Dropped My iPhone in Water will it cause Corrosion?

Earlier yesterday morning I was sitting beside a small bucket of water, which I was using to soak my feet in after I had showered. The water contained 3-4 drops of tea tree oil which is good to maintain dry feet. I had taken my feet out of the bucket, and watched a music video on my iPhone while I was leaning in a completely opposite direction from the bucket on the floor. Next thing you know the video ended, and my phone miraculously jumped out of my hand. & splashed right into the damn bucket of water on the floor!

I immediately picked it up, and noticed that the part that had gotten wet was the bottom side where the speakers are. The backside was not wet, the camera and topside wasn't wet either. Check the photo out below for an example:



The bottom side of the screen (on the outside of the touchscreen glass) did have a bit of water splashed on it since that's the side it was facing when it landed at the corner of the bucket. Luckily I had a Mophie case on my iPhone. Which protected it from breaking during the fall. But also did get wet at the bottom speaker end. When I took the phone out of the case I noticed the backside of my iPhone was pretty dry. Except for the bottom again by the speakers. That part definitely went in the water. The speaker holes on my iPhone were completely wet. I think my iphone was in the water for no more than 5 seconds.

The first thing I did was shut my iphone off, and carefully looked at the lcd screen (inside the touchscreen glass) just before doing so. Obviously the phone was on when it took a dive. So I checked the inside of the screen before I turned it off to see if it had any water damage by just looking at it. & it didn't seem like the water got to the inside of the screen between the touch glass. So ya I turned it off immediately, placed it in a sealed container full of rice with the phone standing upwards so the water could disperse downwards. I then found about 3 silica gel packs and through them into the rice container at the top, middle, and bottom sides of the phone (since silica absorbs water better than rice). I placed the sealed container near our air conditioner room vent for a few hours with the ac in our home on low cool. Then removed it away from the vent and let the container sit in the room, where it still is now away from the ac. I figured the ac would help dry out the water for a bit, but too long of cool/cold air wouldn't be good for components in general.

Again only the bottom small half portion of my iphone really went into the water. I am now letting it dry for 3 days. I know tap water contains minerals and things like that which causes corrosion on components. But I'm not sure exactly how, when, or if that really occurs. I don't want to open my iPhone because the parts are far too small (even though I have experience with computers). I just feel like the parts are too small, I'll lose something, or break something in the process. Even though I know if I open it up I can brush or wash some of the components with 90% isopropyl alcohol. So in this case I just plan to leave the phone intact. I'm thinking the phone will work when it's dry, but I'm afraid of corrosion on the internal parts. I researched tea tree oil (which was diluted in the water - I only had used 3-4 small tear drops in about 2 litres of water). Most everyone I read up online says tea tree oil is non corrosive. So I'm not too worried about that... It's a natural tree oil from Australia.

So ya I guess I'm just in a position where I'm almost completely sure the phone will work. I mean I've had friends whom this has happened to before with older phones. I don't know about an iphone... But theirs worked after I told them to put it in rice for a few days. An iPhone is trickier though, there's a lot more technology in it. Basically I just want your thoughts on your take if corrosion would actually occur on the pcb board contacts or other components inside? If so how long can that take to start?

I no longer trust to backup this phone on my computer. Luckily I had made a backup a couple days ago. So I'm basically planning to use this phone when it's dried (if it works - which I think it should). & then get rid of it when the iPhone 6 comes out at the end of this year. I just don't trust the flash memory onboard that contains all of my data now. I'm not sure where it's location would be inside the phone. & if it got wet well the data could be corrupted. It may seem fine but I'm not comfortable trusting it to save new data, or to use it to backup my phone on my computer in the near future.

If you guys have any knowledge about tap water on internal phone components (which are similar to computer parts), if they corrode easily from water, or what to expect going on inside the phone that I can't see let me know. Other drying methods would be helpful too for future reference if this should ever happen again. I don't want to take this phone apart to clean it even after it's dry, I'm afraid I'll break it. & won't be taking it to a professional, unless the speakers don't work, or unless any part that doesn't work after drying needs replacement.

Thanks

 

You could place it in a sealed container filled with uncooked rice or silica gel pellets to absorb any water remaining. It's unlikely that your phone will corrode from a brief exposure.

 

I'll tell you what worked for me. Bury the phone inside a bag of rice, after removing the battery. Leave it there for 24 hours. The rice will absorb the water. the longer you leave it, the better. I hope this helps you as it did me.

 

If you grab a bright torch and look in the charging jack hole or the headphones jack hole you should see some white material (moisture indicator pads). If the white material is pink or red it means water has got into the phone. If it is pink it means not very much water (just moisture) as this has even been known to turn pink from the steam in the bathroom when you have a shower but on the other hand, if it is red it indicates water. BTW these indicator pads are always checked by Apple when there is a warranty claim as they don't warrant against water ingress and moisture voids the warranty.
I wouldn't worry about corrosion because in this short time, the amount of water entering the phone will be negligible. There will be a clear conformal coating sprayed over the PCB which is applied after passing through testing during manufacture and this should give basic protection. :cool

PS: Once the pads have turned pink or red they don't change back when it is dried out

 

@Joffa

Always very informative posts! My iPhone 5 is sadly out of warranty, but that's okay. As long as it can last me until the iPhone 6 comes out in a couple of months. What would you recommend would be a good enough time to keep the phone in rice? I've had it in rice with 3 silica gel packs for two days now, but was going to leave it to dry in the sealed container for a third day. Last night I placed the container near the air conditioner vent (again), while I slept. I'm planning on leaving it by a breezy window when I finally take it out, then charging it for a couple of hours so it heats up inside.

