Phone fell in water — what to do in the first few minutes

This is the most important step and the only one where you really need to hurry. As long as power is flowing while moisture sits on the logic board, short circuits form between components that should never be connected.

A device that was switched off straight away has much better chances than one that kept running for another hour. Even if it seems to work normally right now: switch it off.

If your device cannot be switched off the normal way because the touchscreen no longer responds, use the force restart for your model and then leave it off.

Plugging a wet device into a charging cable is the surest way to turn repairable damage into a total loss. In the charging port, the contacts sit right next to each other.

Newer devices warn you on their own when they detect moisture in the port and refuse to charge. Please do not bypass this warning, even if the device urgently needs power.

This also applies to wireless charging. There, too, current flows through the device.

Rice is the most persistent tip on the internet and sadly it does not work. Rice does not draw moisture out of a closed housing. It only costs you the hours in which corrosion can work undisturbed, and it also leaves dust in the port.

A hairdryer or a radiator is even worse. Warm air drives the moisture deeper into the device instead of getting it out, and heat is hard on adhesive bonds and the battery.

What actually helps is a thorough cleaning with the device opened up. In the process we remove the residue that is the real problem: not the water itself, but what it leaves behind.

These steps are safe and improve the starting position until you get to us.

The real problem after water damage is not the wetness but the corrosion. As soon as liquid gets onto the logic board, chemical processes begin that attack the circuit traces and solder joints.

This continues even when the device has long seemed dry. That is why devices brought in only after several days are much harder to save than those that arrive within a few hours.

Anything that is not clear water is especially aggressive: salt water, cola, coffee, beer. They leave behind sugar and salts that speed up the corrosion.

Many current devices are rated IP68 and survive a mishap without problems. But this rating applies to a new, undamaged device under lab conditions with clear water.

Seals age. After years of everyday use, with temperature changes and the odd drop, a housing is no longer as tight as on day one. Even a fine crack in the display cancels out the protection.

And: manufacturer warranties usually exclude liquid damage, regardless of the IP rating. Inside the device there are indicators that change colour on contact with liquid. We see them as soon as we open it, and so does the manufacturer.

We open the device, disconnect the battery and look at the logic board. We remove residue and corrosion in an ultrasonic bath and by hand, and then we check every component individually.

We tell you honestly what the chances are before we start. With water damage nobody can guarantee a result, and anyone who does is promising too much.

If the device can no longer be saved, the second step is to at least get to your data. We try that, too, before we give up on a device.