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Repair information and guides for the iPhone 6 that was released on September 19, 2014. Model Numbers: A1549, A1586, and A1589

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Why is my phone stuck on reboot after water damage?

So, about 11 days ago I got my iPhone 6 wet with river water... I let the phone dry out for a few days and tried to turn it on. It's keeps rebooting. It gets to the white screen with the apple logo for about 7 seconds and then goes black and continues on this cycle.

What is the problem here? Should I just replace the phone's battery? I read this: Electronics Water Damage

Or do you guys think it's more than the battery?

Please let me know. I mainly want to get the phone working again for data recovery.

Another note: The phone does have a light yellow diagonal line through it when I get to that white screen with the apple logo. I'm assuming it's water damage.

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3 Answers

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It could be just the battery but that is unlikely. The water is inside the phone, on the logic board and under the shields, even under the IC's. The real problem is the mineral deposits that can cause short circuits or corrosion as the water eventually evaporates. Leaving the power on the device accelerates the process.

Try these steps:

  • Open your phone and remove the logic board (follow this guide)
  • Inspect the logic board, especially around the connectors and look for corrosion.
  • Inspect both sides of the board. Unfortunately, 80% of the board is covered in shields. That's usually where the damage is occurring.
  • Put your board in a container with >90% isopropyl alcohol and let it sit for a while.
  • Use a soft brush, like a toothbrush and lightly brush away any corrosion you see.
  • Rinse in alcohol and repeat.
  • Let it air dry for a day.
  • Re-assemble and hope for the best.

You should also consider getting a new battery if it has swollen. Resist the temptation to pop it to let the gas out. A compromised Li-ion battery is a fire hazard. If the device appears to power up but behaves erratically, then use a tool like 3uTools to flash the firmware as it may be corrupted.

A professional repair shop that does water damage repair may be able to recover your phone or the data because they have access to pro-level ultrasonic baths and specialized cleaners as well as the skills to troubleshoot your board. Many shops have a no fix/no fee policy so you don't have to spend money to find out if the phone is fixable or not.

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7 Comments:

Minho,

Thank you so much for your answer. I just opened up my phone and saw no corrosion. Honestly it looked great inside. I didn't look under the shields though. I will take out the logic board and clean it soon. The battery looked brand new/fine. Do you think I should clean the logic board before anything else?

What's the next steps after cleaning the logic board?

Thank you so much again

by

Minho,

I ended up opening up my phone and taking the logic board out and cleaning it last night. After opening it up, I did notice that there was corrosion. It looked the worst at the top right under all the connectors but it wasn't terrible. The logic board is currently drying and I am planning to reassemble the phone tomorrow since I don't have time to do it tonight. Hopefully it turns on! If not, I think I will try a new battery next... after that, a new screen.

Please let me know if you have any more advice. I would really like to get my phone up and running again.

Thank you,

Kelly

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Your on the right track...try a battery and screen. After that, I would strongly suggest you have a pro look at it if you want to save the phone or recover the data.

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Minho, I have just finished putting the logic board back in. Now the phone still does the same thing where it goes to the apple logo for 7 seconds and then goes off but now the screen is SUPER dim... like almost black that I could barely notice the apple logo. I thought it was completely dead at first.

What do you think this means? And what should I do now?

by

Either the LCD is damaged from the water or the backlight circuit on the logic board is dead. IMHO, you have done as much as you could and you need to seek professional help. It may not be cost effective to repair the phone if the screen also has to be replaced but it may be worthwhile to recover the data.

Most micro-soldering repair shops work on a no fix/no fee basis. You can click on my profile to learn more or search for micro-soldering repair on Google.

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Did you inspect the water damage indicators on the board?

There are a few stickers located on top of the board, usually one near the sim card tray area and the top of the logic board as you see it's a vertical oval white sticker.

If one of the stickers are red it means it has been in contact with liquid.

Also I hope you have at least made sure to check the screen connectors and battery connector for liquid damage.

Sometimes you may be able to get the phone to boot by unplugging the front and / or rear camera ribbon cables from the logic board.

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1 Comment:

Hi Ben,

I was just able to open the phone last night. I did inspect the water damage indicators and they were both wet. I had no doubt that they would be. I was able to take out the logic board and clean it as well as all the connectors.

Please let me know if you have any other advice for me getting this to boot up properly. I feel like it has potential since it's stuck on the infinite reboot... I just need to figure out what's wrong.

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My phone keeps restarting after it booted on from a few hours or being submerged in rice. It was only the top half of my phone that got wet. It powered on normally with a charger to help boot it on, I was about to make a call and then it started continuously rebooting. I placed it in rice again and will wait 40+ more hours as I only did it for about 8 hours. My question is, although it is rebooting and I place it back in the rice, will I still be ok? Will it work although it’s in rebooting mode?

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Kelly will be eternally grateful.
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