it or retrieving the data anyway.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,839
Back then I probably plugged it in too quickly - on the next day - but would like to try either repairing it or retrieving the data anyway.
That was probably the worse thing you could do. Always make sure devices are dry before trying to power them. Now you have to deal with any corrosion. These devices aren't intended to be end user repairable.
 

AlbertHall

Joined Jun 4, 2014
12,344
Thanks for the responses, however that happened more than six months ago, so the phone is definitely not wet anymore. Back then I probably plugged it in too quickly - on the next day - but would like to try either repairing it or retrieving the data anyway.
But if it had power applied while it was wet then there could be conductive salts created by electrolysis and you need to remove them hence the rinse and dry routine.
 
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