How to fix a water damaged phone

fix a water damaged phone

This guide will teach you how to fix a water damaged phone.

Unexpectedly spilled your tablet or phone? Or did it fall into water? Your phone or tablet will obviously sustain irreparable harm if it falls into water (whether it’s a bath, sink, toilet, or pool). Due to the fact that water and electricity cannot coexist, a wet device may short out and potentially shock you with electricity. Water can seep into the battery cavity, the slots under the screen, and the bezel, causing damage to the screen.

Basically, it’s not a good idea to allow your phone or tablet get wet, and you should take action right away.

So, don’t keep attempting to switch it on. If you want to see the phone working once more, you must let it dry. You will experience issues if you leave your phone or tablet on. Immediately turning it off can save your device.

Of course, there are precautions you can take to prevent water from getting inside your device and causing it harm. Here’s how to fix a water-damaged phone or tablet and remove the water.

fix a water damaged phone

Turn it off quickly

If your phone has been exposed to enough water to worry you, the first thing you should do is turn it off. Meanwhile, if you’re using a phone with a removable battery, open the compartment and take out the battery.

Don’t waste time to check whether the wet phone or tablet is still working or not. Doing so will only make the situation worse.

First you need to find a place with a flat and dry surface that can be used for this purpose. All this needs to be done very quickly. Because if you fail to complete the following steps soon you will lose the phone or related device permanently.

Dry everything as quickly as you can

While removing the battery, the SIM card and microSD card should be removed, dried with a paper towel, and stored safely. Note that not all devices support removable SD cards.

After removing these two cards you can further dry the device with tissue paper to absorb the remaining water.

Drying the outside of a water-filled device

Don’t just use SD card and SIM slots. You should wipe off any water you see on your malfunctioning device as soon as possible.

Absorb and dry all water droplets around the edge of the display. Additionally, be sure to look everywhere on the outside of your phone or tablet, including any screw holes and bezels.

This is physically dry which you can get without disassembling the device. Accidentally opening the phone or tablet is risky. You will only succeed in touching moisture with the main board and other parts.

Drying the inside of a water-filled device

Avoid using high or direct heat on the appliance, such as from a hair dryer or an oven, as this will harm it (especially the LCD screen). A well-ventilated place should be used to dry the item. If desired, use a tiny fan to hasten the process. Allow the item to air dry for a minimum of two days.

There are 4 Techniques for draining water from a phone or tablet. Processors, circuit boards, and button rockets are all locations where water may find a home and cause damage within a smartphone or tablet computer. The interior processors, wires, and bare circuit board need to be dried. So let’s see what those 3 techniques are:

Step 01. Using a boiler / air cabinet.

This is a heat-based approach, and it will take several hours to dry your phone. Maybe all day. However, use this remedy only after turning on your boiler.

Step 02. Drying a wet tablet using silica.

fix a water damaged phone

Due to its desiccant properties, silica gel dries the air surrounding it by absorbing water. You’ve probably seen silica gel packaged in tiny packets with the warning, “Do Not Eat!” They are frequently sent items like clothing, electronics, and even food. Inside each packet of silica gel are transparent beads.

Placing your phone or tablet in a container with plenty of silica, usually found in the silica packets that come with electronics, and keeping it completely covered is also a remedy for drying out water. About 12 hours should be spent for this.

Step 03. Dry the instrument completely using alcohol.

fix a water damaged phone

Use a Q-tip dipped in alcohol (or vodka) to clean any little sections of the gadget that have water clinging to them. For the interior components of many devices with circuit boards, this will work nicely. Alcohol will hasten the evaporation process, which takes place when the device is left outside in the open air.

If you have tried all the above remedies but to no avail, try this method as well. A final recommendation that has been shown to be effective is the use of pure alcohol. If your device is water damaged as a consequence of simple physics, alcohol will remove it. When you remove the device from the liquid, the alcohol evaporates as the alcohol replaces the water.

Do Not Hide your wet phone in a bowl of dry rice

fix a water damaged phone

Can a phone be dried out in a bowl of rice? On numerous websites, it is advised to place wet devices in a container of uncooked rice to dry the water out. But in reality, that is ineffective and can also cause the phone to become contaminated with starch and dust.

Contrary to what you may have heard, placing your phone in a jar with uncooked rice won’t cause it to dry out and may even be detrimental. Your phone’s internal workings can become clogged with debris, starch, and tiny grains of rice. Use sachets of silica gel instead.

Find a service to repair water damaged tablets.

If none of the above solutions work or If it is difficult to get the necessary things for that, a repair will have to be done. This can be expensive but effective.

Consider about the insurance

fix a water damaged phone

Buying smartphone insurance for a phone is a powerful justification for water damage. Own an iPhone or iPad? If you have Apple Care+, it makes sense to pay for Apple Care as it should cover you for two accidental damages including water damage. You should confirm that the insurance you purchased for your phone or tablet covers damage to non-Apple devices.

To recover lost data on a water damaged Samsung phone

Water damage is definitely the worst thing that you want to happen, but rather than panic, it is better to follow the right steps so that you can at least get all your important data from your smartphone.

If you use a Samsung mobile phone you can recover deleted data using Samsung’s official “Find My Mobile” service. This procedure will enable you to easily recover photos from a water-damaged phone, as water damage does not destroy data on the device.

It is important to remember that this approach only works if you are already signed in to your Samsung account on your smartphone. In that case, use the “Find My Mobile” function on Samsung devices to recover all deleted content.

To recover data from an Android mobile phone, use iMyFone D-Back

A water damaged phone is less likely to work so you need a third party data recovery program to get all the files from your phone. For data recovery from an Android mobile phone, iMyFone D-Back for Android is very promising. D-Back data recovery program makes recovering data from a water-damaged smartphone simple thanks to its user-friendly UI.

D-Back is an ideal choice if you drop your smartphone in water as it is specially made to recover data from SD cards of damaged/broken Android devices.

For general information:

Avoid using your phone or tablet in the shower, near the sink or in the toilet. Keep your device outside the bathroom as steam from a hot shower can condense and damage it.

No matter how much you spend on a phone, be careful about its hardware. Get a waterproof phone. Several versions, including the latest iPhone and Samsung Galaxy models, can tolerate brief submersion in water.

Frequently Asked Questions :

01) How long should a wet phone be dried?

The bare minimum is 24 hours; if at all possible, aim for 48 or more. Before then, don’t press the power button to “try it out” or “see if it’s fixed yet.” Still water can easily transfer electricity to areas of the circuit board where it is not intended if there is any inside.

02) Do wet phones ever dry on their own?

Encrusted calluses can occasionally dry up on their own within a few days or weeks. However, don’t get your hopes up. Few recent modern phones can withstand a brief immersion in a bucket or toilet

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