Things To Do When You Have A Water-Damaged Android Phone

In the times when smartphones have become an imperative aspect of our daily life, in fact, you can call it as an external bionic organ made up of ICs, electronic components, etc. There are countless things and tasks you can do with your smartphone. If falling or dropping won’t kill the device and prevent it from turning ON, water can definitely do that job. Water is one of the biggest problems for all electronic devices including the smartphones. Although there are smartphones with water-resistant protection, there is only a minority of them being used due to their price which is too high.

So, consider a scenario where you accidentally dropped your phone in a pool, pond, or you actually dropped water or any liquid on your phone, it is considered as water-damaged android phone and that needs redressal pretty quickly. If you are technology savvy and know your way around electronic devices like smartphones, you can learn more about to get the water out of the internal assembly which could potentially void the warranty of your phone. But there are the majority of people who know nothing about opening the phone and getting rid of the water stuck inside the assembly. So what do you do? A simple search on Google will let you know plenty of tips and tricks that you could do to get rid of water and to avoid water from soaking into the device in the first place.

What is the difference between Water-resistant vs Waterproof?

Okay, at first it is possible for you to misunderstood these two terms as the same. But actually, they aren’t. Nowadays, smartphone manufacturers use the term ‘waterproof’ to address the feature of their ‘water-resistant smartphone’. However, it comes as a surprise and a shock that there is still 10% chance of your phone to get water-damaged even with proper high-grade water-resistance certification. In the smartphone lexicon, waterproof or water-resistant is the ability of your phone to ward off dust, lentils, and other particles along with its capability to be soaked into fresh water for a period of 30 minutes without being damaged. But is that all?

Actually, your phone can stay protected from water only if the ports which are the only way water can enter into the internal system are covered. No doubt you can include cases and covers to prevent water-damaged but there are a still 10% chances that your phone will be water due to water. Now about the certification, if it says that you can submerge the phone at a depth of 1 meter where it can withstand low-pressure water current for up to 30 minutes which is not completely true. These specifications are based on various studies which could have vivid results. Thus, you need to make sure that you don’t intentionally drop your phone into the pool just to see if it works properly or not because there is a 1/10th chance that it will not work. But that doesn’t mean you should buy waterproof phones, it is more of a necessity now, however, if it adds much to your budget, it is better to include a low-cost alternative that is waterproof mobile covers.

What makes Android Phones waterproof?

Covering the ports which are used to connect the USB Cable or headphones through the audio jack is important. If you think that the chances of the phone getting water-damaged in any given situation, say a poolside party where there are probabilities that you might drop your phone into water or you or anyone else can spill liquid on it thereby damaging it, don’t just rely on your phone’s waterproof feature.

As aforementioned, waterproof smartphones are actually what they are advertised and thus, you need to make sure they are used properly. Port protection scheme which is a fancy word to protect the ports on your phone using port covers. There are many port cover providers that you will find on e-commerce sites li>ke Amazon, eBay, etc where you can buy covers for your make and model of smartphone. Once you plug in the port covers, it will be safe from potential spillage of water. But don’t just get hang of this problem just yet. Because these port covers aren’t 100% reliable. Since a user commented that the port cover plugged into one of his Samsung Galaxy S5 (he had two) broke off. Although it didn’t directly cause the problem as soon as the port cover broke off, he accidentally dropped the phone in water the other day. And guess what happened? The phone was water-damaged.

The various situations and their fixes

After reading through all the comments of our esteemed readers based on water damaged Android phone, we have compiled a list of comments as well as its breakdown and fix as well. According to a user whose phone dropped into the water, he placed it in a rice bag, however, when he tried to power it on, the phone started but with an issue that is overheating the battery. This is a concern that you need to express with the authorized service center who will be able to prescribe the best fix. In most cases, it is the faulty driver software on your phone or it is the battery which has damaged after coming into contact with the water.

Another user stated that rice bag helped him revive the phone back with all the major components running swiftly. However, the network connection seems to wobble and frequently turns OFF and ON repeatedly which isn’t reliable at all. In this case, it can be the network antenna or another correlated component that might have gone haywire.

