What to do and what not to do if your iPhone gets into water or snow. The phone got into the water and won’t turn on - what to do? What to do if the phone was lying in the snow?
Like it or not, many of us have been spending a lot of time surrounded by huge piles of snow these days.
Whether you are building a snowman with your child, playing in the snow, or just going to work, it is almost impossible to avoid contact with snow. You should be especially careful with your mobile phone during this time. If you drop it in a snowdrift, it may never work again. But according to online retailer Mobiles.co.uk, there are several ways to save your gadget if you still can't hold your device with frozen hands.
Act quickly
The longer your phone is immersed in snow and moisture, the more likely it is that you will not be able to restore it.
Immediately pick up the phone, turn it off, and remove the SIM card and battery (if you have one). Wrap the gadget in something soft. Your gloves will do, but a kitchen towel is best.
Dry your phone from the inside
Use a soft towel to gently absorb the water inside the phone. At this point, it is extremely important not to turn or shake the phone to prevent the moisture from spreading further.
Remove any remaining water
If there is a lot of water in your phone, you can use a vacuum cleaner to get rid of it. It is important to keep the vacuum cleaner at a sufficient distance from the phone.
Never use a hair dryer. On the contrary, it will blow water even deeper into the phone.
Look for silica gel
Silica gel is a dried gel formed from supersaturated solutions of silicic acids at pH > 5-6. Solid hydrophilic sorbent.
Remember those small bags that you probably found in shoe or equipment boxes? These are silica gel packets. Look for them.
Silica gel absorbs water well. It can be indispensable in saving your phone. Place your phone in a lunch box with as many silica sachets as you can find and close it.
If you don't have such bags, use rice. Place your phone in a bowl of rice and rotate it every few hours. This needs to be done for at least a day, but the longer you keep the gadget in the rice, the better.
Wait
The worst thing that can happen to a phone that has been exposed to moisture is a short circuit in the battery. Therefore, it is important not to rush to turn it on. The longer you can wait without your phone, the better.
What to do if you dropped your phone in the snow? The main thing is to act quickly updated: May 10, 2019 by: Elena Abdulaeva
When most of us come to the sea, lake or just a public swimming pool, we take our phone/smartphone and other electronic equipment with us.
A slight splash of water is usually not a serious problem for him, but sometimes it happens that our “ward” likes to fall into the water and stays there for a long time and this at the least expected moments.
What to do? It can usually be saved, although not always, especially if you do something wrong during the rehabilitation period.
The worst thing is if a Lenovo, Samsung Galaxy, HTC, Asus, Nokia, Huawei or iPhone phone falls into the water and does not turn on. If, for example, only the sensor, camera, microphone, speaker, etc., so to speak, only one element does not work, and it is also charging, then naturally there are more chances.
If it doesn’t turn on at all, as was the case with my Samsung and I didn’t take action right away, then the situation can be tragic.
I did not take action because I did not know that water had gotten into the smartphone. It didn’t fall into the water - I just walked around in the rain for a bit, then when I got home I put it in its usual place and picked it up only the next day.
This was enough to prevent my Samsung with Android OS from turning on. Then I made another mistake, although I knew about it firsthand.
However, I have an excuse, because I didn’t know that water got into the phone and thought that the battery was just dead.
Naturally, I connected the charger, which was impossible to do, although perhaps it was already dead.
In a word, my Samsung smartphone not only never turned on again, it was also beyond repair.
What to do when your phone falls into water and does not turn on
As you know, water and phones (electronic devices) never go hand in hand, and in this unequal battle the phone may no longer turn on.
There is no 100% guarantee that after swimming you will be able to restore the device to full physical readiness, but your quick actions can make a difference.
The main thing is to pick up the phone from the water as soon as possible. The sooner this is done, the less water will get inside the device and the less chance of “destruction”.
The next step is to immediately remove the battery (if, of course, the phone design allows it).
Short circuit is the most common cause of equipment failure.
So you can't waste time turning off your phone - which can take a few seconds - get rid of the back cover and remove the battery quickly.
The situation is different when the phone is built in one piece (the battery is not removable). Then the battery cannot be quickly removed and we can only rush to take the phone to the service center.
However, devices like the Xperia Z, Galaxy S4 or S5, Xcover 3 or even the flagship Galaxy S7 are considered more "advanced" devices, have the appropriate durability certifications and are basically waterproof (resistant to being completely submerged in water for a certain period of time).
If your mobile phone is turned off, it is tempting to try to turn it on to check - don't do this.
On the contrary, remove the SIM card and memory card. They store your personal data and you may lose it.
Therefore, removing them should come second after removing the battery. Then open up all the nooks and crannies you can, such as the cover covering the MicroSD card slot or USB port.
