No matter how advanced your phone gets, it wouldn’t sustain water damage if it doesn’t have any water-resistant coating. This is why we usually ask our readers to be aware of dipping your phone in a pool, sink, or wherever that could cause water damaged smartphone because the retrieval process has contrasting results right from turning on properly to not turning at all. In fact, most of the water damaged smartphone leave users in peril as they aren’t always operational but you need to be cautious at the first to prevent it. Well, here’s an explicit guide on how to fix an Elephone water damaged smartphone that you must go through which is a DIY procedure followed by a professional fix at the end.
But First, What Not To Do?
Before knowing what you should do if you find your phone in water or any other liquid, you need to know what you must avoid first.
First of all, you mustn’t try to turn it off if it gets turned on. Next up, you shouldn’t plug in the power cord which is anyways not the best option to pick since water and electricity don’t go hand-in-hand and it is common sense. The next thing to avoid is basically pressing the display, buttons or wobbling, shaking, or flipping the phone as it could push the water droplets or even moisture deep into the internal circuitry where it can make the most damage while if its in the exterior or hasn’t reached the motherboard, it would not damage anything crucial or could render ports or even the display non-functional if it comes in contact with the water.
Next up, you shouldn’t use air blower as it gets hot and could evaporate the water droplets that could turn into moisture and stick on something sensitive to heat or water and thereby rendering the phone unusable without any professional’s hand. Note that you shouldn’t use the vacuum cleaner at this moment as well since I will be specifying how and when to use it in the given DIY guide to fix a water damaged smartphone but at the end of the day, you must know that the chances of revival are slim if the water was totally submerged and if it didn’t any water-resistant coating or protection as I have mentioned earlier.
How to Fix Elephone Water Damaged Smartphone?
Here’s how you can perform a DIY guide on how to fix Elephone Water Damaged Smartphone that must work in some cases subjected to severity of the issue.
Step 01: Remove the phone out
Isn’t that the first thing that strikes your mind when in turn your phone slips or drops or falls in water or vice versa? So, the thing is, you shouldn’t panic when it happens because this will definitely raise the response time and thus, could end up causing accelerated damage to the device. Thus, you shouldn’t panic and remove the phone as soon as possible and keep it on a dry surface.
Step 02: Clean the exterior
Without moving the phone much but just a gentle movement, you’ll need a tissue or paper towel to wipe off the excess water off the exterior which is the first thing you should do. Note that don’t press the buttons or the display trying to squeeze the water but even though it could happen, it could actually cause more harm as droplets of water could escape through the openings towards the internal circuitry where it can make irreversible damage at times.
Step 03: Take out all the removable items
This includes SIM card(s), memory card, phone case/cover, and battery (if removable). Keep these items aside, use the tissue to wipe off the exterior and proceed with the next step here.
Step 04: Use tissues to wipe the orifices
Next up is to use tissues or paper towel, roll in as such as it goes inside the ports and slots. Here, you need to be gentle as you should protrude aggressively but use a gentle force to clean the interior of the ports. This will act as another layer of fixing a water damaged smartphone before you proceed with the next step which has a little risky but effective alternative as well.
Step 05: Vacuum Cleaner for further soaking of water
Next up is to use a vacuum cleaner in a light setting to soak off the excess water or whatever moisture remains that could end up being a problem later. Use the hose or pipe of the vacuum cleaner to soak excess water from the ports, openings, slots, etc. Now, hover it across the front and back side trying to soak any traces of water whatsoever and keep the phone on a dry surface.
Step 06 (Alternative): Use Isopropyl alcohol
This is an alternative method as you know, it would help to fix water damaged smartphone if there’s no physical damage or needs any repair or replacement of components. You must try this method only if you know how to actually disassemble the phone to reveal its motherboard and put it back. You will need to use a cotton swab dipped in isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol and smear it across the components, motherboard, exterior and interior of the phone that will allow the alcohol to remove any debris while evaporating moisture as well while getting rid of any foreign element that can cause corrosion or rust somewhere.
Step 07: The traditional rice & ziplock bag method
This is a traditional DIY method that might revive Elephone water damaged smartphone in some cases where it depends on the severity of the issue more than you can think. You’ll need a ziplock bag and water absorbing substance like uncooked rice which is easy to get or you can check out silica gel litter if you get your hands on one that must do the needful.
You need to put the uncooked rice in a ziplock bag and stash the phone in-between so that the rice is all around the phone. Now, lock the bag and keep it idle on a dry surface for 2 to 3 days based on the intensity of water damage and this must work in your favor although we can’t actually anticipate the outcome since it is only a handful of times and that too if there’s no physical damage to any important component preventing its startup or else it must turn on.
Step 08: The big unveil
You need to wait for 2 to 3 days before actually unzipping the bag and find if the overall method worked or not. You’ll need to turn on the phone and check it out. If it doesn’t turn on at the first go, this could be because the battery is drained out. For this, you’ll need to juice it up a bit and try to boot it again and check if it works. If not, you might be getting more severe damage and will have to look for a permanent solution.
What is the permanent fix?
The thing is, it is not all the time that you could revive Elephone water damaged smartphone. This is because water can have a long-lasting and detrimental impact on a smartphone and thus, even if you have followed the above mentioned DIY guide to fix it, you might realize that it didn’t work. This is where the permanent fix comes into play. If the phone is still turned off and isn’t showing any sign of life, turn towards a nearby service center where you will be able to report the issue and get the phone fixed. Note that phones lose warranty when they are water damaged (if not covered under any IP rating). This means you can walk into an authorized or even a third-party service center to get the problem resolved. This will also include paying a service charge that comes with it so you need to pay that too.
Are there any precautionary measures/substitutes to prevent water damaged smartphone?
First up, if you want to secure the phone from any water damage, the first thing that strikes my mind is to stay away from water or at least keep the phone away from any water or liquid. Next is to use water-resistant phone cover or case or pouch that will prevent water spillage from causing any harm to it while high-quality phone cases could even extend the functionality even further by allowing it to be splash proof as well as secured from a quick dip few inches in the water.
But note that if you are clumsy, don’t just risk it but instead buy a smartphone with water-resistant IP rating such as IP57 or IP58 which is splash resistant or you can cause from IP67 or IP68 which is capable of dipping the phone in 1.5m deep into the water for half an hour, etc. Furthermore, such a prospect will be expensive but you can always pick any smartphone from a wide range of devices spread across a different price range both with recognized and unrecognized water-resistant rating.
