So you’ve spilled something on your phone and now have liquid damage and wondering what to do? One thing for certain is that you shouldn’t plug in the charger or attempt to turn on without first drying out the phone. Using the phone while there is still liquid inside, components on the motherboard could be shorting and cause further damage that may make the phone unrepairable.
Rice Doesn’t Work
The good ol rice trick doesn’t really work anymore with newer phones. Their slim and sleek design makes them more compact inside which makes it a little harder to get liquid out without opening the phone. Phones that can not be open without a professional only have a few openings where liquid can travel out of. Usually these are the ear piece hole, sim slot, charging port, headphone jack (if you have one) and speaker hole. Rice may work to get some of the liquid located near these places but will be harder and take longer to get liquid from the center of the phone out.
Remove The Battery If Possible
First thing one should do is remove the battery if possible. Most smartphones these days have batteries that are not easily removable like those that you pop the back cover off and remove the battery. Lets say that you have one of those fancy phones with a non-removable battery, if you just dropped it in water or spilled something on it. Try to turn it off as soon as possible. If the screen is not responding to touch turn the display off and take it to a repair shop as soon as possible.
Clean The Phone
Now that you have your phone turned off, if it was possible to turn it off. Take it to a repair shop that can open your phone to properly dry out the inside of the phone. The sooner you take your phone the higher chance you have that the liquid hasn’t damaged the components inside. Once the phone has been cleaned and dried try a new battery and see if it turns on.
Back Up Your Data
If the phone turns on the first thing you should do is back up the data. Liquid damage even though cleaned can be a little tricky. There have been cases where a phone was dropped in a small puddle and immediately brought over to open and clean and did not work. We’ve also had phones that have been sitting in a drawer and turns on right away with a new battery. Most repair shops will not warranty liquid damage for this reason. One minute your microphone, camera, or speaker could be working and then the next moment stops working.
Long story short, if you spill liquid on your device make sure you do not try to use it or plug in the charger. Once its been cleaned out and turns on back up your data immediately. Be aware that the phone may have other issues or that it may not last long.
