Exercising with Droid Razr Maxx and it no longer works

[dkfitzu]

Is it that the Droid Razr Maxx and sweat dont mix? No hard jarring involved.

Had my new (less than 18 hours old) Droid Razr Maxx next to my skin while I was doing a 3 mile walk this morning. I sweated alot. Slacker Radio played during entire walk, had GPS on with a fitness app, and not much else other than usual email/text apps. When I finished the walk and retrieved the phone, the screen would not respond to my touch and it was flickering. Phone did not respond to the power key but later the screen went black. What could the problem be? I assumed the problem was too much moisture so I removed the SIM and SD card and have had it in rice bag 24 plus hours. I've tried several times during day and the screen still does not recognize my touch and the power key has no response. I done a forced reboot several times and it will power off/on and the screen will show, but touch not recognized and the power key down has no reaction. Battery decharged and plug it into charger and it was booted up when I checked on it later. Today I've tried a factory reboot and it is hung up and will not complete the reboot. I've exercised many times with my old Droid 3 next to my skin and never had any problems. Is the Razr Maxx so sensitive that the least bit of moisture will cause problems of this magnitude? Any suggestions?

 

[xxwabbit]

[h=3]Droid Razr maxx bathtub water test check it out ....... Seems like sweat wouldn't be a problem. Maybe you have a bad seal. I have never exposed mine to sweat or moisture so I can't relate. Hope the link works. I found it under General Discussions.[/h]

 

[cbreze]

Sounds like its brand new and a dud of sorts. Why not return it for a fresh Maxx. I'd be concerned that if it started working again it would possibly mess up again later.

 

[94lt1]

Hmmm, welcome to the droid forums. I would bring it back.... its supposed to withstand sweat. Be polite and explain the situation... see what happens.

If they try saying otherwise, then politely push the situation...

DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!

 

[dkfitzu]

Thanks for input. I appreciate your posts/input. I've contacted sales rep and meeting with them first thing Monday morning. Hoping for a positive outcome. And purchasing a protective case within the first hour of owning it. And no more exercising with it next to my skin. Any suggestions for an accessory to hold the DRMaxx during exercise/walking?

 

[FoxKat]

[h=3]Droid Razr maxx bathtub water test check it out ....... Seems like sweat wouldn't be a problem. Maybe you have a bad seal. I have never exposed mine to sweat or moisture so I can't relate. Hope the link works. I found it under General Discussions.[/h]

I would tend to disagree. Sweat contains salt, both a corrosive and makes water conductive.

To the OP, I wouldn't say that the RAZR/MAXX is particularly more susceptible to moisture, but it's very thin design leaves almost no open space in the interior, and the various layers are in a sandwich configuration which leaves very thin pathways between the motherboard and battery, and between the motherboard and the display, which will create "capillary" channels for water to travel through. If any of that sweat makes it to the motherboard it can cause irreparable damage. Also, the sweat may trigger the moisture detectors and that would void the warranty.

It's best to be completely honest with the warranty claim and simply hope for the best. Good luck!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ag3nt X]

I am currious to know FoxKat are you familiar with conformal coating? The motherboard in these phones is covered with this you might find it useful to educate your self on what that is before responding to threads like this in the future. Have a nice day.

 

[TisMyDroid]

The Razr's are supposed to be water resistant and are advertised as such. For some reason it seems you did get moisture-sweat inside your phone which I don't think should happen so easily especially on our Razr's. Go to verizon, explain what happened, explain that you expect that your phone should be capable of surviving this kind of typical use (especially given that motorola has bloat apps loaded on the phone specifically for the purpose of exercise) and because you are within your 14 days, you should get a brand new phone (not a refurb-clnr).

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Droid Forums

 

[nikecar]

I am currious to know FoxKat are you familiar with conformal coating? The motherboard in these phones is covered with this you might find it useful to educate your self on what that is before responding to threads like this in the future. Have a nice day.

yes, but unless you know how the coating was applied (spray, brushed, dipped, etc) and the conditions of the unit when applied, you really cannot make the argument to educate someone else if you aren't educated your self.
If they are applied by a person, no one is perfect. There are lemons in every electronic company. Heck, I've even read of lemons with cars that cost $250k+ and for that price you'd expect there wouldn't be.

Before you cast stones as others, please look in the mirror first.

To the OP issue, I might also wonder if the heat caused an issue. I had an electronic on a walk also next to the skin, and my body heat heated the item up. The display was on my skin and it was dark for a nice long time. Cooling the unit off got it working again. i put it on the AC vent of the car for a while. Took the better part of the day to get back to normal though.

i'm thinking, unless you sweat like a popsicle on a hot summer day, this may be the issue. It may also have overheated enough to have fried something.

