Saving drowned phones, according to statistics, is one of the most common problems with which users and owners of various devices turn to service centers. From experience I can say that most often this trouble for some reason happens to iPhone owners. In any case, getting acquainted with a large amount of liquid does not pass without a trace for any phone (now, of course, we are not talking about models with super protection), and if your phone falls into water, the first question that will arise in your mind is what to do, to save a valuable gadget and how to make the “drowned” device work if the phone falls into the water and does not turn on?
I’ll say right away: they won’t give you any guarantees, even at the service center the specialists will dry it out and patch it up, but they will never promise anything. My friend had two phones drowned in the toilet in six months. One disappeared almost without a trace (it works, but confuses all the keys), the second one sat for 2 months, turned on and has been working perfectly for six months now. By the way, not only falling into a container of water can damage your phone, but also heavy rain and splashing waves. Therefore, you should not take risks and talk on the phone, even if you are walking in the rain under an umbrella.
What should you do first if your phone falls into water?
So, you laughed for a long time at songs like “there’s a phone in the toilet - the sixth iPhone,” but at some point you just forgot about the gadget in your back pocket and - oops! - awkward situation. Get your gadget out as quickly as possible.
1. The first thing to do when you remove the phone is to turn it off and try to remove the battery. Today, in most phones this is not easy to do; you need a special screwdriver. But you definitely can’t leave the battery - if the current continues to flow through the microcircuits, the contacts will immediately oxidize and then it will be almost impossible to restore the phone. You cannot insert the battery into the phone for at least a day. And it’s better not to insert it at all until either you or the service specialists take it apart and make sure that all contacts are in order. Even if the phone was in the water for a couple of seconds, believe me, the irreparable has already happened. No matter how durable and waterproof the case may seem, this is not the case with most modern phones. Unless you own the latest iPhone with a high degree of water resistance IP67 or IP68.
2. The most important thing is don’t start randomly pressing buttons on your phone and trying to check its functionality. Turn off the device, take out the SIM card and memory card, you’ll figure out the rest later. If there is a lot of water in the phone, try shaking it from bottom to top, holding the hole away from you through which water can pass.
Sensor repair
If after drying the device the sensor still does not work, it is better to take the gadget to a professional service.
If you wish, you can try to change the part yourself, following the instructions:
- We clear the workspace, place a small box on the table, where various bolts will subsequently be placed.
- Remove the front and back panels, unscrew the bolts in the battery compartment.
- We unscrew the two screws located at the top of the device, turn off the screen connector, disconnecting the cable from the microcircuits.
- Separate the board from the screen. Using an eraser, clean the contacts of the cable until shiny.
- We check the connection between the sensor and the cable by placing an eraser between them. If there is contact, then the problem is not with him.
- We remove the old module and install the new one.
- We carry out all the steps in reverse order, excluding step 5.
Replacing a sensor is a complex procedure that requires not only skills, but also time, since everything can take several hours. If the problem is not solved, it is better not to aggravate it and take the device to a specialist.
How to remove moisture from a phone if it falls into water?
This is the first thing you need to take care of if your phone gets wet or falls into a container of water. If you don’t have any means at hand, put your phone in rice or salt. These bulk substances help absorb excess moisture. Of course, it is best to put the device in them already disassembled, without a battery.
Another tip is to put the phone in a bowl of alcoholic liquid for 20-30 minutes. Then leave it turned off for a day. Alcohol liquid prevents corrosion and removes moisture.
Also, to solve this problem, there are special compounds, chemicals that push out moisture - for example, FLUID 101/200. They are sold in radio stores. This composition should be carefully sprayed onto the board and left for a while. This composition also removes all oxidation. But it has a large capillary effect; you can’t let it get on the touchscreen or screen, as it will penetrate the gap between them.
It's a bad idea to put your phone in the refrigerator. This advice implies that the liquid will freeze in the freezer, the threat to contacts will disappear, and immediately after removing it, it is advised to turn on the phone. It’s just that in the warmth the ice will melt again. In general, it’s better not to experiment with the unfortunate “drowned man”.
