What to do with a phone that has water damage?
TURN IT OFF IMMEDIATELY if you haven’t already.
Now that’s out of the way, let’s get into some details.
So, you’ve dropped your phone in water or spilt water on it. Given that your phone has not been submerged 3 feet deep for 30 minutes, everything – your phone included – still have a fair chance of survival.
Clearly, water and electronics don’t mix well– which is why you had to turn your phone off. If you haven’t yet, also unplug anything physically connected to the phone – chargers, headphones, etc. Once it’s off, keep it turned off and try not to shake it around too much. Lay it on a stable surfaceto avoid water seeping in any further into the deepest parts of your device. Now, carefully remove your SIM card as well as your MicroSD card, if any.
From here, you can disassemble your phone as much as you can put it back together. If you’re a techy, then you’re capable of disassembling more components– otherwise, only as far as you’re comfortable. Once you’re done disassembling, let everything dry on a paper towel. Grab a piece of cloth or another paper towel and try to absorb as much of the water as possible.
If you are unable to take your phone apart more than just removing the SIM and/or MicroSD card, you’ll have to pull out the classic “bury it in rice” trick. Grab a Ziploc or plastic bag, put your phone in it, and fill it with rice. However, the rice trick isn’t the best of its kind. If you can get your hands on it, those non-edible silica gel packs do a better job with absorbing the water induced humidity. Now, the waiting game: leave it in the bag of rice/silica gel for about two days.
Fast forward two days, reassemble your phone and try turning it on. If it works, congrats! But, remember to observe your phone for the next few days and check all components. Stuff like the proximity sensor and earpiece when calling, rotation, touch, etc….
If it doesn’t work, try plugging it in. If it still doesn’t work, unfortunately, all you can do now is leave it to the technicians to see if there’s anything you can do about the phone. Maybe you just want to recover the data and move on.
If you still need help, please visit us at our store at 26 Thao Dien Street, Thao Dien Ward, District 2 for a free consultation.