Things not to do when the phone is wet?

Before getting to know the things you should do when the phone is wet, it is better to learn about the things you shouldn’t do beforehand.

First of all, don’t panic. If done within the specified time limit, there are good chances that you will be able to revive the phone without any major damage.
Do not attempt to turn ON the phone.
Don’t press down buttons bluntly and try to get the phone started as it might push the water into the internal circuit and that is something which you need to avoid in the first place.
Don’t attempt opening the housing of the phone if you aren’t knowledgeable about it.
Never charge the phone while it is wet.
Things like tapping the phone, pressing the buttons or its components, blowing through the ports, shaking, and almost every movement should be avoided to prevent excess water damage.
It is easy to misunderstand that heating can evaporate the excess water but when it comes to electronic devices, you must avoid it to prevent a short circuit or any other damage that will cause internally and it will take you shell a lot of money to get it repair.

Things to do when you have a water-damaged Android phone?

water damage

Although this to-do list is for Android devices, most of the parts are applicable to other smartphones as well. So if your phone is water damaged, there are things that you can do to revive it or at least try in the worst case scenario.

The very first thing you need to remember is that even if your phone is touted as waterproof, do not let it submerge into the water for a long time. Every second counts especially when the phone doesn’t have any protection.
If it is switched ON, switch if OFF instantly. Remember not to press the power button if the phone is already switched OFF.
If your phone has a removable battery, take the battery, microSD, SIM Card and other accessories and keep it aside to dry. If your phone doesn’t have a removable battery, better plug out other accessories without shaking the phone much.
Now, take a clean cloth to wipe off the excess water from the exterior of the phone, battery, microSD and SIM Card. You can use rubbing alcohol too.
If you know your way with opening the phone and accessing the internal system, try putting some rubbing alcohol to wipe off dust, minerals as well as it will be able to get rid of water at the first level.
It is one of the most used techniques whereby you put the phone inside a ziplock bag filled with uncooked rice because it absorbs water and humidity. Now, take a ziplock bag, put your phone inside the bag, filled it with rice and then keep it away for few days. I repeat, 2 or 3 days are required for the process to complete since it takes time for water to be completely absorbed by the rice. Many of the people would attempt to open the bag in between but that is something that you need to avoid.
After waiting for 2 or 3 days, open the ziplock bag and pull out your phone. Now, power it ON to see if it is working or not. Now, there is not much you can do to revive the phone if this procedure didn’t help in the first place. But, there is a possibility that the battery is completely drained because of which, the phone isn’t turning ON. So, plug the charger into the phone and let it charge for 10 to 15 minutes. Even if it doesn’t show any sign of charging, let it be idle for some time.
After 10 – 15 minutes, press the power button to see if the phone restarts or not.
Last but not the least, take the phone to an authorized center if nothing helped in your favor. But if you opened the phone before reading this method, you might have voided the warranty of your phone which means, your phone is no looking insured and you will need to pay the cost of repair upfront to get it repaired.

Prevent water damage with waterproof smartphone cases

With waterproof cases, you can be assured that it will prevent excessive damage to the phone even it comes in contact with the phone. In most cases, the phone works extremely fine even after being dropped in water under a suitable condition, of course. In order to inform our readers about the available options, here is a list of top 5 best waterproof covers for your phone that adds another layer of protection to your phone. It might look weird but it isn’t anything when compared to the look of user’s face when the phone gets water damaged incurring hefty charges to get it fixed.

CaliCase floating waterproof case pouch
3iArt floating waterproof case
Swiss Military MP Waterproof mobile case
FRiEQ Floating waterproof case
Seidio Obex

Hope we were able to provide a satisfactory resolution on getting the water damaged Android Phone fix using the comprehensive list of do’s and don’ts that we have mentioned in this post. At GetDroidTips, you can get plenty of tips on how to secure your phone with water as well as how to fix issues such as Bluetooth not working, Wifi not working, just to name a few. It is the best place to search for Android Tips & Tricks, iPhone Tips, custom ROMS, Bootloader, and much more.