BEFORE- Water damaged board
Q. What causes water damage?
A. Believe it or not, water alone doesnt causes the damage. Damage results from:
In this scenario a drop of water has landed between chip 3 and chip 4. The drop of water has dried, but oxidation is left behind (oxidation is represented by the blue dots). Figure 1 shows the normal opperation of the circuit and Figure 2 shows the effect caused by the oxidation after the water drop has dried.
What is happening here? The right hand column explains how the single area with oxidation effects many functions.
Q. So if I get my phone wet, can you guys repair it?
A. It depends if a chip was over powered, and if so what chip it was that was overpowered. After being oxidized many chips are over powered and under powered, but only certain chips are critical chips. If a critical chip is overpowered, chances of recovery are very low. Most chips are not critical chips however, but if the phone is used after it has oxidized, more chips will be overpowered faster. When the phone finally does not power on any longer it is usually too late because by then a critical chip has most likely already been destroyed. Fill out this form and we can better estimate the chances of recovery.
Q. I got my phone wet so I dried it out. Should I see if it powers up before I send it in for repair?
A. Every time you try to power up a phone that has gotten wet, or after oxidation has formed, you are slightly lowering the chances of recovery. For best results do not power it up.
Q. I realize now that I shouldn't have powered my phone up, but I did and it did not do anything. Should I even bother sending it in to see if it can be repaired?
A. Just because it did not power up does not mean the chances of repair are slim to none. There can be many reasons that the phone does not power up; Fill out this form and I can better estimate the chances of recovery. 9 times out of 10, after someone gets there phone wet they try to power it up. I would estimate the recovery rate is about 75%-85% (considering the phone was not powered up for an excessive amount of time).
Q. I got my phone wet, dried it out, and now it seams to work fine. Should I still send it in for repair?
A. Yes! It happens all the time- people get there phone wet and try to power it up and it does not work, so they google "wet cell phone" or something and find me. They email me the details, I tell them to dry it out and send the phone to us (see our mailing instructions), then I get an email a few hours later "thanks for the drying advice, it works now- I will let you know if I have any future problems and will mail it to you then". Not much longer (it may be a few minutes later, a few hours later, a few days or even weeks later)- but 9 times out of 10 I get an email saying something like "remember that phone I emailed you about and I dried it out and it worked.... well now it is dead again.... should I send it in" my advice is always the same- if it got wet some time ago and was not serviced, and now the phone is dead, chances of recovery are extremely low, probably less then 5%. For some reason people do not understand this concept- if you are considering powering the phone up after it has gotten wet, take the back off the phone and look at the board. You will clearly see the oxidation that has formed.
Contact us for an estimate on what the chances of recovery are, then if you decide to send it to us, visit our repair request page here.
Q. Why shouldnt you power up the phone with oxidation present?
A. Oxidation is conductive. That means oxidation allows electricity to be carried from one chip to another. This causes some chips to become over powered, and others to be underpowered. This will effect the function of whatever the chip is responciple for. SEE EXAMPLE BELOW
Q. How do we fix water damage?
To understand the effects of water damage, lets look at each of the phones three major components. These components usually compose of an LCD, mainboard, and flex cable. The mainboard is the "brains" of the phone, (thats the part that you plug the charger into). The flex cable connects the mainboard to the LCD. Just about all phone has these components in them, however more advanced phones may also have extra components not listed here. If you have further questions on any component not listed here, feel free to email us.
PART: LCD
COMPONENTS: GLASS / PLASTIC LENSES, FLEX CABLE CONNECTOR, SMALL NUMBER OF MICROCHIPS
Since the LCD is composed of a searies of plastic / glass lenses, so liquid doesnt usually perminantly effect the LCD. The only main areas suseptable to damage are the plug (where the flex cable plugs into) and any other micro chip that is attached to the board. In rare cases, water gets trapped between the layers of lenses, but thats very rare, even if the phone has been submerged in the water for a long period of time.
ESTIMATION OF DAMAGE*: I would estimate the LCD has only a 5 - 10% chance of becoming perminantly damaged, after being exposed to water. The number one cause of LCD damage is if water gets between the flex cable connector and the actual flex cable (connector is shown in the picture to the left, notice the plug connector on the bottom right hand side of the LCD module). If water gets stuk here, it can cause severe oxidation, even minor rust. If it turned into rust, the LCD module would have to be replaced. That is rare though.
LCD
Flex Cable
Main board
PART: Flex Cable
COMPONENTS: CABLE CONNECTOR PLUG, CABLE
The cable is a sheet of plastic, composed of internal wires. The plastic protects the internal wires from stress every time the phone is opened and closed. The only area suseptable to damage is the cable connector plugs- this part is found on both ends of the cable. One end of the clex cable plugs into the mainboard, the other end plugs into the LCD. When the phone gets wet, water can get trapped between the connector plugs. This creates a large ammount of oxidation, and depending on a number of factors (liquid type, how slow it dries, etc) perminant damage can occur.
ESTIMATION OF DAMAGE*: I would estimate the flex cable has only a 5-10% chance of becoming perminantly damaged, after being exposed to water.
PART: Main Board
COMPONENTS: HUNDREDS OF MICROCHIPS
The mainboard is the "brains" of the phone. Its where all the data is stored, and where all the internal calculations are made. Its sort of like a computer, just the components are not removable (such as the computers hard drive, ram, etc are removable). Each chip on the board has a specific function. Some chips are responciple for diverting the eletricity into another section of the phone, some chips are responciple for regulating the power going through a specific area on a phone. The key to remember is every single chip has a function. If liquid enters the phone and creates a shortout, the area shorted out is going to malfunction. *THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE REASON PEOPLE DONE HAVE THERE PHONE SERVICED UNTILL ITS TOO LATE* After they get it wet and let it dry out, they think "it powers up and dials numbers, so it must be all set". Allthough it may work for the time being, if it is not serviced and eletricity continues to pass through the phone, inernal damage builds up. More info on this below.
ESTIMATION OF DAMAGE*: Obviously a number of factors come into play here, so we can better estimate the chances of recovering your phone by filling this form out.