The next step is to thoroughly clean and dry the device. You can use a towel, cloth, or similar things that quickly absorb water.
The more water you can remove from your phone, the better. If your smartphone gets drunk on sugary drinks, you should clean it before drying it, for example, with isopropyl alcohol.
The sticky residue can be harmful to equipment, but isopropyl alcohol is harmless and electronics will not create electrolysis.
Avoid paper towels because as you clean, they get wet and the residue can get stuck in the phone's grooves.
Do not use a dryer under any circumstances! The flow of hot air can remove water from the phone's outer surface, but it can also push it further into the case.
There is one good way. To dry your phone, place it in a dry container with silica gel, which helps remove excess moisture.
Small packages are found in a shoe box - these little bags have balls in the middle and quickly absorb moisture.
If you don’t have this at home, you can use raw rice for drying, which also absorbs moisture well.
After cleaning, place the phone in a dry and safe place for ten or several tens of hours.
It is best to turn on the phone only after at least 24 hours have passed, or even better, 48.
If the phone does not turn on, try starting it by connecting the charger.
It can sometimes take up to a week for a smartphone to recover from the shock.
I never do if the phone falls into water and does not turn on
Do not put your phone in the microwave or dry it with a hair dryer.
A smartphone contains a number of sensitive parts that heat can destroy.
Very high temperatures can damage equipment.
Do not use products containing alcohol for drying. Alcohol can damage sensitive areas of the phone (such as gaskets).
Don't lie to the seller. The phones have litmus stickers and when wet they change color. Therefore there is no point in lying.
I hope this guide will help you save your phone after close contact with water.
Let me know if you've ever had situations where your phone got submerged in water and wouldn't turn on.
Were you able to save him? Maybe you have your own special drying methods? Good luck.
Winter is a harsh time of year; many iPhones can turn off even when left outside. After all, the operating temperature during use is 0-35 degrees.
But what to do if snow gets on your iPhone? We share a few tips for everyone who is worried about their smartphone.
Snow is the same as water (your cap)
No matter how less dangerous the snow may seem, it is still the same water. And this worst enemy any technology.
As soon as it gets inside, chemical and electrochemical corrosion of the elements occurs. When a large amount of moisture gets on an electronic board, deposits of various chemical natures form on its contacts.
And depending on the specific case, cleaning the device can take place in different ways. The most effective method is now considered to be an “ultrasonic bath”. During this procedure, cleaning solutions of various compositions are used, as well as various temperature conditions to deep clean the board.
And this question is especially relevant in the harsh Russian winter. After all, wipers especially often sprinkle the ground with reagents to combat ice.
And among them there is salt- one of the active elements that is capable of strongly damage internal components iPhone with contact oxidation.
1. Snow got on the screen - no problem
If you are just walking down the street and snow gets on your iPhone screen, just wipe the screen with a dry cloth/napkin/sleeve. There is nothing wrong with this, and there is no need to worry about it.
There is too little chance of water leaking into the housing. The main thing is to remove excess snow as quickly as possible.
2. iPhone fell into the snow
In such a situation, it is better not to wait. Follow these steps to protect yourself and your device:
Turn off your smartphone and dry thoroughly. Since the average user cannot disassemble the body of the device, you need to dry the device properly.
It is important not to use a hair dryer or battery in this situation, as they may accelerate corrosion of internal components.
Be sure to remove covers and bumpers. Some snow may also remain in them, which will then melt and may get inside the device.
To speed up the process a little use cotton swabs, toothpicks and any other available means. This will help remove snow and liquid from the 3.5mm jack, speakers, and Lightning port.
Be extremely careful, they can damage the contacts.
In no case do not connect iPhone to charger.
Some people think this will speed up the drying process. In fact, due to the incoming current, you can cause a short circuit, even with your iPhone turned off.
What if I have an iPhone 7 or higher?
Owners of iPhone 7 and higher are a little more fortunate; they have declared protection according to the IP67 standard. This means that the smartphone is capable of being underwater at a depth of up to 1 meter for 30 minutes.
Since the snow has no depth as such, there is no need to worry about pressure. The maximum that can happen is that snow gets into the speakers or Lightning connector. We have already described what to do with this above.
Smartphones have become an integral part of our lives; as a rule, they are not cheap and have the unpleasant tendency to fall. But what’s even worse is that they can land right in the water.
How to save a drowned phone? It is necessary to act quickly and correctly. It can be said without exaggeration that the situation is urgent, and it is necessary to provide first aid to the “drowned man” as soon as possible.
Emergency help
The first thing to do is remove the battery. If the phone is still working, then you do not need to turn it off. A working battery can cause a short circuit and burn out fragile smartphone chips.
