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Repair information, troubleshooting tips, and guides for the sixth iteration of Apple iPhone, announced on September 12, 2012. Model: A1428, A1429

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iPhone 5 Water Damage and potential repair

Hello,

While on vacation I took my iphone 5 for a swim in a pool for about 30 to 40 minutes. At this point I am pretty much resigned to the fact that its beyond repair but the phone shows signs of life so I want to make sure I try everything I can. I am pretty handy with the help of ifixit tutorials so at this point I have replaced the battery and the screen. The phone shows up in itunes and I have been able to restore it several times through itunes. The only thing I get on the screen is the apple in the middle and the backlight is not working so I have to flash a light onto the screen to see the apple. I can see the progress bar when it goes through the restore as well. So I know its got some life in there somewhere :). The screen is a brand new replacement so I assume the backlight component on the motherboard is fried since I can not get any light on the screen. At this point does anyone know what I can do to bring the phone back to life or is it pretty much holding on by threads? When its plugged into itunes it charges and stays on the apple logo but when I unplug it and come back to it in the morning it is completely dead until I plug it back in again so it can charge back up.

I have an old iphone 4 that I am using and I am up in september for my upgrade so I have no plans to pay for another phone at this point. It just doesnt make a lot of sense to do that when I only have a few months until the iphone 6. But I would still like to try anything to bring it back to life. I feel like I have tried everything I read on the boards but if anyone has some advice I am all ears. Appreciate the feedback in advance.

Thanks,

Robert

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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rdicola, yes it is entirely possible that you have shorted out the backlight circuitry. Check the components around your LCD connector and look for charred or missing components. Also check the components outlined in the attached image. Those are the main parts of your backlight circuit. You may want to contact this user https://www.ifixit.com/User/739239/jessa... and see what a repair may cost you. Hope this helps, good luck.cost may be.

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Well your backlight coil most likely needs replacing. Cyberdoc LLC is very good at this repair.

As far as the apple logo goes, a number of things can cause this problem. I encountered recently that a bad power/proximity sensor cable can be the source of this issue. Try disconnecting that cable from the board and start the phone using the charging port to see if that is an issue. I would try this with all the "pluggable" components to see if any of those are the problem.

BUT BEFORE DOING ANYMORE TESTING, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU FIRST CLEAN THE BOARD THOROUGHLY WITH ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL TO ENSURE THERE ARE NO SHORT CIRCUITS CAUSED BY CORROSION

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Thanks Jack. This is very helpful. One of the first things I did was the isopropyl scrub down. After putting everything back together I still get the same results so yesterday I decided to give it a bath and let it soak over night in the alcohol. I figured it couldnt hurt at this point. Initially I only did a surface brushing with a toothbrush and the alcohol as opposed to letting it soak for a longer period of time. At this point I have nothing to lose so I went for the full overnight bath hoping it might lead to a different result. I will take it out later tonight when I get home and let it dry out. Then I will try your other suggestion to disconnect each pluggable to see if that helps. I am open to anything at this point so I really appreciate the advice. Ill let you know what happens. Thanks!

Robert

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