Water Damage In Phone, Tips & Advice
Whether toilet, pool or washing machine: wetness is the natural enemy of the smartphone and yet it is still a commonly occurring crisis. A lot of people search Google for phrases like “Can water damaged phone be repaired” or “is water damaged phone repairable”. The answer is definitely! There are a few tips to follow before taking to any expert and worrying about how much it cost to repair a water damaged phone. If you use a hairdryer to dry or put the unit on the heater, you will do even more damage.
Smartphones threaten to break quickly when wet. Toilets, washing machines, and overturning glasses are the natural enemies of sensitive high-tech devices. In case of emergency, many well-intentioned bits of advice come from friends and acquaintances, which, however, do more harm than good. You can not do that under any circumstances:
“Low temperatures in the oven do not harm the mobile phone”
Still, the myth haunts the net that the smartphone after a short treatment in the oven it will become dry and ready for use again. That’s wrong. Never put your smartphone in the oven! Even low-temperature settings, about 50 degrees, can significantly damage the sensitive electronics in the smartphone and degrade the phone to a costly paperweight.
“Simply blow-dry the smartphone, then it will dry quickly”
A hairdryer dries the hair, and therefore helps a wet smartphone? Not at all. The heat of the hairdryer can damage the electronics of the mobile phone and make it useless. The airflow can also blow moisture inside the smartphone and cause further damage. The hair dryer should stay in the bathroom.
“The microwave makes the food warm, so it dries the smartphone too”
Metal and electronic devices are by no means ideal to be put in the microwave! While the finished food and cocoa are getting warm quickly, the cell phone can catch fire. Also, you have the moisture from the smartphone that can destroy your cell phone and the microwave at the same time.
The microwave ban also applies if you have previously removed the battery from the phone. The antennas in the smartphone in combination with the microwaves can also be a fire hazard. And no, you can not charge your iPhone battery in a microwave, even if a nasty internet joke says so
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“Nothing can happen to the heater”
Put the phone on the heater sounds like a safe household tip, but it can be deadly. The same principles apply to heat as to the hairdryer and oven: heat can destroy the electronics inside. While the phone is drying, limescale can also deposit on the device’s board – there is a short circuit here and the smartphone is immediately over.
“Just spend a few hours in the sun”
Whether a hotel pool or the Mediterranean: On vacation, the risk of water is much higher than home. In a first reflex, many cell phone users put the smartphone directly into the southern sun to dry it properly. Big mistake! The heat can damage the phone considerably.
By the way: Even if your smartphone has not fallen into the water, you should protect the sensitive device from the sun’s rays. Especially the dashboard in the car as this can become a barbecue.
If your smartphone falls into the water, a fast response is required. The longer it is in the sink or the toilet, the more difficult it will be to rescue later.
Remove the battery and dry it
After the rescue from the water, you should in no case turn on the Smartphone. If it is still on, you must turn it off as soon as possible to avoid a short circuit. Open the phone and remove the battery. However, some manufacturers rely on a permanently installed battery. For example, iPhone owners have no means for the opening of the protective cover.
If you can not remove the battery, shut down the smartphone normally. For an iPhone, press and hold the standby button on the top of the device until a red slider appears that you move aside.
Also, remove as many components as possible, such as a SIM or SD card. Now gently dry the phone with a towel or kitchen paper. This prevents water from entering the interior through connections. During drying, make sure that you do not push the water into the interior.
The trick with the rice bag that everyone is talking
You could try that if you don’t have any repair shops nearby. Instructions for doing the rice trick are; Now fill a bag of uncooked rice and put the smartphone in it. The rice absorbs the moisture and dries the smartphone gently and but not so effectively. However, there can be problems here. The rice may become too full of water and clog the smartphone openings, such as the headphone input.
To be on the safe side, you can wrap the phone lose in paper towels before you put it in the rice bag. Let the rice “pull” for a day or two before removing the phone and starting it again for the first time.
Prepare for emergencies with special repair kits
While the rice bag is rather a stopgap, you can also prepare yourself specifically for the emergency. Various manufacturers offer special repair kits to save your wet smartphone. These come with small bags that contain moisture-absorbing granules that can dry your smartphone. Other manufacturers rely on a cleansing alcohol solution that cleans the phone before drying. These kits are available for ten to 20 pounds.
#1 Solution – find your nearest repair shop
The repair shop is the best solution to get your water damaged phone repaired. What we as a Gadget Clinic do if we receive a water damaged phone into our lab. First, we open the phone completely and get the water out of the phone as fast as we can by cleaning all the parts and drying them. If we see a bit of corrosion on the board we clean with an ultrasonic cleaner. We test all the components of the phone. And if something is not working we replace them.
Water damaged phones are very tricky to repair. And sometimes the fault can not be seen straight away and damage will occur a few months later.
Conclusion
Can water damaged phone be repaired? Water damage in phones is not a total write off as long as it is attended to immediately and properly. Most smartphones work after these solutions have been applied. Also, take note of the myths that can destroy your phone and take it to an experienced technician as soon as possible to get it repaired as soon as possible.