You also don’t need to dry your phone with a hairdryer: if you haven’t taken it apart, the water will simply heat up and accumulate in hard-to-reach places. There is also a risk of overheating the battery.
Why is my phone not charging?
What to do if you can’t “refuel” your smartphone?
We provide first aid
It is unlikely that repairs will be avoided. But you can reduce the number of potential breakdowns. Here's how to do it.
As is the case with laptops, you should quickly get rid of any water that gets inside and immediately turn off the device to avoid short-circuiting. Remember that every moment counts. Consider yourself lucky if the gadget did not stay in the liquid for long. If your phone falls into water and the sensor does not work, you should follow these steps.
To dry your phone, use napkins (regular paper ones). Just lay them down and put the “drowned man” on top. Cover it with a few more absorbent paper towels. It is not advisable to wipe by hand, since direct pressure may cause the liquid to penetrate deeper inside.
Once the surface is wet, remove the cover and pull out the battery. After this, disconnect the memory card, SIM / RUIM, headphones and other connected devices. The likelihood of a favorable outcome depends on your reaction and prompt actions.
You can find a list of useful technical recommendations on the website tehnari.ru
Why did the phone fall into the water, work, and then stop?
Your gadget is a thin and capricious device. Therefore, if you took out your phone and were happy about it. that it works, do not hope: it may not last long. There are very thin contacts on the gadget's board, when water hits them, the electric current still passes, but under the influence of the electric current and water, an oxidation process occurs, a chemical reaction with the destruction of the contacts, and since the bridges of the contacts are very thin, they are quickly covered with the reaction product and conductivity disappears or the contact simply corrodes. And since there are many contacts, a capillary effect occurs, water lingers well on the board and is difficult to remove, for example, with a simple cotton swab.
Also, modern phones use microcircuits with ball leads, they are very tightly located, water can also get into the opening and it is very difficult to get it out, it can lead to a serious short circuit.
iPhones are best protected from such problems - all their microcircuits are filled with a special compound, but this is not the case in all phones.
What can't you do?
To avoid causing even more damage to a phone that has fallen into the water, you should know what exactly you should not do:
- Try to turn on a partially dry device.
- Disassemble the device without knowing how to do it.
- You should not make sudden movements, much less shake the gadget, trying to pour water out of the connectors. This may cause the liquid to penetrate deeper into the device.
Attention! When drying, use a hairdryer, and especially do not put the gadget in the microwave, after which it will turn into useless trash. Since different components of the device have a certain threshold of permissible temperatures.
What to do if the phone does not turn on?
If after all the manipulations the phone does not turn on, you will have to show it to specialists. Unfortunately, the service center does not provide a guarantee for the repair of recessed phones, and it is also unknown how much the repair will cost. In any case, if you have not tried all the methods yet, we strongly recommend that you disassemble the phone to see for yourself what the water has done inside. It is not the electronics that may be damaged by water. For example, in a Meizu phone the double-sided tape holding the battery simply came off due to moisture, after which it tore other contacts off the board. So in any case, in order to assess the damage to the phone from drowning, it needs to be disassembled. You can do this yourself, using guides on YouTube. Advice for the future: get a screwdriver that matches your phone model and have it with you just in case.
A method that will help remove traces of mineral deposits or water stains
If after drying your phone the liquid left traces of mineral deposits or wet water stains, you can try cleaning these residues with 99% isopropyl alcohol. The latter leaves no traces after drying, dries quickly, and perfectly removes mineral deposits and dirt residues.
Use 99% isopropyl alcohol for cleaning
Use this method as a radical one, since there is disagreement among experts about the harmfulness of alcohol baths for a mobile device.
Before soaking, we recommend removing all removable parts from your phone and wiping them with a clean cloth dampened with 99% isopropyl alcohol. Then set these parts aside and let them dry.
