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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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iPhone 6 dropped in water

Hello, please help me!

Few days ago, I dropped my iPhone 6 in toilet. It stays in water for ~1 second. In the next day, I cleaned it with alcohol. Now, the phone turns on but after a minute the display turns off and remains ON only a backlight. I tried with another display, I tried to clean it in a bath with alcohol (with ultrasounds or something like this) but the same behavior. Sometimes stays ON for a few seconds.

What do you think? Where is the problem? Thanks!

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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With water damage, you have to decontaminate the logic board before doing anything else, otherwise there will be latent issues down the road.

Not every water-damaged phone is recoverable and depending on the kind of liquid (salty, dirty, filthy), sometimes the success rate is quite low. That said, IMHO, it's always worth a try otherwise we are just piling up the e-waste.

If you want to attempt this yourself, try the following:

  • 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 replace the 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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Andrei Daniel will be eternally grateful.
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