Chosen Solution
Hello, I have gone snorkeling with my iPhone 5 in the well trusted and tested Buffalo waterproof case I have except that this time I forgot to fasten it :( By the time I realized, I’ve swam about 5 minutes. The screen was still on, very little water touched the device as it was covered after all. I noticed some water under the case (few drops squeezed up against the display all smeared) and I removed the phone right away. The screen was already off and the phone started heating up. It stayed like that for 1 hour approximately and then slowly cooled off. I waited two days and then tried charging but to no avail. I then realized if I put my ear very close to the charging connector, I hear a very subtle clicking noise TIK TIK TIK, quite frequent TIK’s one another. When I remove the cable, it goes silent. Apple wants 280 USD (Japanese equivalent of that) to replace the phone and wouldn’t say what’s wrong with it. I have the toolkit and am ready to take it apart but I’d like to know what I should be looking for? If the logic board is gone, I’ll just leave it the way it is. Any thoughts? Thanks, Ben EDIT: The phone was partially fixed thanks to oldturkey’s instructions. I’ve taken it apart, cleaned it with alcohol and put it back together. The top part of the phone was badly damaged and anything that sits there is broken. This means I have no speaker (at top), front facing camera and proximity sensor. The vibrating motor also died. The rest of the phone is good though, I just have a slight problem with the screen which was a result of me cleaning the cables with alcohol while holding the screen on top of the container (full of the liquid). The fumes must have evaporated right into the screen and this caused some damage. I uploaded this image to show what it looks like, this was right after I assembled the phone. It since started to “heal”, 2 days after the operation, the screen looks a heck of a lot better but still have some white spots.
Rice should not be used to dry out a water damaged phone. I ran many experiments on this subject and found that the rice does more damage. The rice will extract the moisture however, is does this very slowly and causes the metal components to rust internally. This can create a short circuit on many components and result in further failures of components. The best solution I found was to wipe down the device as best as possible, then use a hair dryer on low heat, or preferably use an oven at low temperature (about 100-150F). You can bake the device for 24 hours at this temperature and the water will evaporate much faster and cause less damage to your electronic components.
Hi there guys. Thanks for all the replies. My phone’s damages are more serious than what Rice or other methods can remove. It is sitting in Rice for 5 days now, I just tried plugging it into the charger and it went on clicking again. I am sure something is broken. Anyone knows what the clicking sound might suggest? When I plug it in the charger, it clicks very quietly but if you hold it to your ear you can hear it. So the electricity is getting there but it isn’t getting to the battery? Not sure… I have my kit, just arrived yesterday so I could open the phone but I need to know what to look for… Thanks, Ben
Use some online tutorial to disassemble your iphone the clean the logic board with isopropyle alcohol and dry it for some time using some hard dryer at 1 feet distance. Then also check all the connectors to make sure that there is not any liquid content shorting the circuit. Hopefully this may can fix your phone.
