How To Save Phone From Water Damage

Are you hurting after dropping your mobile phone into water? Here are some things you can do to to save your smartphone from a watery death.

1. Remove Phone

The more time your phone stays submerged in water, the more likely there will be damage. The less time your phone spends while submerged in water, the better.

2. Turn It Off

The worst thing water can do to your phone is short circuit it. By turning off your mobile phone, you can reduce the likelihood of this happening.

Apple iPhones: Hold the lock button together with the home button for 5 seconds to shut down your iPhone.

Android: Take out the battery (if possible, some Samsung Galaxy’s have removable batteries). Otherwise, hold down the lock key and swipe the screen when the shutdown prompt appears.

3. Drain it

Take out any removable attachments such as SIM cards, earphones, SD cards, etc. Drain the phone by letting water out through those now empty phone ports and outlets.

4. Wash Phone In Isopropyl Alcohol

Water contains impurities which can harm your mobile phone’s sensitive parts. Purchase some isopropyl alcohol that is 99% or higher, empty it into a little container let your mobile phone sit there for at least 60 minutes. The alcohol will push out most impurities once it cycles within your mobile phone. Alcohol evaporates much quicker than water and won’t leave any impurities whilst tap water will.

5. Open It (Optional)

The best practice to prevent damage is by opening up your mobile phone. Please only do this if you feel confident and have the right tools, proceed at your own risk! You can visit iFixit.com for specific instructions on opening up your mobile phone’s model. Once opened, you can use a soft toothbrush to lightly scratch off any left over debris or minerals deposits. These mineral deposits will cause corrosion if left untouched.

6. Dry It

If you followed step 6, leave your phone out to dry. To speed up the drying process, you can utilize an air compressor/duster to blow off any excess liquid.

If you did not open up your phone, leave it to dry in a well circulated surface. Do not leave it in rice, this method has been tested and is simply a myth.

There have been tests and leaving your mobile phone in Silca Gel sacks or Couscous is the most effective.

7. Wait

If you opened your mobile phone up and physically dried it from within, leave it overnight to dry thoroughly.

Otherwise, leave it out to thoroughly dry over a few days.

The key is to be patient and wait. Waiting will improve the chance of your phone surviving its swim.

8. Test It

After your mobile phone is dry, reassemble it if you opened it up. Take a stab at turning it on, in the event that it turns on then you’re good to go. On the off chance that unsuccessful, try:

– Charging it

– Syncing it

– Swapping the battery

If your mobile phone still doesn’t turn on after trying all the above, it most likely died during its swim. You can take it a local repair shop to try fix it, however this may simply be economically unviable. If this is the case, you can sell your mobile phone and buy a used smartphone or tablet for a cheap replacement for your existing water damaged smartphone or tablet.