It seems quite obvious that getting water on or inside your phone is a bad thing. But the reasons aren’t always as obvious. Indeed, liquid damage is one of the most destructive things that can ever happen to your device. Through its very nature, water can penetrate the tightest crevices and affect even the most hidden components. The worst damage is often where water gets trapped in a tight space and has enough time to wreak maximum havoc.
We are using “water” as a general term here, but different types of liquid will affect your device in different ways. For instance, distilled water is a poor conductor for electricity due to its lack of minerals and will cause minimal trouble, but chlorinated water and salt water are extremely dangerous for electronics. These, and other types of mineral-rich and organic-rich liquids, are what is meant by the word “water” in this article.
When water first enters your phone, it will follow whichever path it can take, depending on how the device is built. Pockets of water may form in spots that the liquid finds itself drained to, and these will be the hardest-hit areas. Short circuits will be the first problem, since water – as a great
conductor – will modify the path of electricity through the phone, connecting points on the circuits that are not supposed to connect in that order, effectively shortcutting between them. Then, chemical reactions with various components will cause oxidation and corrosion to set in.
Therefore, the damage is instant, but can also affect the device in the long term. One often sees phones working for a time after the initial spill and then stopping after hours, days or even weeks, as corrosion was able to overcome the components it was slowly eating away. Because of the unpredictable nature of water flooding your phone, a careful examination of the device’s circuitry and components is mandatory. Repairing the damage can range from a simple clean-up to tricky operations lasting days or weeks, to the outright impossible.
Unfortunately, the damage can be irreversible even when swiftly detected. A motherboard corroded to the point of not functioning can be saved by masterful circuit work, but will sometimes be beyond human intervention.
What is certain is that time significantly increases the chances of encountering irreversible damage. This is why it’s important to bring your device to us as soon as possible if you’ve had a water spill, or worse, if your phone has been submerged in some liquid. There are no guarantees, and there can never be when it comes to water damage, but you are at least maximizing your chances. We advise against attempting
to attack the problem yourself – especially through home remedies such as rice – as any significant effort against this type of damage requires opening the phone up. Drying the phone from outside only accelerates the drying process, leaving minerals and organic matter trapped inside. However, some steps should be taken, immediately to start off the process on the right foot. If your phone is on, attempt to turn it off. If it is off, do not turn it back on, and do not charge it. If your battery is easily removed, take it out.
At iTronics, we’ve seen hundreds of devices affected by water, and our success rate with them is around the 65% mark. It is one of the most difficult repairs one can get, and the unpredictability of these cases is hard to imagine. Minor water spills have killed phones, while devices that had been completely submerged have been saved. Always a new challenge, water damage is not to be taken lightly, but making the right choices can save you a phone.
