Quick Answers
Yes, it is often possible to fix a phone that has fallen into water, but the chances of success depend on several factors:
– How long was the phone in the water? The less time it was submerged, the better.
– What kind of water was it? Distilled water can cause less damage than saltwater or chlorinated water from a pool.
– How quickly can you act? Following some DIY fixing steps right away gives you the best shot at saving the phone.
– Is the phone still working partially or not at all? If it’s totally dead, your options are more limited.
– What phone model do you have? Some phones are more water-resistant than others. Newer iPhone models are pretty water-tight.
– Are you comfortable taking apart your phone and cleaning its interior? This is often required for a water damaged phone.
– Can you get the phone professionally repaired? Phone repair shops have tools to thoroughly dry out and fix wet phones.
So in many cases, with prompt action, the right resources and some technical skills, a water-damaged phone can be revived. But if the phone was submerged for a long time in corrosive water and is completely dead with major damage, it may be impossible to salvage.
How Does Water Damage a Phone?
When a phone is dropped in water, it can suffer damage through two main mechanisms:
Short Circuiting
The first and most serious issue is that water can short circuit the phone’s electronic components and circuit boards. Modern smartphones contain many tiny integrated circuits and chips that control everything from the screen to the cameras to the battery.
If water gets on these components and bridges connections that aren’t supposed to be connected, it can create short circuits. This disrupts electrical signals and can lead to voltage spikes that damage or fry delicate electronics.
Even small amounts of water can lead to short circuiting problems if it gets to the wrong places. Corrosion over time from water can also progress to create short circuit failures.
Corrosion
The second way water damages phones is through corrosion of metal components and connections. Many of the small scale parts in smartphones, from electrical contacts to microsolder joints, are metal and prone to corrosion when exposed to water.
Corrosion is an electrochemical process that degrades and oxidizes metal over time, transforming shiny contacts into coated or even brittle surfaces. This can destroy electrical connectivity in phones even if the water itself didn’t short circuit them initially.
Saltwater and chlorinated water accelerate corrosion mechanisms and multiply the phone damaging effects of liquid exposure.
Factors that Influence Water Damage Fix Success
If your phone has taken an unfortunate swim, there are several factors that will determine whether DIY repairs or professional phone recovery are possible:
Submersion Duration
The length of time a phone was submerged directly correlates to the extent of water damage it likely sustained. A quick dip may only introduce minor moisture to the exterior or openings. But longer submersions give water more time to infiltrate deep into the phone and cause shorts and corrosion.
After just 30 minutes underwater, most phones will sustain serious damage requiring disassembly and component cleaning if they are salvageable at all. Extended submersion beyond an hour often leads to irrecoverable failure. Acting fast is key.
Water Purity
Not all water is created equal when it comes to phone damage. Ultra purified distilled water contains no dissolved salts or minerals that could lead to electrochemical corrosion reactions. It can still cause shorts, but less permanent damage overall compared to tap water or other sources.
On the other hand, saltwater and chlorinated pool water have much higher concentrations of dissolved ionic compounds that accelerate corrosion and electrical shorts. If your phone took a swim in the ocean or pool, it faces longer odds of survival.
Speed of Action
As soon as possible after water exposure, you’ll need to start the process of drying out and cleaning your phone to remove water from sensitive components before permanent shorts and corrosion have time to set in.
If you can begin drying the phone within an hour or less, you have a decent chance of minimising the water damage. Waiting longer than this significantly decreases your odds of successful repair. Don’t delay disassembly and cleaning steps after retrieving your wet phone!
Signs of Life
If your phone was only exposed to minor moisture, it may continue to function partially or intermittently after water damage, giving you hope for an easy fix. Being able to power the phone on or charge it, even if some functions are faulty, means key circuits are still intact.
Conversely, if your phone was submerged long enough that it won’t power on at all, won’t charge, and shows no signs of life, it likely sustained major short circuit damage or corrosion, severely limiting DIY fix options. Nonetheless, phone repair experts can sometimes resuscitate totally dead phones.
Phone Model
Many modern higher-end smartphones tout impressive water resistance ratings, especially Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxy models. Their tight seals can keep minor splashes or quick dunks from damaging internal components.
Older budget phones often lack any waterproofing. Though no phone is fully waterproof forever, newer high-end phones generally survive liquid exposure better than outdated or cheap models. Check your phone’s IP water rating if known.
Your Technical Skill
Successfully bringing a water damaged phone back to life often requires disassembling it, cleaning interior parts, and properly drying its many components. This requires technical skill, finesse, and special tools.
If you don’t have experience taking electronics apart and troubleshooting at the circuit board level, your chances of DIY success are lower. In these cases, professional phone repair provides the best fix option. But with practice, anyone can learn to do it themselves.
Immediate Steps After Water Damage
Once your phone has come into contact with liquid, you want to start damage control immediately. Here are some key first steps to take right away:
– Retrieve the phone from the water quickly if it is still submerged. Don’t wait to act.
– Dry off the exterior of the phone with a towel to remove exterior water. Avoid heat sources for now.
– If possible, power down and disconnect the phone from any chargers or cables.
– Remove any protective case from the phone to access the interior.
– Do not try charging or powering on a wet phone before cleaning.
– Disassemble the phone to access and dry internal components. Steps vary by model.
– Carefully dry the phone interior using air drying techniques. Do not shake out water.
– Check for any immediate signs of short circuit damage like burn marks.
