Phone repairs itself after sitting in a hot car after a year.

[Joseph.k]

I had a Samsung note 20 ultra that the display died and I just forgot about it and stuck it in my car to take it to get diagnosed. After a year of it being left in the car and many hot days, I charge it and it turn back on even tho a couple months ago I charged it and still did not turn on. So what happened to my phone? Why did it repair itself.

[Bombastinator]

33 minutes ago, Joseph.k said:

I had a Samsung note 20 ultra that the display died and I just forgot about it and stuck it in my car to take it to get diagnosed. After a year of it being left in the car and many hot days, I charge it and it turn back on even tho a couple months ago I charged it and still did not turn on. So what happened to my phone? Why did it repair itself.

Hmm..  heating and cooling cycles.  There are a bunch of possibilities involving hardware and dendrites as well as other stuff.   I do not expect it to stay functional.  I suggest selling it quick while it’s still working.

Edited August 14, 2022 by Bombastinator

[Joseph.k]

2 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

There are a bunch of possibilities involving hardware and dendrites.  I do not expect it to stay functional.

Any chance it could stay function. I wonder what was wrong with it because before the phone still turned on but no display, I could watch YouTube, play games etc.

[Joseph.k]

Update: after two hours I fully charged it. I watched YouTube for about one hour and my display flashes light like shutting of a old crt tv while watching YouTube. But after couple of seconds I click the power button and it turns on like normal. Any ideas to diagnose for repair?

[NotFakeName]

16 minutes ago, Joseph.k said:

Update: after two hours I fully charged it. I watched YouTube for about one hour and my display flashes light like shutting of a old crt tv while watching YouTube. But after couple of seconds I click the power button and it turns on like normal. Any ideas to diagnose for repair?

Screen replacement

[Bombastinator]

3 hours ago, Joseph.k said:

Any chance it could stay function. I wonder what was wrong with it because before the phone still turned on but no display, I could watch YouTube, play games etc.

Without a display?  I don’t know where the problem occurred.  First assumption is hardware but if there was an OS update that fixed things it could have been a software thing and there is no problem.  If it was a hardware thing it could be some sort of metal movement from the heating cooling cycles.  It gets hot in cars and hotter in bright sun in cars they could have been extreme.  If it was a solder reflow it could be a micro fracture that melted closed again.  Given that it is an electrical device though dendrites are more likely.  The thing about dendrites is they’re microscopically small and thin.  While they won’t disappear on their own the connection could be incredibly fragile. Dendrites can bridge microfractures just as a reflow can.  There’s no telling from here, at least for me, how long the thing might last.  A few hours, a few months, a few years, forever, it’s hard to know.  Selling it or trading it in or whatever activates the “someone else’s problem field” though. You could check with your provider to see if there was a software update during the critical period.