The Quick and Dirty on Water Damage
We just had another iPhone walk in the door that decided to go swimming. We see quite a bit of this and will only see more as spring and summer draws near. Hold on to your life preservers while we dive into the murky waters surrounding this seemingly worst case scenario.
You may have seen web based repair houses that claim to be able to bring any device back from the dead. They show pictures of phones in full glasses of water and people talking on them in swimming pools. That stuff is cute and all, but reality is a bit different. While we can and DO restore mobile devices that have experienced varying degrees of moisture we have to be realistic with people. Especially since the majority of our business is local and we may bump into them at the Rouses down the street.
Here is a quick rundown on what to do if you have to jump in the pool to save a drowning child with your device attached to your hip.
1. Remove the battery if it is removable and if it isn’t removable power it down. Electricity is the enemy! Do not power the device back up and certainly don’t attempt to charge it. You may short out sensitive components.
2. Wipe visible water from device. If the device was submerged then you can gently move it around to help expel standing water. Just don’t give it the maraca treatment and don’t use a heat gun or hair dryer. You may push water deeper into the handset. Resist the urge to run it through the oven. It will be strong.
3. Place device in a sealed container or zip-lock bag with silical gel and/ or dried rice. The silica (those little packets in shoe boxes) and rice effectively wicks water away from your handset. If you have a vacuum sealer, removing air from the bag or container will speed up the process. Start saving those little packets right now for emergency purposes.
5. Let the device sit for a minimum of 24-36 hours. We recommend 2.5 to 3 days. If you bring it on over to us we will do the same exact thing except we will break the phone down into base components first to speed up the process in addition to cleaning the major contacts inside the device. Something we do not suggest trying on your own.
6. Cross your fingers and pray, pray, pray. BE PATIENT. Many a device is lost because the owner “Just can’t take it anymore!” and tries to fire it up, or attempts to charge it before the device is completely moisture free
Bear in mind that speed is of absolute importance. Your chances of success decrease with every passing hour. While we have heard reports of convincing the guys at the Genius Bar to send drowned handsets off for “repair” we don’t put too much stock in that considering Apple’s policy expressly states that “service may not be available if your iPhone has been damaged due to accident or abuse” And we know of several people personally that have been shown the door. We have personally identified 4 H2O detection devices in the 3g and there are supposedly 2 more somewhere behind advanced active camaflouge, so lying isn’t going to help either.
We hope that this information is helpful. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to drop us a line at support@myphonemd.net or reach out to us via any other channel.
Thanks!
