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Repair information and guides for the Apple iPhone 5s that was announced on September 10, 2013. Model: A1533, A1453, A1457, A1528, A1530, A1518

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[URGENT!] I cannot access my iPhone 5S due to water damage!

Hello, guys. Hm, the story of how this happened is quite simple, I obviously dropped my phone into the filled bathtub (whose water happened to contain bathbombs, foam and other products). I got it out immediately and it worked perfectly fine but the display had water underneath which left some white and grey unpleasant spots. I left my phone in rice overnight. I woke up to not much of a change, only some pixels looked dry inside the huge water mess. Sooooo, I decided several things, like restarting it, drying it with AC, with a hair dryer, with a small pump I use to clean my DSLR lens, and nothing worked, BUT my screen completely froze. I cannot tap it in any way to make it respond and some stripes appear but fade away quickly. I read that you have to restart it, so I did that, but now I cannot access it since it's asking for my passcode and I cannot type it. I really want to at least back it up but iTunes or any other software won't recognise it since it's locked. I don't really want to take it to the service. Any advice on how I can unfreeze/unlock/dry it? Oh, my home and lock buttons work perfectly fine. Thank you!

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@alishaspuns skip the rice. It will not prevent corrosion nor will it fix the phone, it is a misleading myth. The very first thing you want to do is to not try to restart the phone. This may further damage your phone. You also do not want to try to charge it any further. The next thing to do is to clean it. Disassemble your phone using these guides. Once it is disassembled, you do need to clean it properly. You will need high grade isopropyl alcohol and a soft brush. Use this guide to see how to clean it. Even so it was written for a 3G all the points are still pertinent to your phone. Do not forget to remove the EMI shields for proper cleaning. While you are cleaning it, check for any broken, missing or burned looking components. When it is properly cleaned, replace the battery. All these steps are to avoid delayed failure caused by corrosion. Once all this is done, reassemble your phone and reevaluate. Water damage is the hardest to repair and diagniose since any part may have shorted out.

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You WILL need to repair the board now. Since the touch panel is fried, you cannot enter the passcode, which is required because you rebooted the phone. Now the files are in an encrypted state unless you enter your passcode. There is no way out.

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I would turn the phone off immediately. While you have it on, the power going through the phone is encouraging corrosion on the elements inside. The only chance you have is to take it to a professional that does water damage repair. Now there are a lot of people out there who claim to do water damage repair, make sure whoever you take it to removes the emi shields and does a thorough cleaning. The longer it dries and more time that goes between now and when you get it diagnosed, the less chance of recovery.

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Alisha Misaila will be eternally grateful.
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