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I dropped my phone about a week ago-ish in heavy rain. I have a samsung phone (android) and it had a sort of standard case on it. I picked it up immediately and wiped it off. However I was on my way to work so I couldn’t do any immediate fixing or rice or anything— the water wasn’t even all that deep, just barely puddle worthy and didn’t submerge the phone in the least. To the problem now; the phone’s speaker sounds funny and garbles music played off of youtube (so far) and it (the speaker issue) took a long time showing up. I’m wondering what happened and if there’s any hope of it clearing up? How can I fix it? (note: This phone is also about a year and a half old, maybe two and at most three.) (edit; update) it was just bad youtube quality… same song at same volume on spotify sounded the way it was supposed to. I merely overreacted. Thank you for the answer anyway!!
Hi @usersadphonekid What is the model number of the phone? The water causes corrosion and provides circuit paths for the electricity which were not in the phone’s operating design and could damage the components. The corrosion starts immediately and is ongoing until it is completely cleaned away. It’s a good thing that you didn’t have any rice as this would not have fixed it anyway. Rice is for dinner, not repair First do not try to charge or to turn on your phone and then remove the battery as soon as possible from the phone to minimize any further damage. You’ve already been using the phone but there’s no point in making it any worse than what it is already. Then you need to dis-assemble the rest of the phone and clean all the affected parts using Isopropyl Alcohol 99%+ (available at electronics parts stores) to remove all traces of corrosion and water. Do not use “rubbing alcohol” as in some cases this is only 70% or less, can contain additives and is not as effective. If you do check the label to verify the amount of IPA. Here is a link that describes the process. Electronics Water Damage As always with electronics, especially surface mounted pcb be gentle when handling and especially when brushing away the corrosion. You do not want to remove any components from the board. Remove the shields that may be covering some components as the water may have got in under there also. The ends of any flex cables and their connectors need to be cleaned as well Hopefully after you have done all this the phone might possibly work correctly again. There are disassembly guides available on ifixit for a lot of Samsung phones, just search for the model name in the search box at the top of the page. If this process seems too daunting, take your phone to a reputable, professional phone repair service, experienced in liquid damage repair and ask for a quote for a repair. If you decide to do this, do it sooner than later, it isn’t going to fix itself.
