Fix A Water Damaged Phone

Phone is a high-tech device that is expensive. Its not easy to replace new one when ones gets damage. Therefore we need to take care of it. If you happened to see your phone dunked in water, what would be happen? Your phone can be damaged completely or may be you would be able to fix it. In this article we are going to talk about how to fix a water damaged phone.

Protect your phone

Before we know how to fix a water damaged phone, its worth to know how to protect our phone. Everyone likes to get a waterproof phone with a good IP rating. If it dunk in the water, there is no problem at all. But they are expensive and everyone cannot get them at a higher price.

If you know your phone can not handle liquids like water, you need to take care of it. Specially if you are going to beach or pool. You can buy a water proof phone pouch in such condition. And also you can get a phone insurance. You can get insurance from your carrier or the retailer that you bought your phone from, or a third party.

Turn your phone off

The most important thing you need to know is the longer your device stays underwater, the higher the chances of damage it. If your phone falls in to the water, you need to get it out ASAP. It does not matter where it is. If its in the pool or toilet, you need to hurry.

After you get it back from the water, turn it off and let it to be in that way. You might think the phone is ok and its ok to turn it on. But don’t to that. Keep it stay in that way. If your phone has a removal battery, take it off. The importance of doing this is water cannot reach or harm to your phone’s important parts while electronics are active. If water reach to the operating components, it can be cause for permanent damage. That why we mentioned you need to turn off your phone right after the incident.

What are the things you should not do after you dropped a phone in water?

Before to fix a water damaged phone, There are some things you need to do. Some of them are given below.

• As we before mentioned, do not turn your phone on, Because electrical components can be damaged.
• Don’t plug your phone. it also cause for the damage of the electrical components.
• Don’t press any keys. Because it can push water further into the phone.
• Don’t try to shake or blow into the device. This is also caused for the push water into deeper areas of the phone. Especially try to avoid blow in to the phone.
• Do not apply any heat to the device because heat can also damage the phone.
• Don’t move the phone around too much because it is also caused for the push water into deeper areas of the phone.

Remove the parts of the water damaged phone

We do not mean take off all the parts in your device. Do not get misunderstand. We just said to remove the parts that are removable in your device. You can remove phone’s back cover. And also you can remove SIM card and SD card. If the battery in your phone can be removed, then remove it. Now days many phones comes with no removable backs. If your phone’s can do it, then do.

If you have some knowledge about hardware in the phone and ins and outs of a phone, go ahead and remove all the parts you can. If you don’t know about it, please do not go further. Because it can cause more harm to your device. You might have knowledge about it and you might be still thinking whether you should do it or not. You might be worrying about its warranty.  Do not worry and take the whole phone apart. Because it might help to dry every single piece of your phone faster. Do it if you have the knowledge of its hardware.

Try to dry the exterior

You can use a cloth or paper towel to gently dry out. Dry out them as much as you can. But do not mess with the phone too much and do not move things around. Because it might be caused to push water deeper into the phone.

Try a vacuum cleaner

We mentioned above not to blow anything into the phone. And also we said not to move your phone around. In this case you can use a vacuum cleaner to remove water, There are areas that paper towels and clothes cannot access. Therefore this solution will be useful.

Dry out the water damaged phone

Drying out the water from the damaged phone, is not just simple thing and it take some time. You can use another phone until dry out the water. Using it you can check whether your SIM card is still working or not. Use SIM card after dry out it.

how do you dry your phone ? Its not hard. All you need to do is leave the phone on the counter or inside a drawer. There is a way that you can help to fast drying process. You can put it in an environment that will help to drying like putting it next to a window, next to a fan or air conditioning vent.

Another thing you can do is put your phone into a Ziploc bag that is full of rice. You need to put your phone in there about two or three days. You might be surprising why we use a rice bag. The answer is rice is dry and it is very good at absorbing humidity in the air. Rice is in every home and its not hard to find also. Rice will make the phone’s environment drier and it also help to dry out the device.

If you have got silica gel packs, you can use them as an alternative for rice. Silica gel packs are little packets you can find in shoes or electronics boxes. If you can buy a water rescue kit, it will also help you. We mention in here to buy Kensington’s EVAP bundle. It consists with a special bag and silica gel packs. Using Kensington’s EVAP bundle is 700% more effective at drying moisture than using rice. Therefore its worth to use.

That’s the all we can do for fix a water damaged phone. If you have done all the things we mentioned above, now its time to check whether your efforts are success or not. But wait few days for it. Now take the phone out from where you have left it. Now put all the parts together. Then plug it and try to turn on. If its work all are done, you are succeed. But its not over yet. Check another few days its behavior. And also check phone’s microphone, earphone, and speaker.

We have done everything we could do to fix a water damaged phone. If the phone doesn’t work, Its better to take it to a professional and check it can be fixed or not. If not your phone won’t work and you have to get a new one. If you have insurance your device you might be able to get a claim.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it worth repairing a water damaged phone?

It totally depend on your objectives. If you want to get back a fully functionality phone which works like a new one and if you want to work it like new one for about next two years, then the answer is no. Because if its fixed it won’t work as before. Therefore you might be upset. If it does not matter to you or if you are ok with some issues after fix it, you can repair it.

What are the chances of a phone working after water damaged?

Do not try to check it just after phone take out from the water. Because it might be harm because electrical components can be damaged. If the water has not gone into deeper areas of the phone, there might be no more damage. Therefore it can start working. But There is a no guarantee that always your phone works after dunking in the water. There is only 50% of chance of your phone to work back again.

Is it too late to put my phone in rice?

You need to put your phone in the rice as long as you can. You need to give it more than 48 ours to dry in it. At least you need to give a one night to be in there. The longer the better. But if your phone has more damaged it does not matter how long you put in the rice. It won’t be work. If the water has not gone further, you would be fix your phone by drying it in the rice.