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Repair information for the Google Pixel 4a. Released on August 20th, 2020. Model number: GA02099-US.

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did I kill my phone by warming it?

I dropped my Pixel 4a in water, then turned it back on too soon. It turned itself off, then got very hot to the touch. I used metal to act as a heat sink until it cooled down. After that, it went into a zip lock bag of rice. I ended up wrapping the bag of rice in a heating pad on low on and off for a few hours at a time until no condensation showed in the forward camera (a little over 2 days). Plugged the phone in to charge, and nothing. won't power up. no sign of life.

Is it worth trying to replace the battery, or are the electronics fried? I took the screen off, all looks normal. I don't have the correct bit to check any deeper in the phone. Help!

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Please don't use rice. It does absolutely nothing.

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I switched to lab grade indicating silica gel on the second day after thinking about rice as an adsorbent. The only things it's got going for it is the surface area, and being too big to get into the phone.

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Carolyn Marks Rice does not do anything but waste your time. The myth of rice as a tool for any kind of immersion accident has long been laid to rest as totally bogus. Rice does not work. It is the equivalent of doing absolutely nothing. Check on here for more info about that https://www.ifixit.com/News/30047/rice-i...

For now you want to stop continuing to try to charge, sync or otherwise use your phone. This potentially can make a bad situation worse. This may further damage your phone.

The next thing to do is to clean it. Disassemble your phone using Google Pixel 4a these guides . You must remove all EMI shields from your mother board. If you do not remove those, you might as well not do anything. After you removed those, clean the whole board, connectors and all with +90% isopropyl alcohol. Follow this guide , and even so it was written for a iPhone 3G, all the points are still pertinent to your phone. While you clean your board, check for any obvious damage, like burned or missing components etc. When it is properly cleaned, replace the battery. All these steps are to avoid delayed failure caused by corrosion. Best thing to do would be to clean it with an ultrasonic cleaner, but if you do not have access to one, this will at least help. Once all this is done, reassemble your phone and reevaluate. Until it is cleaned, everything will only be a guess. Even with all this, water damage has only a small chance to be fully repaired, but at least you can give it a try.

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I will take the phone to work, and check it under a microscope. I do have access to ultrasonic cleaners, but I'm not sure what can go into liquid safely, and what solvent should I use?

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I'd skip the dispaly on the cleaner and would focus on the circuit boards. Teh indiviaul make flex connecotrs etc. could easily be cleaned by hand. As for teh cleaner, deionized water will work and as for commercial solutions Elma and Crest have some good PCB cleaning solutions but I am sure others do as well. See what you can scrounge up.

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It is probably the water that killed it and not the aftercare. Sometimes the corrosion is not visible, unless you look under a microscope. You battery is most likely still good, but the fault lies in the motherboard somewhere...

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Carolyn Marks crwdns2934231:0crwdne2934231:0
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