Many of us have probably experienced having electronics damaged by water. It can be due to the flood water invading your home or just a simple spill from your cup. Whatever the cause is, water can wreak havoc to your device.

Water and electronics (probably a lot have heard of it) do not go along well together. Though water is an essential element for survival, it can be an enemy to your device. Does water damage your electronics? Pure water, such as distilled water, is harmless. What’s damaging the electronics are the minerals, salt, and other ions present in the impure water (tap water and drinking water). Once any of these components creep into the electronics, they settle in different places inside your electronics and disturb the internal circuitry of your device. 

What Happens When Water Gets Into Your Electronics

Many of us understand the effects of water on our devices. But not many understood, what happens when these two meet.

• Short-circuiting

Short-circuiting is due to the impurities in the water that seeps into the circuitry of your device, making the electricity to flow where it should not be and damaging it.

• Corrosion

Corrosion is not something you can outside of your electronic device and something that does not occur right after you pull it out from the water. Let’s say that your phone is turned off and you jumped into the pool not thinking that your phone was inside your pocket. An immediate method you would probably use is placing your water damaged phone in a bag of rice. When fully dried, you will most likely turn it on. You won’t see any signs of damage. However, over time, the interior part of your phone will start to corrode, and, little by little, it will malfunction.

• Ruined Batteries

Regardless of the situation, batteries should always be kept away from water. A laptop or phone battery, when exposed to a large amount of water, can get damaged immediately or shortly. When water gets into the battery, it will react to the alkaline inside, causing it to become completely damaged and irreparable.

• Broken LCD Screen

An LCD screen, of any type, is vulnerable to water. If the water takes its way under the glass of your device and touches the digitizer, it will then shut off. When this happens, there’s no way for recovery. That is the reason why when the screen of your phone, watch or any type of device when broken, it has to be replaced. 

Restoring Water Damaged Electronics

Water damage electronics might be a nightmare for many, but there are some ways you can do to restore your device. Before taking any steps, make sure that safety comes first. Remember that water and electronics are no match, thus it is dangerous to handle water-damaged electronics.

Turn off Your Device

Stop the power right after the damage. Remove the batteries or power connectors. The device that has no power will not short-circuit, thus you will have more chances of getting your water damage electronic restored. Doing this will also prevent you from getting injured.

Wash Your Electronics with Pure Water

This solution cannot be applied to all types of electronics. Small type devices such as cellphones, iPods and other handheld electronics cannot tolerate further wetness.

However, large electronics can be restored by washing it with pure water. According to some experts, washing electronics with pure water will remove the salt and mineral sediments and will not get further damage.

Clean the Corrosion

As mentioned above, corrosion does not happen right after the damage. It takes some time before it can fully affect the performance of your device. Thus, taking immediate action is necessary for restoring your water damaged device.

Green areas on the device, together with the battery connectors, charging ports, SIM card connectors, and other metal connectors should be thoroughly cleaned. Use cotton swabs and a cleaning solution, such as isopropyl alcohol, baking soda, and water, or even vinegar to clean the corrosion on the device. Apply the solution gently to the affected area until the corrosion is fully removed.

Dry the Device

There are several ways you can take in drying your water damaged device. 

A small water damaged device can be shaken to drain out remaining moisture. A soft cloth can help in removing excess moisture. A hairdryer (on its coolest setting) can also be a great tool in drying your device. Once the device is completely dry, you can attempt to replace the battery and turn the device on. 

A Friendly Reminder: An electronic that has been damaged by water has no guaranteed fix, especially if corrosion took its toll. You can take the tips above, but they don’t assure you that your water damage device will be restored. In the end, you might need to contact water damage professionals.