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Repair information and guides for the fifth generation of iPhone. Model: A1387

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Water damage/update or recover

My sons phone was in the washing machine for about 5 minutes. I extracted and put in rice and then on top of hot water cylinder. So now it starts up ok, but the

home button doesnt work (have assistive touch option activated) so this is not a major. But now when he tries to charge it, it comes up with the 'plug into itunes' picture. When he does, it says it needs to be updated or recovered. He tries to update it, and it says, it cant be, and it needs to be recovered. He tried this, then did the updates.

But the prolem is recurring. I have found instructions on many fixes on this online BUT I am wondering if any of these fixes are pointless, because the problem originated from water damage, and so may be more of a hardware problem than software. THANK YOU.

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Hi Gabriel,

When a phone is exposed to water or another liquid it is best to disassemble the phone, remove the battery and clean the logic board with the shields removed and cable ends and other electrical parts(not the display) with 90% or higher Isopropyl alcohol and a soft bristle brush, such as a toothbrush. The alcohol helps remove minerals left behind by water that lead to corrosion. There are a lot of instructional videos on how to do this on YouTube. The guides on this site will show you how to teardown or disassemble the phone. This could help solve the issues he's having if it is hardware related. But it should be done anyways to help prolong the life of the phone. Otherwise the corrosion could continue causing damage to the logic board and other parts. I would clean the phone good reassemble and see if this helps solve any issues. Let me know if this helps any or not.

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Thanks BurnieG, much appreciated.

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Gabriel Coleman will be eternally grateful.
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