How to deal with a water-damaged device

Whether it’s the result of catastrophic flooding, spilling your drink or getting pushed in a pool at a party, many of our high-tech cell phones, tablets and computers are bound to suffer some sort of liquid damage at some point in their lives.

The good news is that many devices produced in the past few years — particularly many leading brands’ smartphones and tablets, such as Apple’s iPad — have some degree of built-in water resistance, so gone are the days when a simple splash would permanently fry a device’s hardware.

Apple’s brand new iPhone 14 product line, for example, has a water resistance rating of IP68, meaning that under ideal testing conditions, it can withstand depths of a maximum of 20 feet for up to 30 minutes. Users should always take a device’s stated resilience with a grain of salt, though. “Resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear,” Apple warns on its website, and that typically only applies to fresh water, so we don’t recommend trying to take any underwater photos in the ocean.

(If your liquid-resistant device has a cracked screen or any physical frame damage, that will compromise its water-tight seals too, so it’s always advisable to get any issues repaired as soon as possible.)

Contrary to popular belief, the “bag of rice trick” might actually end up damaging your smartphone, tablet or computer further, so Quick Mobile Repair doesn’t recommend leaving your water-logged device to sit in uncooked rice for any length of time. While the absorbent grains might soak up a bit of moisture, it’s more likely that they will just get stuck in the charging port, bend vital connector pins out of place, and clog your speakers with fine dust.

Instead, a good first step is to dry the device thoroughly with a clean, dry towel to soak up any exterior moisture and to spray some compressed air into the charging port and loudspeaker holes — the two largest crevices where liquid is most likely to sit stagnant. It is also very important for both your health and the health of your device that you don’t try to charge it while it’s still wet!

It takes deceptively little liquid to damage a device’s delicate internal hardware. And remember, when trying to protect your device, time is the most important factor, so the best thing you can do is power it down immediately and bring it to a repair specialist as soon as possible.

For anything more than a light splash, or if you notice any change in your device’s performance after it comes in contact with water, bring it to the experts Quick Mobile Repair. We’re the nation’s one-stop device repair shop, and our highly trained Tech Gurus offer liquid damage restoration services for just about any device with a power button.

In most cases, our experienced technicians will be able to access your device’s internal components to carefully clean up any residual moisture and liquid while replacing faulty parts, restoring your phone to like-new condition in a matter of minutes. Devices with extreme liquid damage may not be worth repairing financially, though whether you have a water-logged hard drive or memory card, Quick Mobile Repair also offers data recovery services so none of your precious files, photos and memories will be lost.

No matter what sort of damage your device is facing, our Tech Gurus are standing by nationwide to assist seven days a week. We always offer free comprehensive device analyses and will be happy to recommend fast, affordable repair solutions to get any issues — liquid-related or not — fixed right the first time. Plus, all of QMR’s repair services are backed by our free One-Year Warranty.

Click here to find your nearest Quick Mobile Repair location and get in touch with a team member who can help resolve your water damage issues ASAP.