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Repair guides, techniques and disassembly information for Android smartphones manufactured by Xiaomi.

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Dropped phone in bath

Hi I dropped my Xaomi Redmi 4x in the bath a couple of weeks ago and it has various problems. I think the motherboard might be damaged. But the phone comes on and the screen works. The camera does not work, the volume down key does not work and the touch screen only works sometimes. I live in the UK and the UK service centres are too expensive. It costs more than the price of the phone to repair. Can I send it to you to get it repaired and how much would it cost?

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Dominic Jackson iFixit does not do repairs. Here you can get free guides, free advice and some high quality repair parts.

To try to repair it, you will have to treat it the same way you would treat any other water damaged device. First off do not turn on, sync or otherwise use your phone. This could make a bad situation worse.

After that I would disassemble it by following this video Take a careful and close look at all components and connectors. Truly assess the damage. Look for major corrosion, evaluate the pins in the connectors etc,. Take a look at all connectors as well as cable ends. You will have to remove all the EMI shields on your motherboard. Once you got the gross contamination cleaned, use 90%+ isopropyl alcohol and clean your parts some more. For a proper cleaning, use this guide. It was written for an apple iPhone 3G but it is still pertinent to your phone as well. I can not stress the importance of a good cleaning enough, so do it over and over while replacing the alcohol after each cleaning. Do not use compressed air for the cleaning since that can drive liquid as well as corrosion particles into areas that will cause trouble later on. If you need to use water, use sterile water. Also, you do not need to leave it to dry for a day. Isopropyl alcohol in the higher concentration will evaporate quickly and dissipate the water. The importance here is the cleaning. The best way to clean it would of course be by using an professional ultrasonic cleaning. Keep in mind that water damage is the hardest to troubleshoot and to repair. Do not forget to replace the battery. This is a must and not an option. It will fail if you do not take care of it now. After that reassemble and only then can you do a proper troubleshooting.

Of course, if unsure about doing this yourself, check the many microsolderer board repair shops that have specialized on water damage.

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