What do I need to do? Find a container that allows you to completely immerse your phone. Pour in enough 99% isopropyl alcohol to completely cover your phone. Soak your phone in alcohol for 15 minutes. Then, without removing it from the liquid, shake it slightly. Wait 10-15 minutes and then shake your phone again.
Immerse your phone in alcohol
After about an hour, take a look at the alcohol your phone is in. If it looks dirty, remove the phone from the alcohol and let the gadget dry a little. Remove most of the alcohol from the phone, empty the dirty alcohol from the container, fill it with new clean isopropyl alcohol, and soak the phone in there for another hour. We do not recommend rinsing the container with water during cleaning, otherwise you will have to dry it completely before adding a second dose of alcohol.
The time it takes to immerse the phone in alcohol is several hours.
After this time has elapsed, remove the phone from the alcohol container, drain the alcohol, and wipe the outer surface of the screen with a clean, dry cloth as best as possible.
Wipe the surface of the mobile phone with a cloth
Isopropyl alcohol should dry relatively quickly. However, we recommend leaving your phone to dry for 24 hours or at least overnight.
In the case of a positive scenario, your phone will turn on and return to 100% functionality.
This will come in handy: How to clean the speaker on your smartphone.
What to do if your phone becomes slow?
This means that you were able to eliminate the consequences of your phone getting into water, but you didn’t do it completely. Or some contacts had oxidized, some circuits were broken. Often the consequence can also be poor charging of the phone or poor operation of the touch screen. The sensors are capacitive; they work on the principle of changing the capacitance between the electrodes. When you touch the display with your finger, the electrochemical capacitance between the electrodes changes and damage to the electrodes disrupts these relationships. In this case, you also need to contact a service center or solder the necessary contacts on the board yourself, completely ringing the entire circuit. In this case, the phone has a good chance of survival. Problems may remain with the sensor. Often some letters or certain places on the screen stop working completely.
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How to quickly dry your phone
There is simply no universal drying method. It all depends on how badly the gadget was damaged and what elements were flooded. In any case, haste will only make the situation worse. Therefore, you need to dry your smartphone for a long time and carefully.
To speed up the effect, you can choose methods with rice/silica gel and change them as often as possible, every 5-6 hours. This will help reduce drying time.
What not to do with a wet phone
When a smartphone is exposed to moisture, owners try to dry the device as quickly as possible. But this can lead to even more detrimental effects on the device.
By studying information on the Internet, a person can find many tips that guarantee that a smartphone will dry quickly. But in practice, such methods only cause harm. Therefore, you need to avoid the following actions:
- blow drying;
- use of microwaves and other heating devices;
- shaking to eliminate excess drops of water.
It is worth noting that often after water gets in, the phone automatically turns off. The vast majority of users in such a situation will be very scared. In this situation, a person frantically tries to wipe the device and immediately turn it on. But under no circumstances should this be done.
By turning the phone back on without allowing it to dry, the user will endanger both the device and himself. At this stage, you need to prevent the hardware from coming into contact with liquid, and this will be much more likely when connecting power.
Of course, a wet phone cannot be charged. This should be clear to every person faced with the identified problem. If you follow all the recommendations, the chance of recovery will be much higher.
Cleaning from the inside
This process is probably the most painstaking. It is better not to use cotton wool here, because it leaves too much lint. It is better to choose cotton fabric or napkins.
Solvent must not be used under any circumstances! In order to wash the device board, you can take ordinary ethyl alcohol from the first aid kit. After all, he is available.
We need to put the speakers, microphone and display aside for now. Then they can only wipe the contacts. There is no need to wipe the outside of the case with alcohol, as this can leave streaks and stains, which will ruin the appearance of the device. The board itself can be dipped in alcohol. All impurities and oxidations are cleaned from it. If you don’t do this right away and efficiently, then after a while it will be too late and you will need to solder it. If there is an ultrasonic bath, then the board can be dipped into it after cleaning with a brush.
