Poured liquid on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch? Here’s what to do

We’ve seen our share of iPhones, iPad and iPods damaged by liquids. Your warranty will cover these cases only if you happen to have AppleCare+. Some people go to The Pod Drop to fix their devices when disaster strikes. It can be a lot cheaper to fix your device than to buy a new one.

If you by any chance ever happen to be faced with a soaking wet iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, there are a few things you could try before panicking and going to buy another one. There are also things to keep in mid and which you should not try if you want to take it to be fixed by an authorized service, things that could further damage your device and make repairing next to impossible.

There are different types of damage inflicted by liquids

It is necessary to establish with what kind of a liquid we are faced with before attempting anything else. Some liquids can damage your device more than other liquids so it is best to know with what exactly you are faced with. You will also need to know this before taking the device into service because the people working there will probably ask you the same question.

It’s all about pH

The higher the pH of a liquid the less acidic that liquid is. Water for example has a pH of 7 which is considered a neutral pH. The more acidic a liquid is, the less pH it will have. Knowing these things should help you determine in what situation your device is in. Sometimes bottles have the pH inscribed somewhere and it’s worth writing down the pH of the liquid in question.

The alkaline substance

If a substance has a pH greater or equal to 7 it is considered to be alkaline. If you iPod, iPad or iPhone has been dropped in a liquid with a pH of 7 or greater than 7, things are looking good for you. You were lucky. Ammonia has a pH of 11 while bleach ha a pH of 12. Human blood for example has a pH of 7 to 7.5. So if you dropped your device in bleach, contrary to popular belief, the damage inflicted by this liquid bleach will be reversible.

Substances that are acidic

Any substance with a pH under that of 7 is considered to be acidic. These are precisely the kinds of liquids you want to keep your devices away from. Orange juice for example has a pH of 3.5 and it will eat away at the electronic parts of your device and enter each and ever crevice it will find. Milk has a pH of 6.5, beer has a pH of 3 to 6 (depending on the brand and quality of the beer), soda drink such as Pepsi and Coca Cola have a pH of 2.5 to 4.2.
To make it short, if you get up one morning and accidentally drop your iPhone into a glass of orange juice, the device may be fixable but it will all depend on how many components the juice has managed to affect. It all comes down to time and how many parts of the device the liquid managed to affect before it could be cleaned and repaired. Small spots can be cleaned easily but if your device is dripping from Coke, you’re better off buying a new one.

What to do and what not to do

Let’s take a look at what you should NOT do to fix your device in case of water damage. There are a few advices floating around on the Internet and you should stay away from most of them since most will further damage your device.

Don’t put your device in rice

Some people will jump towards the rice the minute their device will be soaking wet. The common logic is that the rice will absorb most of the liquid and leave your device dry. This is in fact damaging to your device. Once the device will start to dry the corrosion will kick in. This has to be avoided no matter what. Rice speeds up corrosion and that’s why you should stay away from it. Rice also gets caught in audio jacks, dock connectors and small crevices of the device. If rice gets caught in such a place and then gets wet, it will start expanding and good luck trying to get it out.
Most repair services will ask you to put your iDevice in a sealed plastic bag and bring it in like that.

No hair dryer. No – really.

Some people will jump for the hair dryer in an attempt to dry their devices. This is actually a bad idea since the corrosion will set in faster, much like in the case of rice. It could further damage your device. If you must remove liquid from your device try and shake it until water drops out of it but don’t get it close to a hair dryer.

Stay away from the charger

If the screen will black out and the device will stop, don’t try to charge it right after picking it up from the liquid. This is a very bad idea. The batteries and electronic parts of the iDevice don’t play along nicely with water and other liquids. You can cause a short circuit and damage your logic board. Don’t charge the iPod, iPad or iPhone if it has been dropped in some kind of liquid. Avoid charging it for at least 72 hours, that’s if – of course – you haven’t already taken it to a repair service. Also, if the device is non-responsive or has shut down, don’t attempt to open it before that time passes.

Be fast to react

If you drop your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch in liquid be sure to react fast. Sometimes the liquid won’t have time to fully enter the device and shaking it quickly will prevent that from happening. A quick pair of hands could mean the difference between having to buy a new device or sticking with the old one. You can minimize damage this way.

Turn off the device

Liquids can short out your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch so it is best you turn off the device before anything else. Before the liquid gets a chance to enter the parts of the device that are sensitive or have electronics on them. If you are the adventurous type you can try an remove the battery from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. If you don’t know what you’re doing or have never ever done this before, leave the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch alone.

Check the sensors

All iPhones, iPads and iPod touches have water sensors. Use a flashlight to check the headphone jack and dock connector to see if the sensors are triggered. The sensors are white and will turn red if water has been detected in your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. If they’re red, there’s liquid in your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Call for help

There are some places you could quickly get your device to. Take your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to The Pod Drop or a similar place that has the correct tools to help fix it. Sometimes your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch will need a new logic board or a new battery and that’s all there is to it. Sometimes the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch will just need a thorough cleaning. As long as you hurry and not much time has passed since liquid has come into contact with your device, the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch can be saved.

Conclusion

Re-read the parts of this article in which we explain what you shouldn’t do and commit them to memory. Act fast and the chances that your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch will be saved will grow considerably.