[Nexus 5 General] eastpac:
THIS THREAD IS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE A WATER DAMAGED NEXUS 5, OR HAVE JUST DROPPED THEIR NEXUS 5 INTO WATER. READ NOTE BEFORE REPAIRING

NOTE: The water indicator (shown as the red square in the photos) is located just above the sim card tray. It is only a few millimeters away from the edge of the phone which makes it VERY SENSITIVE to water. It turns from white to pink/red if it has been exposed to water.

My phone dropped into the toilet and was submerged for only 0.5 -1 second. This was enough for the indicator to go off. If you do not want to open up the phone, check the sim card as mine had small pink/red residue on it after I took out the sim card.

The location of the indicator makes it very easy for the indicator to go off. I can easily see how rain, extreme humidity, or even a small pool of tap water could make it go off if the sim tray is not inserted properly, let alone if it was submerged.

Helpful Resources/Guides: Nexus 5 dropped in toilet, recovered: http://www.reddit.com/r/Nexus5/comments/1wf4gu/guess_who_dropped_their_nexus_5_in_the_toilet_a/

Nexus 5 water repair SUCCESS STORY: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2618121

How to open Nexus 5: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+5+Teardown/19016

Opening Nexus 5 (more detailed) http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2542873

Repair guide (some steps are controversial, caution) : http://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/1npt9v/this_actually_works_if_you_drop_your_phone_in/

REPAIRS:

Read links/stories above for steps to recover Nexus 5, my method has not proved successful thus far. Please read the thread for other methods too.

The general consensus is to:

1. MOST IMPORTANT: Turn the off phone immediately. If your phone is off, don't attempt to turn it on or you will risk damaging the internals.

2. Use a cloth/paper towel to immediately soak up water around phone.

If you do not want to open up the phone for warranty purposes:

3. Place phone in an airtight container with activated silica gels, or with rice for few days.

Note: This is not the best method if the phone was submerged for a relatively long period or if you spilt coffee/soft drink on your phone. There is a high risk of corrosion with this as the water may be trapped inside for a long period of time causing internal parts to corrode. Other methods have proven more successful. Alternatively people have had success (in this thread, please read) by drying out their phones via traditional methods like using blowdryers etc. when the device was exposed to water for a SHORT period of time. Make sure you err on the side of caution when using heating methods as to not damage the internals, never use anything that would make the device too hot.

OR

If you don't mind opening up phone (fairly certain indicator has gone off and want to void warranty). If I could go back in time I would probably use this method:

3. Open up the phone by prying off the back (method in the link above), remove the battery and carefully assess the areas and components that have collected water. Remove the water and dry it out as much as possible. This may be enough if the phone was not fully submerged.

For more serious cases: For coke/coffee/saltwater or if the phone has just been sitting there a long time after water exposure:

- A lot of people have had success by washing the phone with deionised water first and then submerging it in pure ethanol (without battery). This serves to clean the phone of the contaminants and to prevent corrosion. (especially if you dunked in it coffee/soft drink). Theoretically the water/ethanol would not conduct electricity due to the lack of impurities in them.

-If you have left the phone untouched for a while without cleaning it, there may be some build up of corrosion. People suggest scrubbing the white corroded area off using small/light brush strokes of a soft bristled toothbrush either after the wash phase (deionised water) or just after the submerging phase (ethanol)

Many different methods suggested in links above. Make sure you read through the thread, there are various success stories here too.

My case:

As soon as I dropped it into the toilet, I turned it off straight away. I dried it off with a paper towel and stuck it in rice for a few days. Then I moved to a sealed container of silica crystals for about 5 days. Then I let it dry on table for another 2. Then it did not turn on, unresponsive. Did not charge or get recognised via USB. This was probably not an optimal repair method. The methods above may be more useful. But if you know the indicator has gone off, it would be best to open up the case straight away to drain the water out.

Then I opened up my Nexus 5 (after a week of deciding what to do). I could see small amount of corrosion around the sim tray area, usb insert area and others around the phone. Then I dipped the motherboard and into a bowl of isopropyl, enough to submerge it for 5-10 minutes. Then used gentle movements of a toothbrush to focus on corroded areas. I am now just letting it dry.

I will update this thread if the repairs are successful.

Update: Phone is still unresponsive, it may be that the battery is dead or one of the parts do not work at all. Any suggestions?

UPDATE 2: Ended up just buying a new Nexus 5 back in March, old one is just sitting here in the cupboard still unresponsive. I may try to buy a battery to see if it's a battery problem but for now I'll just leave it. Not sure if it would sell much for parts.

Please feel free to post other helpful resources or your own experiences on saving a water damaged nexus 5.

NOTE: I am from Australia. The cost to repair a water damaged Nexus 5 was a fixed cost of $290 AUD (16 or 32gb) if you send the phone to manufacturer (LG). Water damage is not covered under warranty but LG still accepts repairs out of warranty at a fixed price. The lady on the phone said that they would replace the motherboard. Opening up your device will void your warranty so please be aware of this before you try to repair it.

NOTE 2: If you live in the US, google has confirmed it does one time replacements no matter what. Read below: http://gizmodo.com/google-will-apparently-replace-your-nexus-5-no-matter-h-1630258357