How to repair a 14 month old Ionic that was in a swimming pool once and no deeper than 1m?

[The_Laird]

Hi, any advice on how to get my Ionic working after it stopped working following it's first use in the swimming pool would be appreciated....

I was given my Ionic in April last year, I hadn't been swimming due to lockdown, so it was never tested in the pool until now.  I went for a swim on Sunday, it appeared to function correctly, when I went to bed it had 50% charge and then during the night it died.  It now only shows the Fitbit emblem when I press a button or put it on charge.  I have tried both resets, however there is no response from the watch, other than the emblem showing on screen then disappearing after a short while.  I have tried customer support however they told me there are no faults with their watches and have pointed me to their website to buy a new watch.  The Ionic is no longer available so my chargers and extra straps would need to be binned costing me more to replace. 

Really disappointed, I thought the Ionic would be good for at least a few years.  I cannot afford nearly £300 every 14 months to replace a smart watch from a company that doesn't offer a repair service, then expects you to trust their brand and buy another product, after the current one I own is flawed. 

If anyone has encountered this problem and knows of a work around or repair your help would be most welcome.  Thank you.

[Jdsenter]

Well depending on what happens, you must dry it out, use either rice, drying salts, or dehumidifier, if moister is still inside it will fail, if screen replacement is needed search for that, several companies sell a screen. Replace the screen if moister is stuck in the digitzer or screen. Once done it should work. 

[The_Laird]

Thanks for the response, it is in a bed of rice at present, unfortunately up until now it hasn't assisted. Screen appears to be functional, certainly visually, will have to wait and see if it is still touch sensitive.  The sensors on the rear do not appear to be functioning (no light from them), I don't know if that is down to other hardware or if they have been affected by the water. 

[SunsetRunner]

It's easier to dry if you can lift the screen up. 

Heat the front up, I use a clothes iron on its lowest settings, to soften the adhesive then pry up the screen with a thin blade.

Be careful to just lever the edges and not go in too deep. Itll dry quicker opened and you can still test it.

It's also free and you have nothing to lose.

[The_Laird]

Thanks for that,  I'll add it to the list.