Verse Pro is not waterproof at all :(

[DJUNGELSKOG]

My 2-month old Verse Pro got rather dirty, so I have decided to give it a quick rinse. It was supposed to have IPX8 water resistance.

After washing my old PW5 (IPX8) many times I didn’t expect any problems with the Pocketbook. I have swam in pools and in the sea while wearing my Apple Watch (IPX7) countless times. I never take it off when I shower. My iPhone (IP67) regularly gets wet. So what could possibly go wrong with the Verse Pro (IPX8)?

I held it under a tap for less than 30 seconds and it no longer turns on. Water damage is obviously not covered by the warranty. I understand that I’m stupid and I shouldn’t have done it, but now I’m giving a warning to everyone else.

If you want to buy this particular device because of it’s supposed “waterproofness” then you should look elsewhere. The manufacturer is simply lying about the device's IPX rating.

[JSWolf]

How do you get Readers so dirty?

[graycyn]

I'd contact Pocketbook regarding the fact that the device is supposed to have an IPX8 rating and tell them it seems not to have any moisture/water resistance at all!

They might decide to cover it for you. Or might not. But it never hurts to ask. Best that happens is they tell you this should not have happened and offer to replace the device, worst is they brush you off.

That said, a lightly dampened (wrung out) microfiber cloth has served my needs for cleaning e-readers.

I bought my Pocketbook Era used, and cleaned off some oily fingerprint marks from the backside with this method (they were pictured in the eBay description), and the tiniest drop of Dawn dishwashing liquid. Device looked brand new after.

[church mouse]

The IPX8 standard does not mean protection against running water which has some force to it (such as holding it under a constantly running tap), but indicates that it should be water-resistant when held under water (i.e. a passive condition).

Of course, that is very rarely made clear on any IPX8 product.

So, the Verse Pro could be IPX8 compliant but fail under the OP's circumstance.

[John F]

Originally Posted by church mouse

The IPX8 standard does not mean protection against running water which has some force to it (such as holding it under a constantly running tap), but indicates that it should be water-resistant when held under water (i.e. a passive condition).

Of course, that is very rarely made clear on any IPX8 product.

So, the Verse Pro could be IPX8 compliant but fail under the OP's circumstance.

Interesting, from the Amazon site:

If your Kindle is immersed in salt water, chlorinated water, soapy water, or liquids other than fresh water, make sure you rinse that liquid out of the device with fresh water such as cold tap water. Then dry your Kindle.

I would think "rinse" would mean running it under a faucet, otherwise they should have used "soak".

And from the Kobo site:

Avoid exposing your eReader to water moving powerfully, like waterfalls or waves.

And although water from a faucet can be powerfull, IMO, it would have been more helpfull if they mentioned running it under a faucet. Just because other manufacturers don't mention water from a faucet, doesn't mean Kobo shouldn't (this isn't meant as criticism of church mouse).

[DJUNGELSKOG]

Thank you everyone for your replies, I really appreciate them!

I have actually opened my device to see if I can save it. I’ve contacted Pocketbook customer support as well (well, Vivlio in my case) but didn’t get any reply from them yet.

So I have decided to disassemble the device.
It’s not a Kindle, so it’s not glued together, and the waterproofing is supposed to be achieved by the special coating on the PCB - same as Kobo Libra 2.
There were a few drops of water inside, which should have been fine. I believe that the difference between running water vs water pressure shouldn’t have mattered in this case as the result would have been the same, given that the case is not watertight.

The connectors on the PCB were covered by some sticky substance (silicone?) and by some yellow sticky tape above it.

However, the tape above one of the connectors (I believe that it’s the display connector) was not fully attached to the sticky stuff below it, and there were a few drops of water underneath this tape.
I have disconnected the battery and left the device to dry overnight.

I have tried to turn it on in the afternoon and it did, but only the top half of the screen appears to be working. I can use the navigation buttons and even the touch layer still works.

I’m wondering if the water droplets got to the display connector (that was not watertight due to the poor assembly) and damaged half of the pins. Does this conclusion make sense?

[nhedgehog]

Sounds more like a broken screen to me. Dry blow the display connector (slowly-be careful to get it not too hot). The sticky stuff is supposed to do the waterresistance. The tape can't do this.

[DJUNGELSKOG]

It no longer turns on So I stand by my initial statement.

A supposedly IPX8 device no longer turns on after being gently washed with tap water.
Then it does, but only half of the screen is working. I don’t think that it’s physically broken because the working half was completely intact (no lines) and the broken half was completely empty, and the split was perfectly in the middle.
And now the device is dead again.

It was a good e-reader but I’m not going to give this company any more of my money. If you are looking to buy it because of it’s supposed waterproofness - look elsewhere. If you already have one, don’t take it anywhere near water.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DJUNGELSKOG

It no longer turns on So I stand by my initial statement.

A supposedly IPX8 device no longer turns on after being gently washed with tap water.
Then it does, but only half of the screen is working. I don’t think that it’s physically broken because the working half was completely intact (no lines) and the broken half was completely empty, and the split was perfectly in the middle.
And now the device is dead again.

It was a good e-reader but I’m not going to give this company any more of my money. If you are looking to buy it because of it’s supposed waterproofness - look elsewhere. If you already have one, don’t take it anywhere near water.

How did you get it so dirty that you felt you needed to rinse it?

[DJUNGELSKOG]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How did you get it so dirty that you felt you needed to rinse it?

I was cooking and reading at the same time

[slm]

Pocketbook's build quality has clearly fallen off: I bought a Verse Pro and tossed on to my bed as I am wont to do. It split open at the seams. No big deal, I thought, although this is the was the first time in all my years of abusing electronics that this had happened. So I popped the back and front together again. The Verse Pro turned on the but screen not longer works.

On the other hand, my Touch HD3 served me without any problems for many years (and still works fine).

Nonetheless, I tossed the Verse Pro and bought another one--I like the Verse Pro better than the Touch HD3.

So Pocketbook got two purchases by lowering their quality instead of one.

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by church mouse

The IPX8 standard does not mean protection against running water which has some force to it (such as holding it under a constantly running tap), but indicates that it should be water-resistant when held under water (i.e. a passive condition).

Of course, that is very rarely made clear on any IPX8 product.

So, the Verse Pro could be IPX8 compliant but fail under the OP's circumstance.

Also keep in mind that IPX8 doesn't mean that there'll be no damage at all, since the USB-C port is still exposed, you need to very carefully dry it afterward to prevent damage to the port.