Q: I drop my iphone in a cup of tea and now wont turn on, how do i fix this

Agreed, deggie. I have recommended local repair alternatives occasionally, but after seeing the crazies posting in this thread I'm having second thoughts about doing it ever again. And I know you have deggie, also, but how do you feel about it now?

zenmanic wrote:

 

Electricity and water don't mix.

If you really think about it, they do mix quite well!

Your instructions stress that time is of the essence, but leave us to guess how much time that is. Not very informative is it?

How quickly can electricity flow through the entire circuit then? (IE: How fast must the battery be removed in order to stop flow across the entire circuit)

Ossalv16 wrote:

 

Yup they mix too well.

Lawrence Finch  wrote:

 

Some of the third parties could polish the message they are trying to deliver. But i would not judge them too much on their words here. i would put more weight in their repair track record. Some of the review systems get into the 1000s of positive reviews for some companies. We have one guy here in the bay area that has personally repaired thousands of phones and his company has repaired hundreds of thousands.

Csound1 wrote:

 

Your instructions stress that time is of the essence, but leave us to guess how much time that is. Not very informative is it?

 

How quickly can electricity flow through the entire circuit then? (IE: How fast must the battery be removed in order to stop flow across the entire circuit)

There really is no correct answer. It is different with every case. LOL I'm no wizard.

zenmanic wrote:

But i would not judge them too much on their words here. i would put more weight in their repair track record. Some of the review systems get into the 1000s of positive reviews for some companies.

Given the co-ordinated effort by your group here I don't think I'd trust the review systems. They're generally way to easy to game. People should be judged by their own words, especially when they are making recommendations in their supposed area of professional expertise.

So you don't know, would that be safe to say?

Electrical propagation rate is 300,000 KM/s, it'll get all around the phone instantaneously.

Hope you are better at handling logic boards than quotes.

Lawrence, I would now be very reluctant. zenmanic I have you down with one of the crazies. And I place very little credence to internet reviews and when they go up into numbers like the thousands I become quite suspicious.

That along with the fact that one of their number wants Government to mandate that Apple must use the independents, taxpayers supporting industry? how American is that?

Csound1 wrote:

 

That along with the fact that one of their number wants Government to mandate that Apple must use the independents, taxpayers supporting industry? how American is that?

I skipped over most of that part of the thread.

zenmanic wrote:

 

Csound1 wrote:

 

How quickly can electricity flow through the entire circuit then? (IE: How fast must the battery be removed in order to stop flow across the entire circuit)

Wow. I so want to call you names. But you are being difficult to put it the least. Electrical propagation speed is not thinking of the whole issue. Since i keep saying it is different with every case, to spell it out more would be...

I did say instant or not at all. That of course depends on the situation. Dunking a phone in water does not mean instant damage unless we know where the water went. So phone gets dunked in water and pulled out. For me to guess where the water went would be futile. it's not until i open the phone and visibly see where the water went would i then be able to address any problems... Not backlight. No power and fix those issues. So again. It really is case by case.

Well, if this is a serious question, there's a complicated answer. It partly depends on the quality of the water. If it's distilled water and you drain it out quickly the damage will be minimal and may not even cause damage; distilled water is a poor conductor. Of course, the probability of dropping a phone in distilled water is minimal. If it's salt water the phone is DOA. You can't remove the battery fast enough to save it. As the most common dunking iPhones get is in toilets it depends on whether it is before or after you flush. Before, you're in the same position as salt water. For regular household tap water you probably have a chance, unless you live in Flint, Michigan. But that's all about the initial dunking so far. There's stuff in the phone that will absorb water, so even after you dry it the water will continue corroding parts, and the phone may appear to work initially, but may die days or weeks later. So I will agree with the more rational of the technicians who have posted here (I count 2 or 3 at most) that your best bet, assuming you don't just want a new phone from Apple at a discount, is to open the phone, disconnect the battery, and dry it out. But I would still recommend the new phone first.

I will ask a serious question of the technicians here - if the dunking was in dirty water, would you rinse the inside with distilled water? I've done this a couple of times with laptops that have been dunked in puddles (deep puddles; 3+ feet during a Bankok rainy season downpour) and they worked after disassembling, drying out thoroughly, and reassembling.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

 

As the most common dunking iPhones get is in toilets it depends on whether it is before or after you flush.

I'm sure as **** not going to take it out before flushing!

Lawrence Finch wrote:

 

Well, if this is a serious question, there's a complicated answer. It partly depends on the quality of the water. If it's distilled water and you drain it out quickly the damage will be minimal and may not even cause damage; distilled water is a poor conductor. