I dropped my phone into water, what should I do?

If you are wondering what I should do after dropping my phone into water and looking for a solution, this article will be helpful for you. Let's move on to the solutions without writing more.

TTURN YOUR PHONE OFF IMMEDIATELY, REMOVE THE BATTERY IF POSSIBLE AND “CHECK” IT.

Your phone is an electrical device powered by a battery. Pulling any wet electrical appliance may cause a short circuit. So, if your phone didn't turn off on its own, turn it off and leave it alone. Phones submerged in water usually stay wet for up to 48 hours, so don't turn it back on. If you do this, you will reduce the chances of your phone working, because staying inside with water can cause permanent and irreparable damage.

Water can ruin your phone, but it's mostly corrosion that's the bigger danger. That's why it's not right to put your phone in rice.

Because many phones that could be saved were corroded because they were kept in brass for a few days, and became garbage because they could not be saved from the permanent damage caused by corrosion.

Sure, it might help dry out a brass phone and the phone might work for a few days, a few weeks, or maybe a few months, but it will eventually succumb to corrosion and it will probably be too late.

Maybe you think to yourself, maybe I'll try rice and maybe I'll just get lucky and if it doesn't work I'll do something else. Sure it does happen but it's rare and usually means there's a ton of water softener in the water the phone was exposed to.

All liquids contain some minerals and these minerals damage the phone's circuit board. By the way, you waited a few days and caused corrosion.

The sooner you get the phone serviced after exposure to liquid, the better. If we pick up the phone while it is still wet, within a few hours of liquid exposure, we have a better chance of getting your phone back to working order. The longer you wait, the less likely the phone will survive. Corrosion often occurs with mineral-rich water, especially the ocean, lakes, chlorinated municipal water, rivers, or swimming pools (and spas) that use bromine.

Just a quick note because we hear this all the time, “My phone was only sitting in the toilet for two seconds!” These devices are not air or waterproof. Unless the device is submerged in water or immediately submerged in water, liquid immediately touches every part of the device.

WHAT TO DO AFTER WATER DAMAGE?

Send your phone to our store for service. The sooner we get it, the better. If you choose to go to a different shop, make sure the service they offer is similar to what we describe below. We have seen many water damaged phones serviced by other stores where the phone was opened and dried but not cleaned.

OUR WATER HARMFUL SERVICE

When we receive your phone, we completely disassemble the entire phone and its removable parts. The circuit board and all parts with metal connectors and contacts go through a cleaning process. Sometimes only one step is required, sometimes up to three steps are needed depending on how bad the corrosion is. This process prevents corrosion from starting and eliminates any corrosion that could severely damage the phone. Until we do this first step we will not be able to troubleshoot any issues the phone may have because if there is corrosion this could be causing the issue you are seeing.

For example, we see a lot of phones where people bring in for screen replacement, not to mention liquid damage, and when we open the phone we see corrosion for the components of the screen. Since corrosion causes the screen to not work properly, it won't help to replace the screen until we deal with the corrosion. Once the phone is set up after cleaning we put it back together and run tests and diagnostics to see if the phone works again. The cost of this service varies by model (pricing varies between phone models). This is a non-refundable labor charge that must be paid when you turn off your phone. Turnaround time for water damage service is at least 6 hours. Most of the time it requires the phone to remain in our shop 24 hours a day.

POSSIBLE RESULTS

After disassembling, cleaning and reassembling the phone, there are three possible outcomes:

1. The phone works and there are no problems. Cleaning the corrosion was all that was needed and no other parts were required

2. The phone needs additional parts to work, such as a screen, battery or charging point. Every situation is different, and unfortunately we cannot give you an accurate estimate of the final cost to service your water damaged phone because we won't know if additional parts will need to be replaced until we perform the cleaning and diagnosis. If additional parts need to be replaced this will incur an additional charge and we will contact you to confirm these costs and advise you on the best course of action.

3. Phone does not work after cleaning. That's always a possibility. Something may have short-circuited the phone while there was water inside, or since water-damaged phones are often brought to service late, corrosion may cause permanent damage that cannot be repaired. Corrosion dislodges and destroys components on the circuit board that cannot be replaced.

Because water damage and corrosion are unpredictable, there is no warranty on water damage repair other than the part being replaced. For example, if we replace the screen, we can guarantee the screen but we cannot give any guarantee that the phone will continue to work.

It is also possible to bring a working phone with old water damage (usually water damage that occurred more than 48 hours ago) as your phone will not work after the service. This is a risk, it's a bit hard to explain but basically it can rarely hold parts in place temporarily if the corrosion has progressed to a point where it causes permanent damage. This is rare because if the corrosion is this bad it is rare that the phone actually works. In these rare cases, it is the removal of corrosion that causes the parts that are ready to rupture to finally break. We know it's hard to understand, but if this rare situation were to happen, the phone itself would delay working on it and sooner rather than later. In other words, there is a possibility that the water damaged phone you brought in working condition may malfunction while being cleaned and serviced. Again, the bottom line is the sooner you pick up the phone the better.