 

[Shadez]

I am currious to know FoxKat are you familiar with conformal coating? The motherboard in these phones is covered with this you might find it useful to educate your self on what that is before responding to threads like this in the future. Have a nice day.

We are not all experts here, this is a hobby. If a person is trying to help, that's what matters. There are civil ways of correcting someone, no matter who it is, without a sarcastic echo.

BTW, Your self is 'one' word, Yourself.

Think of others feelings before posting...

 

[weatherlover1]

Thanks for input. I appreciate your posts/input. I've contacted sales rep and meeting with them first thing Monday morning. Hoping for a positive outcome. And purchasing a protective case within the first hour of owning it. And no more exercising with it next to my skin. Any suggestions for an accessory to hold the DRMaxx during exercise/walking?

I walk with my Maxx but I have the otterbox defender so its in its case when I walk not next to my skin. I have never had any issues. I would look for a case that keeps it on your belt or one of those arm ones I see people use when running/walking. Hope you get a new phone with out any issues!

 

[Ag3nt X]

yes, but unless you know how the coating was applied (spray, brushed, dipped, etc) and the conditions of the unit when applied, you really cannot make the argument to educate someone else if you aren't educated your self.
If they are applied by a person, no one is perfect. There are lemons in every electronic company. Heck, I've even read of lemons with cars that cost $250k+ and for that price you'd expect there wouldn't be.

Before you cast stones as others, please look in the mirror first.

To the OP issue, I might also wonder if the heat caused an issue. I had an electronic on a walk also next to the skin, and my body heat heated the item up. The display was on my skin and it was dark for a nice long time. Cooling the unit off got it working again. i put it on the AC vent of the car for a while. Took the better part of the day to get back to normal though.

i'm thinking, unless you sweat like a popsicle on a hot summer day, this may be the issue. It may also have overheated enough to have fried something.

Perhaps I happen to know exactly how it was applied. Further Perhaps it was not applied by human hands. I was not casting any stones but rather making a suggestion to increase the accuracy of information put out here.
Next I would like to point out to you that the Razzr has its own thermal shutdown protection to prevent what you have suggested above.

The problem with the OP's phone is that they obviously got a defective unit. It happens. Now lets move along smartly now and not ramble on with postings that include complete speculation and silly accuasations you never know you you might be doing that to. Lets try and stick to the facts and learn from others.

 

[FoxKat]

I am currious to know FoxKat are you familiar with conformal coating? The motherboard in these phones is covered with this you might find it useful to educate your self on what that is before responding to threads like this in the future. Have a nice day.

Ag3nt X, I respect what you are suggesting, and rather than get upset about the jab, I'm going to expand upon it.

Conformal Coating is simply term used to describe a coating process that conforms to unusual shapes, with the concept that when used on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards), it will "conform" to all the nooks and crannies between, under and around the various board components. Where your implication that I was either ignorant of (a lack of understanding), or was simply ignoring (either forgetting or simply choosing to ignore), the fact that the PCB (and all other internal surfaces of the Droid RAZR/MAXX), is coated with a Conformal Coating fell short, is that any one of countless compounds can be used to coat the surfaces, and they can be applied in a number of ways, with each compound and method of application having its pros and cons.

There is hot dipping, where the compounds are heated to a viscous temperature and then the apparatus (circuit board) is dipped into the liquid compound. This works well for the PCBs themselves, but won't work well for an entire completed phone. Also, depending on the melting temperature of the compound, it can potentially be too high resulting in actual damage.

There is also solvent dipping where the compounds are diluted in a evaporation solvent, however since the solvent can also do damage to the surface it's being applied to - specifically plastics and polymers, its application benefits are limited.

There's spray application, which while it may work OK for flat surfaces, it doesn't find its way into the smaller crevices, and so works best for things like Glass (Hydrophobic - water repelling), exterior paints (Omniphobic - dirt repelling), floors (Oleophobic - oil repelling), etc. It is also less uniform and results in lots of waste and cost.

There's brush application which takes on most of the properties of spray application but provides even less protection for cracks and crevices, and also tends to use even more compound through uneven application and waste so cost and weight can be higher.

