Water or Other Liquid Damage?
Liquid damage can cause various issues with your phone and only disassembling will allow us to determine it's overall condition. Basic cleaning and diagnostic fee is $25. In some cases, this initial cleaning has fixed peoples phones. If we discover the device has excessive oxidation or corrosion on and under the main logic board, or has been submerged in chemically treated water (i.e.. pools, hot tubs, salt water..) we recommend logic board removal and running it through the ultrasonic cleaner, which is typically only $25 additional.
Feel free to call us with any questions about our liquid damage repair service and what to expect based on the iPhone model you have, type of liquid exposure and whether you were able to follow our guideline below.
The first 24hrs following liquid exposure are critical.
Following the liquid damage guidelines below may greatly increase the likelihood of a successful and economical repair for your device!
What to do if your iPhone gets wet?
Immediately turn your iPhone off (it may have already shut itself off). DO NOT plug the device into a wall charger or turn the device back on at anytime following liquid exposure. Sending electric current through the WiFi chip, GPU, LCD screen or logic board with ANY moisture or corrosion still present may cause additional or permanent damage to your device.
We have opened iPhones 5 days after being submerged and they still had water inside...even when placed in a bag of rice! That is far to long to leave liquid sitting inside the device. Corrosion and oxidation WILL begin to develop within 24 hours and well before all of the liquid has totally evaporated. Just drying the phone out is usually not enough to ensure a stable running device.
Many people suggest putting the device in a bag of rice, although this may accelerate the drying process a little, your phone has a much greater chance of surviving if fully disassembled and dried out immediately following liquid exposure. The slow evaporation is what causes the development of corrosion and oxidation you can see on the screen connectors in the photo above and in-between the other internal components. Even after completely drying out, your phone will have pockets of this corrosion under connection points and EMI shielding as well as bridging gaps between capacitors and the micro sized pins on the flex cable connectors. This material that develops is conductive and will cause shorting or resistance unless properly cleaned.
We prefer working on wet iPhones BEFORE they've had time to dry out. Our success rate is about 85% on phones that come in still wet, that have not been turned on and not plugged into a computer or wall charger. Phones that have sat for a week or more and have been subject to charging or repeated attempts to power on, have a much lower success rate.
Our $50 cleaning service involves removal of logic board and all EMI shielding, battery removal and inspection of the battery power board. We use an ultrasonic cleaner and inspect and clean all connection points on the logic board for the power flex assembly, headphone jack, proximity and ambient light sensors, charging dock, SIM connector, WiFi antenna.
In some instances we will open the device and upon initial cleaning inspection we may see components that have burned beyond repair. In these cases we will only charge the minimum diagnostic fee of $25 and not the full ultrasonic cleaning fee of $50.
Keep in mind we can make no guarantee as to the reparability of your device. Many times, even if the device has suffered certain types of irreparable damages, we can still recover photos, contacts or other important info from your device even though it may not be economical or possible to return to full functionality.
Important suggestion... If you are not able to get your phone into our shop within 24 hours after being submerged, we recommend placing the phone into a sealed container with DampRid. It is far more effective than rice for moisture. It is a white crystal like substance that is incredibly moisture absorbent. DampRid can actually draw moisture right out of humid air.
First place the phone in a paper lunch sack or wrap lightly in a paper towel or other porous material to protect your iPhone from direct contact with the DampRid crystals. Then place inside a sealed plastic container or ziplock bag on top of the crystals (2 cups of crystals is more than enough). As moisture is pulled from the device it may accumulate in the bottom of the container. The phone is best placed on top of the crystals, not buried under them. You can find DampRid at these retailers.
Bring the container with the DampRid and iPhone to us as soon as possible. Using the DampRid method is an inexpensive way to greatly increase the odds of a successful repair if you are unable to get it to us immediately after liquid exposure.
