Beware of the dot
Consumers with relatively new cell phones -- in one case a phone right out of the box -- say sensors inside the devices appear to be incorrectly registering water damage, voiding the warranties.
The consumers all insist they haven't dropped their phones in water or left them out in the rain, yet the tiny liquid-damage indicators inside their phones have changed color, indicating damage.
Wireless companies and phone makers say water damage is a common problem with cellphones and faulty readings from the indicators are unlikely. The company representatives said the indicators provide a reliable and quick way to find out if a phone's inner workings have been exposed to water, which can disable the phone's battery, its displays, and its circuitry.
Independent phone retailers and repair people say a phone doesn't have to be dropped in a toilet or a sink to sustain water damage. They say liquid-damage indicators may also change color if exposed to sweat, steam , extreme humidity, or condensation resulting from an abrupt change in temperature.
"It doesn't take much to get these things to change colors," said Chip Braeutigan , service manager at Cell Teks in San Antonio, which repairs damaged cell phones.
Few consumers are even aware of the indicators, which are tiny disks located inside the battery chamber and often inside the phone itself. Once the disks change color, most wireless companies won't honor their one-year repair warranties, in many cases forcing a customer with a defective phone to hire someone who can repair it or buy a new one.
Carol A. Wills of Uxbridge first learned about the liquid-damage indicators when her 16-year-old daughter took her six-month-old Motorola Razr into the Verizon Wireless store in Millbury to be fixed. She could still make calls on her Razr, but the display wasn't showing the menu or text messages. The technician took one look at the pink disk inside and told her he couldn't help her.
Wills believes her daughter when she says she never exposed the phone to water. Wills began asking her friends to check their phones and found many of them have disks that have changed color.
Samantha Ferland of Woodstock Valley, Conn., said she found a pink disk inside the brand-new LG phone her boyfriend had just purchased for her. Tara Andrews of Upton said she has three phones, and two of them have pink disks inside.
"It's a scam," Andrews said. "They're either pink when you get them or they're really, really sensitive."
Dan Walsh of West Boylston first learned about the indicators when his Motorola Razr began experiencing volume control problems. He took the Razr back to his Verizon Wireless store, where a technician opened the phone, found a pink disk, and voided the warranty.
"It's in pristine condition," Walsh said. "I used this phone exactly the way it's supposed to be used."
After the Globe contacted Verizon Wireless about the issues raised by Wills and Walsh, the company decided to give both of them new phones.
Michael Murphy , a Verizon Wireless spokesman, said the company accommodated Wills and Walsh because they are both long time, loyal customers, not because of any concern about the reliability of the liquid-damage indicators.
"They're accurate. They're meant to detect liquid damage, but they're only one indicator," Murphy said, noting that technicians can verify the indicator readings by inspecting a phone for signs of water stains and corrosion around the battery terminals.
Cell phone makers began installing liquid-damage indicators inside phones several years ago to give retailers a quick way to check for water damage. The indicators are generally white and turn red or pink when exposed to water, although some come with red lines or lettering and turn completely red when exposed.
Thomas Whitley , manager of field test engineering for LG Mobile Phones, said the indicators are accurate. He said he did not know their level of sensitivity, but was skeptical that sweat could cause the indicator to change color. "It would have to be a fairly large amount of perspiration," he said.
Alan Buddendeck , a spokesman for Motorola, said his company has two indicators inside most of its phones, one inside the battery chamber and the other inside the phone itself. He said the indicators have been thoroughly tested and are not overly sensitive.
"Would humidity and condensation cause the dot to turn? No, they wouldn't," he said.
But others who deal with cell phones disagree. Wills and Walsh said they were told at their Verizon Wireless stores that high humidity or sweat could cause a phone's liquid-damage indicator to change colors.
Braeutigan, the Cell Teks official, said the indicators can be triggered anytime moisture enters the phone through one of its openings, either from steam, sweat, condensation, or humidity.
Gary Lavitman , director of merchandise at IMO, an independent retail chain based in Waltham that sells wireless phones, said few consumers know about the indicators or how they work.
"Consumers think that if their phone hasn't been submerged, it's fine. But it doesn't have to be submerged to get that red dot," he said.
Warranties on most phones cover product defects for up to a year, but they don't cover water damage. An LG warranty specifically excludes defects caused by "exposure to moisture or dampness" and "spills of food or liquid."
Insurance policies costing $5 to $8 a month are available that do cover water damage. Verizon Wireless offers policies sold by independent insurers that cost $5 a month and come with a $50 deductible per approved claim. There is also a two-claim limit per year and a limit per claim of $1,500.
Wills said she thought about buying insurance for her family's phones but decided the total cost of $110 (the $60-a-year price plus the $50 deductible per claim) was too high. She feels lucky her daughter is getting a replacement phone, but wonders how common her situation is.
"How many people out there had to buy new phones because they didn't have the time or energy to argue with Verizon?" she asked.
Bruce Mohl can be reached at mohl@globe.com. 