Helpful information
Tips to quickly and accurately remove water from under the protective glass:
If you decide to use a hairdryer, you cannot turn it on at full power.
Be sure to control the degree of screen heating. The temperature should not exceed 50 degrees. If you have time, it is better to use cold air.- Do not place your smartphone on a windowsill in direct sunlight. This may cause the battery to explode and melt the plastic parts.
- When peeling off the protective glass, you need to make sure that the surface underneath is perfectly clean. Otherwise, a hermetically sealed seal cannot be achieved.
- You need to carefully remove the protection from your smartphone by prying it around the perimeter. If the spot is in the center, the movements should be progressive. Sudden tearing of the glass may cause the screen to break. The risk increases if there are microcracks on it.
- It is not recommended to place the gadget on the battery, as this may damage it.
Are you interested in how to remove various stains from glass? Check out this section!
How to get rid of drops that got under the film?
The first way to remove water is by force. Guidelines for its implementation:
- Place the device on a flat surface.
- Using the back of a bank card, water is pushed to the edge of the glass and squeezed out.
- Do not press the screen too hard to avoid damaging the sensor.
Sometimes moisture on the screen appears as an oily slick. Getting rid of it is even easier. It is enough to use any suction cup that is in the house. It is placed at the edge of the spot and pulled sharply upward.
If it does not disappear the first time, repeat the procedure . You can enhance the effectiveness of the method if you combine it with warming up the device using a hairdryer.
To make it more convenient to use the suction cup, a key ring is threaded into it. This will allow you to stick your finger inside and act more actively.
Sometimes water gets inside due to improper glass installation.
Installation errors are eliminated as follows:
- Using a needle, carefully pick up the edge of the protection and lift it;
- the grip must be carried out on the side closest to the bubble;
- run your finger through the accumulated water, squeezing it out;
- The glass is lowered into place, pressing it to firmly adhere to the screen.
You can try to evaporate small droplets of water only with a hairdryer. It is turned on at medium power and the air flow is directed onto the glass. The heat will cause the water to evaporate. The average duration of the procedure is 10 minutes. Before using the hair dryer, the battery must be removed from the smartphone.
Another safe way to heat up your smartphone is to place it under a table lamp. In this case, you need to make sure that the device does not become very hot. A distance of 30-40 cm is considered safe. Only incandescent lamps are suitable for this method, since fluorescent lamps do not heat up.
If moisture gets not only under the glass, but also inside the smartphone, disassemble it and remove all visible water with a soft cloth. The device is then placed in a jar filled with rice and left overnight. This time should be enough for the cereal to absorb the liquid.
First measures
The first step is to get the device out of the water (if we are not talking about liquid spilled on the phone), but about immersion. You should react in such a situation immediately; this is exactly the case when seconds count. The penetration of water into the device will lead to inevitable consequences for the hardware, since the impact on electronic elements can cause their rapid failure. And if the components do not burn out immediately as a result of a short circuit, then corrosion will do its job later, so the speed of the reaction at this stage plays a paramount role. If you stay in water for a long time, the probability of saving a device that is not protected from moisture tends to zero, and even service will not be able to help you. Liquid leaks through holes in the structure (connectors, speakers, etc.) very quickly and your goal is to prevent prolonged exposure to water.
IMPORTANT. If a problem occurs while charging the device, do not touch either the phone or the charger until the outlet is de-energized. The tarnished reputation of a device is nothing compared to the consequences for its owner.
Alcohol drying
After bathing, the board is wiped dry with alcohol. This must be done extremely carefully. Once the liquid has evaporated, no dissolved substances should be deposited on the parts. Alcohol dries very quickly, but moisture can remain under the microchips.
After all the above operations, you can assemble the phone and try to start it. Everything should work. This should save you nerves and money.
If, after all, the phone does not work, then you can’t do without visiting a service center. The main thing is to choose a good master. Recommendations from other people should help with this.