Then there's Vacuum Deposition coating, where the device is placed into a near 100% vacuum and then the compound is atomized and sprayed into the container to bring the pressure back to ambient room pressure. As a result, the atomized fluid or solid adheres to any surface that was previously exposed to the air, essentially replacing the air at the surface with a nano coating of the compound. This results in the most complete and uniform application, and can be extremely carefully monitored for thickness of application. Too thick and it adds unnecessary weight and cost, too thin and it loses its effectiveness.

Then there's the issue of what compound. Some as mentioned above are great at repelling one potential offender, but are not so good at others. Mixes of various compounds can bridge the gap somewhat to provide protection for various substances, but at reduced effectiveness of any one. Same holds true regarding surface being applied to, so where some compounds will adhere well to one type of surface, they may not retain their qualities when applied to another. Also, weather, sun (UV Radiation), heat (expansion and contraction such as are in electronics - which can result in the coatings being compromised), solvents, alkalines, acids, abrasives, etc., all play a role in deciding what solutions are applied and what protection they are to afford.

In a circuit board we also have the issue of electricity and the need for any coating to have an extremely high electrical conductivity resistance (insulating benefit). If the coating even slightly increases conductivity, it may still protect the circuit from water for instance, but can be one giant short across all contacts at the same time. THIS is why I mentioned SALT. Water by itself, the chemical compound H2O is an insulator, meaning it does not conduct electricity. It's the impurities in water that turn it into a conductor.

When salts are disolved in water, the water becomes an electrolyte. This allows electric current to flow. The salts separate into different electrically charged atoms called ions. Salt, or Sodium Chloride (NaCl), breaks up into positive Na ions and negative Cl ions. Since any conduction of electricity outside of the circuit itself, the pathways intended for electrons will disrupt the operation of the device, it can cause currents to flow in excess of what various components can safely handle, potentially resulting in permanent damage and failure of the component(s).

Salt is also a catalyst in corrosion. Salt causes Oxidation-reduction reactions, which creates corrosion. Any electric current applied to that Oxidation-reduction reaction speeds up the corrosion (ever see the top of a car battery's terminals?) Copper (the main conductor in these PCBs is very susceptible to corrosion or Oxidation (the Green color you see on copper water pipes or copper roofs on buildings for example). Corrosion in these devices can burn traces off the board in mere hours, permanently disrupting the flow of current and destroying the device.

​

Finally, since the application of a chemical compound in water with electricity present can alter the chemical properties of substances it comes in contact with (insert Conformal Coating here), it can result in a breakdown of the desirable properties and leave you with a complete failure of its intended purpose. The nano coating inside these phones MAY be WATER RESISTANT (or as Motorola says "Splash Resistant"), however nowhere does it say that it is either Saltwater Resistant or resistant of any other compound or chemical.

So in closing, before you intend to question someone's knowledge about a subject and try to discredit them, do your own research.

 

[FoxKat]

Perhaps I happen to know exactly how it was applied. Further Perhaps it was not applied by human hands. I was not casting any stones but rather making a suggestion to increase the accuracy of information put out here.
Next I would like to point out to you that the Razzr has its own thermal shutdown protection to prevent what you have suggested above.

The problem with the OP's phone is that they obviously got a defective unit. It happens. Now lets move along smartly now and not ramble on with postings that include complete speculation and silly accuasations you never know you you might be doing that to. Lets try and stick to the facts and learn from others.

Can I suggest that ANYONE who makes a blanket statement such as you have "The problem with the OP's phone is that they obviously got a defective unit." is obviously not very scientific in nature, since they don't understand that making such black or white statements often results in them being proven wrong as the answer lies somewhere in the gray. :blink:

Now to quote you, "Now lets move along smartly now and not ramble on with postings that include complete speculation and silly accuasations you never know ["who" corrected from "you"] you might be doing that to. Lets try and stick to the facts and learn from others."

 

[nikecar]

Perhaps I happen to know exactly how it was applied. Further Perhaps it was not applied by human hands. I was not casting any stones but rather making a suggestion to increase the accuracy of information put out here.
Next I would like to point out to you that the Razzr has its own thermal shutdown protection to prevent what you have suggested above.

The problem with the OP's phone is that they obviously got a defective unit. It happens. Now lets move along smartly now and not ramble on with postings that include complete speculation and silly accuasations you never know you you might be doing that to. Lets try and stick to the facts and learn from others.

If you hand built his phone, then more power to you.

If all products made by man, or made by a machine that was made by a man, never failed for you or anyone else, then more power to you. If you are saying the shutdown protection cannot fail, then go for it. If you are saying that there is no way on God's green earth that the coating was applied perfectly, then more power to you.