In this case, repairs can be quite expensive. The battery must be removed in the first seconds after the phone falls into the water.
How to dry your phone?
After removing the battery, you can start drying the phone. How to do it right? If water gets inside, then first of all you need to get rid of it, shake it out or wipe it with a dry cloth. In the future, we will need a hair dryer, it’s good if you have a regular hair dryer at hand.
An industrial, powerful hair dryer can easily damage the body of a smartphone, or even worse, destroy the screen sensor. Using a hair dryer, you should dry all open parts and openings of the phone that may have gotten wet.
This procedure will take a lot of time, since it is necessary for the phone to heat up and the moisture to evaporate.
If you don’t have a hairdryer at hand, you can use materials that absorb moisture well. Cotton wool, soft paper, thin cotton will do. A good option would be cereals, such as rice.
The phone must be immersed in absorbent material (wrap it in toilet paper, cotton wool) and wait until the moisture comes out.
Diagnostics
The methods described above can only protect your phone from short circuits and irreversible damage to the board. After providing first emergency aid, the smartphone should in any case be shown to a technician, who will clean it with special liquids.
Water that gets on the board can cause oxidation and in the future this will negatively affect the performance of the phone.
Checking is necessary, since falling into water is a serious test for the board, and without inspection by specialists, there is no guarantee that it will serve you long and reliably.
There are a lot of situations when our smartphone can come into contact with water. You might get caught in a heavy downpour, knock over a cup of drink onto a nearby smartphone, or even drop your phone into the water while taking a hot bath. Recently, smartphone manufacturers have been trying to introduce water protection into their devices. However, the percentage of such devices is still very small, so our article will be relevant for a long time.
We will tell you what not to do if your smartphone gets wet, as well as several ways to correct the current situation.
1. Remove the smartphone from the water, turn it off and disassemble
As we were taught in life safety lessons, the first step is to get rid of the source of danger. In our case, we immediately take the device out of the water and turn it off. The smartphone has both slots and connectors for headphones/charging, through which water can instantly reach the insides and can cause a short circuit. After you take out the phone, you need to wipe it with a dry towel and also remove the battery. This will completely de-energize the device and reduce the likelihood of a short circuit to zero. We recommend removing the SIM card and memory card along with the battery.
IMPORTANT
Do not turn on your smartphone until you have completed all instructions.
2.Wipe all parts of the device well
After you take out the device, you need to wipe it thoroughly with a dry towel to get rid of all visible moisture. Do not use regular napkins or paper towels. It's no secret that paper napkins not only absorb moisture very well, but also quickly get wet, breaking up into small fibers. These lint will get caught in the holes and crevices of the device and will only make things worse.
Take a rag or cloth towel and wipe the device dry both outside and inside if water does get there. Do not leave a single drop on the surface, because any little thing can cause corrosion and render the device inoperable.
3. Hair dryer or vacuum cleaner?
For most people whose phone has fallen under water, the following situation occurs. They successfully complete the first two points of our article, but then they begin to search for additional solutions, what else can be done for the wet device. The most popular options are a hair dryer and a vacuum cleaner.
REMEMBER! Never use a hair dryer to dry your phone. Contrary to the idea that hot air will quickly dry out all the moisture, you need to understand: the air flow will not only drive the water even deeper, but can also melt some parts.
To speed up the drying process, you can use a vacuum cleaner. When drying, do not hold the hose too close to the smartphone; carry out the procedure for 7-10 minutes.
4. Put the phone in the sun in a box with absorbent or rice
Finally, when all the main steps are completed, you can begin the longest stage. The disassembled phone (we took out the battery, SIM card, flash drive) needs to be placed in a container with an absorbent substance. You've probably seen bags of this substance in shoe boxes.
You can purchase such a substance in the store in advance, in case of such an unforeseen situation. But, if the water ingress takes you by surprise, regular rice may be suitable as a “homemade substitute.” Place the device in the substance for a day and turn it over periodically, allowing water to drain out of all crevices. Only after the day has passed, having made sure that all the water has left the phone, can you try to start it.
If the device does not work, feel free to go to the service center.
5. What not to do
Finally, we would like to list what you absolutely cannot do if your phone falls into water.
- You cannot turn on the device right away. You can turn on the phone only after complete drying, when you have waited enough time for all the moisture to leave the device. Naturally, in a “wet” state, it is strictly forbidden to connect the device to a power source (put it on charge or connect it to a computer).
- Do not disassemble the device into parts. Most likely, you are not an expert, and by taking your smartphone apart (more than taking out the battery), you will only make things worse. The water will get even deeper, and you will break something.
All the best. Take care of yourself and your phones :)