– Be prepared to complete a thorough cleaning process using isopropyl alcohol and water displacement.
– Packaging silica gel packets can also help absorb lingering moisture overnight.
The quicker you can dry out and remove traces of water from your phone’s internals, the better your chances of success before corrosion sets in. If you notice major damage right away, it may be beyond DIY repair. But careful, prompt action gives you the best shot. Do not power on your phone until it is fully dried out.
Deep Cleaning a Wet Phone
To fully dry out and recover a water damaged phone rather than just the exterior, you’ll need to open it up and carefully clean the interior components most vulnerable to liquid:
Step 1: Disassembly
The exact disassembly process to open up your phone and expose the motherboard and other circuitry varies by phone model and requires specific tools. Online disassembly guides for your phone can walk you through each step.
Take your time and be careful not to damage delicate ribbon cables or connectors in the process. The goal is just to access the internals.
Step 2: Locate Problem Areas
Examine the phone’s interior closely under good lighting once opened. Water damage is often visible as moisture beads, mineral residue deposits, or corrosion discoloration. Note any problem spots.
Pay particular attention to board-mounted electrical contacts and ports. These transmit power and signals and are frequent water damage hotspots.
Step 3: Dry Out Components
With the phone interior exposed, you can now thoroughly dry any detected wet spots. Absorb surface water gently with a microfiber cloth. Fans or compressed air can also blow away moisture in hard to reach areas. Just avoid high heat.
Q-tips dipped in isopropyl alcohol also help displace lingering water from electronics. Be very gentle swabbing contacts and connectors.
Step 4: Clean Circuitry
Check all interior electronics, wire leads, and contacts for any visible corrosion, mineral residue, or oxidation. Use alcohol and gentle swabs to carefully remove it.
Soak any rusty screws in vinegar to dissolve corrosion before reinstalling them later. Preventing continued corrosion is key for water damage phones.
Step 5: Let Dry
With the phone interior cleaned and dried, leave it open in a warm dry place for at least 24-48 hours to ensure no moisture remains. Add silica gel desiccant packs to aid drying.
Reassemble the dry phone carefully afterwards. It may turn on successfully now, but give it a few more dry days before regular use to be safe.
Professional Phone Water Damage Repair
For severe water damage or phones that fail to recover through DIY methods, professional mobile phone repair shops have advanced tools and techniques to revive even badly soaked phones:
Ultrasonic cleaning
Ultrasonic cleaners vibrate contaminated objects at high frequencies in a water bath to dislodge particles. They can deeply clean phone motherboards and small complex parts.
Vacuum drying chambers
Special vacuum kilns and dehydrator chambers remove moisture from the phone gradually under low, dry heat. This dries phones much better than ambient air.
Isopropyl wash stations
Dedicated isopropyl alcohol wash stations submerge the phone’s boards to displace water for thorough cleaning and corrosion removal.
Microsoldering tools
Damaged microsolder joints can be repaired with professional microsoldering stations and microscope optics. This fixes broken connections from water damage.
IC chip replacement
Severely shorted integrated circuits may need replacement using hot air soldering tools to safely remove and install new chips.
Leakage current testing
Advanced devices detect tiny electrical leakages on boards that indicate short circuit paths from water intrusion that must be fixed.
While costly, for phones with extensive water damage beyond DIY help, professional phone recovery services like these can sometimes perform miracles.
Preventing Water Damage
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to phones and water. Keep your phone safe from costly liquid damage with these simple habits:
– Always keep your phone in a waterproof case when at the pool, beach or on a boat. Look for IPX8 level protection.
– Never use a phone while it’s raining or snowing without a waterproof cover.
– Avoid setting your phone near sinks or places where it can easily be knocked into water.
– Turn off and seal your phone tightly in a ziplock bag when going to water parks or other wet environments.
– Use a phone lanyard or clip to keep it tethered if taking photos near water.
– Keep your phone away from toilets, puddles and sprinklers where it only takes a brief fall to soak it.
– Never shower or bathe with your phone unless it’s in a waterproof bag or sealed case. Steam can also damage phones.
– Set phones well back from pool and beach edges where an unexpected wave could wash them away.
– Keep a drying kit with silica gel on hand in case your phone does get wet so you can act fast.
While today’s phone water damage repair methods are good, an ounce of prevention still beats needing to cure a soaked phone. Keep it clear of water risks with good protective accessories and habits.
Conclusion
Dropping your phone in water can be a stressful event that puts your expensive device at risk. Though daunting, there are steps you can take to potentially rescue a water damaged phone both through DIY methods and professional mobile phone repair services.
The key factors that dictate your chances of success are:
– How long the phone was submerged
– The water type (pure or salt)
– Speed of drying action taken
– Signs of life from the phone
– Phone model water-resistance
– Your technical skill level
For minor exposure to non-corrosive water caught quickly, success is often possible through disassembly and drying of internal components as long as irreparable short circuit damage hasn’t already occurred. With more extensive water damage, professional phone data recovery using specialized drying and cleaning tools offers the best hope, but can be expensive.
Prevention is always preferable to cure when it comes to phones meeting water. Use protective cases religiously in wet environments and avoid setting phones in precarious places above sinks and pools. With vigilance and prompt action after an accident, you stand the best chance of saving your precious data and expensive phone investment should it take an unexpected swim. Careful habits and knowledge of emergency revival methods helps safeguard your technology.