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Water damaged iPhone 7. What should I do next?

Hello! First time posting here so please go easy on me. Lol.

So I have a water damaged iPhone 7 that I'm trying to recover back to working condition. This is my first time working on a water damaged phone. I have the iPhone mostly dissassembled, Logic board soaking in 91% ISO (planning to brush connections with soft brush, although there isn't much corosion on them), old battery is out and am holding off on putting new one in, there isn't much corrosion on the connections from what I can tell, but there is quite a bit on the left inside part of the phone near volume rockers and a little on the backside of the display shield.

What else can I soak and or wash with ISO? Or what futher steps should I take before reassembling the iPhone. Thank you in advance for the help!

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You'll want to check the condition of the Home Button and it's flex/connector, there appears to be a lot of precipitation in that area. As for the logic board, did you remove the shields? If not, then most of the board is covered and you will not be able to see if there is any damage nor clean it off properly.

This is what I usually recommend:

  • 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, most 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.

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Is there any tutorials on how to remove the shields? I only have a soldering iron and not a heat gun unfortunately. I would like to clean it properly.

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For your visual reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl7JSUDb...

And of course, take it slow and easy. Let us know how it turns out afterwards.

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^^that video does not show the shield removal process.

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My bad, I instantly thought of the "sticker shields" on the logic board, Amateur move.

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You're not going to be able to remove the soldered on shields as DIY project, so give up on that for this one. On the iPhone 7 water has less tendency to penetrate the shields than on other models. You do want to pull off the "sticker shields" on the back of the logic board, especially the bottom where the water was. Clean with alcohol under there. Your connectors will all be fine, water doesn't bother the connectors on iPhone 7.

My crystal ball says that if you have a logic board problem it will either be a short circuit on the main power line, or a backlight/image problem just from the pictures. You may not have a logic board problem at all, in which case the next step is to try known good parts to see what needs replacing--screen, charge port, battery etc.

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Thank you for the help! Should I attempt to re-apply the "sticker shields" after i I'm done cleaning the board? How would I go about testing and troubleshooting which connectors or cables are the issue? Would I have to fully reassemble the iPhone just to test certain parts? Is there a professional mechanism/electronic I could by that tests certain cables on their own without being connected to anything else? Thanks!

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GP16 will be eternally grateful.
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