Cell Phone Water Damage

Water Damage Repair in Wilmington NC & Raleigh NC

While the idea of drying out your water damaged cell phone in a bag of rice sounds logical and is advice often provided by friends and family, it isn’t really a cure for cell phone water damage. In cases when water damage to your cell Phone or smart Phone has seemingly been reversed by immersing it in rice, the take away knowledge is that your Phone wasn’t really as wet as you thought it was.

Water seeks its own level, and will travel inside your cell phone wherever it can find a path of least resistance. But water damage is fickle, and until you open up the case and disassemble the components, it’s impossible to detect the true nature of the cell phone water damage done to your device.

Trying to restore your cell phone is sometimes not economically feasible. With all the different models, manufacturing standards and component layouts, each wet phone and water damage case is unique for each wet electronic device.

Factors that determine whether cell phone water damage is “repairable” include the quantity of water that go inside the cell phone, the makeup of that water, quality of the water, what kind of water entered, whether the buttons were used after getting wet, and how charged the battery was at the time the cell phone got wet

Water Damage to Smart Phones

Nearly all wet phones can be fixed with enough time and money. But just like a totaled car after an auto accident, it’s not always economically feasible. Tech folks call these water damaged cellphones B.E.R, or “beyond economic recovery”. The labor and replacement parts costs outweigh the cost of a new phone.

Water Damage Repair at QuikFix

At QuikFix Phone Repair, we can properly perform tests and diagnostics, determining the extent of water damage to your cell phone, and the cost and repair needed to recover it.

Services for water damaged phone include:

Professional disassembly of your phone

Removal of the protective shields on your phone’s logic board

Cleaning in a high-end ultrasonic cleaner (as opposed to a jewelry cleaner)

Reassembly & testing of your device

Whether you have light water damage affecting your device, or it’s been completely submerged in water, call or visit QuikFix Phone Repair in Wilmington NC & Raleigh NC today!

Tips on Saving a Water Damaged Cell Phone

What should you do before getting professional help for your cell phone at QuikFix Phone Repair?

 
Step One
Cut the power immediately by removing the cell phone battery. While it’s tempting to power up the phone to see if it still works, just turning it on can short out delicate circuits.
 
Step Two
If you have a GSM phone (AT&T and T-Mobile), remove the SIM card as well. If your phone is B.E.R., the SIM card should hold a lot of its info, such as your contacts, in your phone book.
 
Step Three
Dry out your phone FAST. If you let the moisture evaporate naturally, you run the risk of corrosion damaging the inside components. DO NOT use a hair dryer, as the extreme heat can burn up your phone’s component parts. Instead, use a can of compressed air, an air compressor (set at a low PSI) to blow out the water. Conversely you can pull the water out with a wet/dry Shop-Vac. The idea is to push or pull the water back out through the same channels it entered.
 
Step Four
Use a desiccant to wick away the remaining moisture. DO NOT USE RICE. While this is the most popular choice, submerging your cell phone in a bowl of rice grains overnight subjects your phone to the rice dust (that can liquefy with the moisture coming out of the phone) and further corrosion hazards. Instead, use packets of silica gel that you find stuffed in electronics shipments or inside pockets of new clothes.
 
Avoid heat. DO NOT use hair dryers, ovens, microwave ovens or extended periods of direct sunlight. While heat is great for evaporating moisture, it’s equally efficient at warping components and melting adhesives in your phone. These fragile glues are also why you need to keep rubbing alcohol away from your phone. 

Sea Water Damaged Cell Phones

Here’s some advice that might sound counter-intuitive. 
 
If your cell phone gets soaked in salt water, flushing the whole thing in fresh water before it dries is recommended by some. Here’s why: It’s already wet, but when the salt water dries, it leaves behind salt crystals that can damage your cell phone’s sensitive components. 
 
NOTE: If you try this, be certain to REMOVE your cell phone battery before flooding the device with fresh water.
Raleigh Location
+1 (984) 200-1352
Monday - Saturday: 10:00 am - 7:00 pm

Sunday: CLOSED
Wilmington Location
+1 (910) 399-3430
Monday - Saturday: 10:00 am - 7:00 pm

Sunday: CLOSED

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