How to Repair a Waterproof iPhone

This wikiHow will guide you through your efforts to dry or repair a waterlogged iPhone. However, these methods are only meant to increase your iPhone’s chances of “survival”, you should know that there is no guaranteed way to recover a soaked phone.

Table of Contents

Save a wet iPhone

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Remove the phone from the water immediately. The longer the phone is submerged in water, the lower the chance of recovery. Fast reflexes are an important part of the difference between a “revived” phone and an irretrievable phone.

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Power off the phone. Press and hold the power button, then slide the slider shown at the top of the screen to the right when prompted. The sooner you turn off the power, the better your phone’s chances of recovering.

If the screen is currently off and you are not sure whether the phone is powered on or off, quickly press the power button to see if the screen lights up. If so, proceed to power off. If not, leave it as it is.

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Remove the case or holster if present. If your iPhone has a cover, steam may collect; Removing the case or leather case will allow the phone to breathe better.

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Remove the SIM card and the holder . Insert the SIM removal tool or a straight paper clip into the hole in the SIM tray to pop the tray out. Remove the SIM tray completely so that the water can drain out.

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Use a dry, absorbent cloth to wipe the phone. Wipe away any remaining moisture on the phone with an absorbent cloth. Make sure there is no moisture in places like the charging port, volume buttons, headphone jack and openings.

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Clean the ports with a toothpick and cloth. Take a thin piece of cotton cloth, an old shirt, for example, wrap a loop around the tip of the toothpick and then proceed to wipe the excess water from the charging port and headphone jack.

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Place your iPhone in a warm, dry place. The best way to get rid of water inside the phone is to simply let it dry in a warm place for as long as possible.

Many guides indicate that placing the iPhone in a bag of rice also helps to draw the water out. This has been proven wrong — just letting the phone dry on its own is the most effective way to fix it. ^{[1] X Research Source}
iPhone will also dry out faster on its own if you remove the battery from the phone.

Wait at least 48 hours. The longer the time, the more effective the drying process. If you can wait longer than 48 hours, 72 hours is very good.

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Check the liquid contact indicator. Every iPhone has a small indicator that can tell a technician that the phone has been damaged by water. The device is a piece of plastic that turns red when exposed to too much water. You can check this indicator yourself for damage by shining a flash through the adapter and looking inside the phone. This indicator will let you know if you can afford it, in case you want to fix it yourself. ^{[2] X Research Source}

For iPhone 5 and later – Look for the red indicator inside the SIM tray port, located on the side of the phone screen.
For iPhone 4S – Look for the red indicator inside the charging port or headphone jack.

Handling water damage

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Backup iPhone data immediately after powering on. In case your iPhone stops working a few days later, backing up your phone right away will ensure that you can reset all your information on the new device.

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Use AssistiveTouch in case the Home button stops working. When the iPhone gets wet, one of the common “diseases” is “paralysis” of the Home key; you can get around this problem by enabling on-screen “AssistiveTouch” accessibility to instead support mechanical key presses.

AssistiveTouch will let you lock the screen, adjust the phone volume, and take screenshots.

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Use a USB docking station or Bluetooth headset to play audio. If water damage caused your iPhone’s headphone jack to malfunction, you’ll need to use an audio-out device other than traditional headphones.

Try connecting a compatible USB station to the charging port on the bottom of your iPhone. The input will be recognized automatically.
If the charging port doesn’t recognize the input, you won’t be able to charge the phone.

Perform advanced repair

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Power off the phone. Press and hold the power button, then slide the slider shown at the top of the screen to the right when prompted.

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Remove the SIM card. Remove the SIM tray and SIM card from the phone before proceeding to remove the iPhone.

Remove the screw at the bottom of the phone. You will need a Pentalobe screwdriver (5-pointed star shape) to open the screws located on the left and right sides of the charging port.

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Use a vacuum funnel to remove the front panel. A strong vacuum funnel is an easier way to get the front part off the phone body. This also helps minimize scratches when trying to take the phone apart.

Press the vacuum hopper on the front, hold the rear case with the other hand.
Once the vacuum hopper has adhered to the front, split the phone in half by pulling on the back cover.

Use a crosshead screwdriver or other flat tool to pry up the battery. Set the battery aside first.

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Disassemble the cable connectors. There are many cable connectors that need to be removed before working with the logic board. Some can be pry open, others need to use a crosshead screwdriver to unscrew the screws.

Remove the circuit board from the plastic case. Once the logic board is removed, you can remove it from the plastic protective frame.

Immerse the logic board in a 97% isopropyl alcohol solution. Soak until impurities on the board begin to peel off.

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Use a soft brush to remove dirt. Be sure to clean all contacts and connectors. Scrub the chip on the board. Repeat this process if necessary.

Allow the board to dry on its own before reassembling the plastic frame. Make sure the circuit board is completely dry. If it is still damp, the phone may be damaged more severely when you turn it on.

Wipe over the LCD screen with isopropyl alcohol solution. This can remove any remaining liquid on the screen. Avoid submerging the screen as this may cause permanent damage to visibility.

Wait for these devices to dry. The isopropyl solution takes time to dry, so you need to leave the phone parts out for at least four hours before reassembling.

Reassemble iPhone. Put the phone’s parts back together by putting all the connectors back and screwing the screws in the opposite direction that you opened them up.

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Power on the phone. If you know for sure that your iPhone is dry, you can try turning it on. If you have just carried out a full cleaning and the parts are not corroded too much then there is a chance that the phone will work again. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Steps

Save a wet iPhone

Handling water damage

Perform advanced repair

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