Thanks for all of the responses friends!

 

If the water is not gone overnight after sitting in rice then rice isn't going to do the job as it is not as absorbent as silica gel and doesn't last as long. I don't really favour rice even though I know people who have had success with it. My choice is reagent grade indicating silica gel and I get mine from ebay for about A$10. This stuff changes colour when it has absorbed moisture so you know if it is still doing the job or it needs replacing.
Here is a link to some but I am sure you could find some closer to home. Last time I got 1kg for $10 in a sturdy reagent bottle.

I spread a generous layer of the silica gel in the bottom of an airtight plastic container then covering it with some medical gauze or a tissue I have heated in the oven to drive out the moisture. Then I sit the device on the gauze and and settle it slightly into the silica gel. I then cover the device with another piece of dried gauze over the top of the device. I then spread a thin layer of silica gel over the top and seal the container overnight if damp or 48 hours if wet. I try to keep the silica gel away from the device although I know it is not supposed to be corrosive but I don't like to tempt fate as I am not a lucky guy rolleyes
This worked great on a friend's Nikon camera left on the centre console of the car with the sunroof open with not a cloud in the sky and of course that was the day we had a sunshower. The internal prismatic display was fogging up prior to treatment and the buttons were erratic in operation. After treatment the camera was perfect again (luckily it was turned off when it got wet).
BTW We left the camera for 2 days as it got quite wet. :-D

I know other people use refillable dessicant boxes with a stainless steel or plastic mesh grill and this would be ideal but I didn't have one and the above method worked for a camera and also for several ipods and an iriver

I hope this helps :major

 

Geez Joffa, sounds like you've had your share of experience drying out wet devices. I'm actually going to try and find some retail silica gel bags locally today. To have on hand for future mishaps, and to maybe use on my iPhone for this one last night (3rd day drying). Good to know that they sell silica gel that reacts when moisture is absorbed and changes color! I had no idea... This is the first time this has ever happened to me. It happened to my girlfriend, and sister before. My sister dropped her old Sony cell phone (non touchscreen), years ago in a toilet. I told her to leave it in rice for a few days. & I can't remember if I told her to do the following right when it was wet, or before opening the rice container after a few days passed. But I had her wrap the phone in a towel, and toss it in the oven on a very low heat setting for about 5-10 mins. Then her phone worked without a hitch! My girlfriend got her Blackberry wet years back in like 2008. I took it apart and dried it manually. Never saw any corrosion, and I did change the face plates for her over time. A year and a half ago she got incense oil all over her iPhone by accident. Even though it was water damaged (technically fragrance oil you could smell), the Apple store still replaced her phone for free. & she was just two days out of warranty!

 

So I finally took my iPhone out of the rice pit and it works! I'll post every step below for anyone who may run into the same issue themselves.


- Immediately took my phone out of the water on a Saturday morning

- Shut it off

- Placed it in a sealed container full of rice

- Placed the container in a X-Large Ziplock bag

- Immediately searched for Silica Gel packets lingering from ESD bags and such (you can also find these in brand new shoe boxes, or in larger bags at your local craft store)

- Removed the phone from the rice pit and used a vacuum for 4-8 minutes on the lower ports where I had visually seen water get in (should have vacummed prior to the initial rice pit burial)

- Found 3 Silica Gels pouches and placed one at the top, middle, and bottom outside of the iPhone in rice

- Sealed container back up and let it sit for a few hours standing up so any remaining water could pour down onto the rice

- In the evening placed the rice kit next to my air conditioner vent on "cool" for a few hours (this is done to aid with drying, heat will damage the phone)

- During the night I moved it away from the ac, and placed it in my closet

- On the second day I left it in my closet until evening time, and placed it in front of the ac for the second time (only to move it back into my closet during the night)

- Repeated the above step for the third day

- Tuesday morning after 72 hours had passed I took the phone out of the rice pit, vacuumed it all around it's shell for a good while using toothpics, and a sewing needle (to remove minor rice debris from the ports), then left the phone to dry at a nice angle by my window cell for a few hours so it could air dry in a bit of light sun (face up).

- Did a quick vacuum, used contact cleaner on Q-Tips to clean up the connection ports. All of this done with the Sim Tray out (also cleaned the Sim Card with contact cleaner).

- One last vacuum, then I used "Mother's Plastic Polish" which cleans, shines, protects, and removes scratches over the phone screen and a bit of the side edges to get that natural sheen back (supposed to be used on cars).

- Finally connected the iPhone back up to the wall outlet for 3 hours (minimum), so the entire internal parts of the phone could heat up. Also to let the battery charge fully, while checking to be sure there were no charge issues.


Phone looks new now and luckily the water didn't reach the Water Damage label (which changes red when water touches it - otherwise it appears white), located inside the Sim Card tray. I've used the phone for two weeks now without a glitch. But still won't trust the data even though it all looks good. Getting the new iPhone 6 this month.


Thanks for the help it's still good for now!