Chosen Solution
On vacation My friend dropped my phone into a sink full of water. It was fully submerged but retrieved very quickly. It was dried with towels and appeared to be perfectly fine for over 12 hours, even charging successfully. This was until it fully ran out of charge and now it will not charge or turn on. Is there any way to salvage this phone? And why were the effects so delayed?
Hi, The phone is water resistant not waterproof. Its’ IP67 rating should mean that it should have survived this immersion in water but it may depend on the integrity of the case. Has it been damaged in any way or is it slightly bent etc? This may have been enough to negate the waterproof integrity of the phone. As you know water and electronics and electricity are not a good mix. 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 process commences straight away and does not stop until it has been all cleaned away properly First do not turn on your phone and then you need to remove the battery as soon as possible from the phone to minimize any further damage. Then you need to dis-assemble the rest of the phone and clean all the affected parts (also check under the shields that cover the more sensitive components) using Isopropyl Alcohol 99%+ (available from electronics parts stores) to remove all traces of corrosion and water . Do not use “rubbing alcohol” as in some cases this is only 70% IPA or less, can contain scents and is generally not as effective. If you do use it check the label to verify the amount of IPA. The higher the % the better Here are a couple of links that describes the process. Electronics Water Damage Repairing iPhone Liquid Damage As always with electronics, especially surface mounted PCBs be gentle when handling and especially when brushing away the corrosion. You do not want to remove any components from the boards. Hopefully after you have done all this the phone might possibly work correctly again. Here is a link to the ifixit guide(s) for repairing your phone. iPhone 8 Repair 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.
