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I accidentally dropped my phone, Huawei Y9 Prime, into a bucket of water and immediately dried it off, shut it down, and put into a container of rice, after covering it in paper towels to prevent the rice from getting into the crevices after I removed the sim and sd card tray. ( I also tried to manually dry the I/O ports to the best I could with a kitchen towel.) It’s been at least a day and I also put the container outdoors to receive some heat to try and help evaporation and I have it out of the container. I try and switch it on but doesn’t get past the logo screen. I assume it’s because it’s too low of a charge to turn on. I want to try and charge it, but don’t want to short circuit it and fry my phone. Is it safe to charge it or do I go to a local repair shop and get it opened and possibly replace the battery?
Hi @srli, It is not a good idea to power up any device that has been immersed in water until it has been opened and checked that all is OK The impurities in the water causes corrosion and provides circuit paths for the electricity which were not in the phone’s operating design and could damage the components. The corrosion starts immediately and is ongoing until it is completely cleaned away. Rice does not fix the problems caused by corrosion. Rice is for dinner, not repair Do not try to charge or to turn on your phone to minimize any further damage. Ideally the battery should have been disconnected as soon as possible as well. Even though the phone is off, there is still power available at various points on the systemboard. The power button is not a power isolating button. It is used merely to signal to the operating system what the user wants to do. Think of the phone as being in an extremely low power state rather than being totally disconnected from the power (battery) when it is switched off The phone needs to be dis-assembled and checked for any obvious damage and any affected parts need to be cleaned using Isopropyl Alcohol 99%+ (available at electronics parts stores) to remove all traces of corrosion and water. Do not use “rubbing alcohol” as in some cases this is only 70% IPA or less, can contain additives and is not as effective. If you do have to use it, check the label to verify the amount of IPA. The higher the percentage of IPA the better Here is a link that describes the process. Electronics Water Damage As always with electronics, especially surface mounted pcb be gentle when handling and especially when brushing away the corrosion. You do not want to remove any components from the boards. Remove the shields that may be covering some components as the water may have got in under them as well. The ends of any flex cables and their connectors need to be cleaned also. Hopefully after you have done all this the phone might possibly work correctly again. Here is a link to a teardown video for the phone which will help. If this process seems too daunting, take your phone to a reputable, professional phone repair service, experienced in liquid damage repair and ask for a quote for a repair. If you decide to do this, do it sooner than later. It isn’t going to get any better by itself.
