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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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Did my logic board fried?

Hi,

Yesterday morning my iPhone had an accident.. while it was in my bag, a bottle of water opened and my phone was in a lake.. it has been underwater not more than 20min but it won’t turn on. So I have decided to disassembly and submerge it into rice. Unluckily I notice that on my LB the was black near the exhaustion points...

Take a look. Also, when I picked up the phone, it was really warm.

I hope you can help me!

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Hello Edoardo. Unfortunately, the absolute worst thing you can do is to put you phone in rice. The rice myth has killed too many phones...

The water is inside the phone, on the logic board and under the shields, even under the IC's. So while it ‘’may’’ soak up some water vapour, the real problem is the mineral deposits that can cause short circuits or the corrosion that is taking place as the water evaporates. Leaving the power on the device accelerates the process. The longer you let a phone sit in rice, the more time you are giving corrosion to damage your logic board. The saltier or harder the water is, the more damage will occur. The water needs to be displaced, not evaporated. Judging by the picture you shared, there is already advanced corrosion causing massive short and sparks.

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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While I don't believe that your phone will be recoverable through a DIY repair, I will post for posterity the steps that should be taken when a phone comes into contact with water. The sooner you follow these steps, the more chance you have at a recovery:

  • Open your phone and remove the logic board
  • 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.

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Edoardo Macrì will be eternally grateful.
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