We get a lot of customers asking what to do when a mobile phone gets wet. If you follow the advise in this article, you may increase your chances of not throwing your phone in the recycling bin.
We have heard and read pretty much what people regard as ‘fixing’ a water damaged phone. In most cases a phone will continue to work after it has been wet and then dried. However in a few days to weeks the phone will gradually stop functioning due to corrosion taking hold. People also notice battery life to be poor after getting water damaged or reception not as good as it used to be.
So if you want to know how you can ensure your phone has the best possible chance of survival, then follow these steps:
- After a phone has been wet, immediately take the battery out if you can (sorry iPhone users). If the phone is still submerged in the water, then take the battery out while the phone is in the water. This helps prevent electrical overloads to certain high powered areas of the phones main-board as the water acts as a conductor and not the phones components.
- Switch your phone off ASAP if you cant take the battery out.
- If the phone has been completely submerged in salt water then rinse it very well in fresh water. Salt water corrodes faster than anything else we have seen. This will help slow down the corrosion.
- Do NOT try to charge the phone. This is the number one killer in a wet phone. A charger will supply approximately 5-6 volts and 1amp in power and this power going into the wrong areas via a wet main-board will damage many sensitive components.
- Do not try to dry it. Seal the phone in a ZIP lock bag and take into a store. Corrosion can only start when there is oxygen so minimize contact to outside air.
So what do we do with a water damaged phone? Firstly we will chemically remove all the water using special water dispersants. We will then heat the phones main board to approximately 300 degrees. This insures that any water that has soaked into the main-board and under components will be evaporated out. We will then visually inspect for corrosion and damaged components and repair/replace them. The final step is to apply a corrosion inhibitor as a safe guard to main-board.
Once the phone has been repaired, all functions will be tested and then returned to the customer.
Here is a what a phones main-board looks like after been dried using rice after one week: 
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