One of the worst things that can happen to your beloved and precious smartphone is an accident, especially when water gets into its charger port. Unfortunately, this can happen sometimes, purely by accident or because we weren’t careful enough.
Our smartphones can slip and fall from our hands into a puddle or a body of water, or we can simply spill our drink on it. We can drop it into a pool or a lake while trying to take some good vacation shots. Inevitably when we are around water, it’s highly likely that sometimes our smartphones will come in contact with that water.
Water is bad for any electrical device, and it’s the same for your phone. The only major way for water or any other liquid to get into your phone is through the charging port, which is the biggest entrance a phone has its inside, apart from the headphone jack, if you’re lucky enough to have a device that still has one.
Thankfully, our smartphones are more than equipped to deal with these accidents these days. If you can detect the mishap immediately, it is possible to recover your phone from water-related accidents.
How to Know if There’s Water in your Phone’s Charging Point?
Whether you’re using an iPhone, an Android phone, or any other kind of phone, it’s usually obvious when water is inside. However, when the amount of water or any other liquid is negligible and invisible to the naked eye, your phone will be able to alert you of the situation.
Your Samsung devices, for example, will not charge when there’s water inside of them and you’re plugging it in. This is a preventive measure that the phone takes to avoid damage because when water comes in contact with electricity, it will severely damage the phone. If this is the situation, you’ll still be able to charge your phone with a wireless charger but not by connecting it via the charging port.
If you’re using an iPhone and, unknown to you, water gets into your charging port, your phone will show a pop-up liquid-detection alert on your phone. This alert is very important; if you ignore a liquid-detection alert and still charge your phone, it might cause permanent damage to both your phone and the charging brick.
What not to do if there’s Water in your Phone’s Charging Point?
If there is any indication of water inside of your phone, either by it being visible, feeling the liquid in your hands, or because of the liquid-detection alert, here are some things you definitely shouldn’t do.
- Don’t keep the phone plugged into an active electrical source. If the water inside comes in contact with theelectricity, it will damage the phone.
- Don’t try to charge it despite the presence of water inside. Wait for a few hours until the phone is completely dry.
- Don’t try to dry the phone’s charging port with a high-powered hair dryer. It might melt the plastic and damage the components inside the phone.
- Don’t dry the phone with any other heating device.
- Don’t insert any foreign object, i.e. rolled-up tissue or cloth, inside the charger port to soak out the water. This may stay lodged inside the phone when removed and hamper further charging.
- Don’t insert the phone in a container of uncooked rice, as it may enter the charging point and damage it.
- Don’t use the phone immediately.
Doing any or all of these will eventually damage your phone beyond repair. If there is any amount of water inside the charging port of your phone, it is still a salvageable situation unless you make any of the above-mentioned mistakes.
How Can You Get Water Out of Your Charger Port?
If you find water or any other liquid in your phone’s charging point for some reason, these are some steps you need to follow to get the water out safely.
1. In Case of a Liquid That Isn’t Water, Rinse The Phone
Understandably adding more water to the problem sounds like a bad idea.
But if the liquid inside your phone’s charging port is anything other than fresh and clean water, i.e. juice, coffee, milk, or other sticky liquid, it’s good to clean it a little. If that happens, the phone needs to be rinsed with fresh, room-temperature water and thoroughly pat dry with a soft piece of cloth.
Don’t worry about the water damaging your phone. If you can clean and dry it perfectly later using the right steps, your phone will be fine. Most phones these days can withstand a little water, but they have trouble with other liquids or dirty water.
2. Try to Get the Water Out Naturally.
First, let gravity do the job. Your very first step is to get the excess water out of the charging point as naturally as possible.
If you’re using an iPhone, hold your phone straight, so that the charging port is at the bottom. Now, gently tap the iPhone against a surface or the palm of your hand, so the excess water can escape through the open charging port.
With a Samsung phone, you can gently shake the phone for the excess water to trickle out. Do this with the charging port pointing downwards towards the floor for the water to escape.
The process is the same for any Android or any other kind of phone or tablet. You need to get the excess water out of the charging port by tapping into the phone and letting the water trickle out.
3. Keep your Phone in a Well-ventilated Area.
When you’re sure all the excess water has gotten out of the phone through the charging port, keep it in a well-ventilated area with a lot of natural airflow. Let the air dry out the inside of the phone as best as possible. This can take from 30 minutes up to a few hours for the water to dry out completely.
When you’re drying your phone, be sure to do it by keeping the phone standing, propped up at an angle, with the charging port facing downwards. This way, if some water is still trapped inside, it will have time to escape the phone slowly.
4. Check the Charging Port.
Come back to check your phone’s charging port every 30 minutes or so. If you still see moisture inside, it means that your phone hasn’t dried properly. Don’t start charging your phone until the port looks completely dry and free from moisture.
5. Try and Charge the Phone.
When you’re absolutely sure that your phone’s charging port is completely dry, try charging it once. Your phone will show the liquid detection alert if moisture or water is still inside. If you see the alert, stop charging and allow the phone to dry out for a few hours more.
If no alert comes up, it indicates that the charging port has dried, and the phone can now be charged again.
6. Use a Wireless Charger for a few Days.
If you’re still worried about any remaining water or moisture inside the phone, consider using a wireless charger for the next few days. A wireless charger won’t harm your phone and will work perfectly even if there’s excess water inside. Furthermore, it will give your phone extra time to dry up properly.
There was a time, when even a little water inside your smartphone would render it damaged or completely useless. That’s not as much of a problem these days. Most phones can withstand and work perfectly even after falling into the water or getting immersed in water, but only if you follow the right steps to get rid of the water and dry the phone.
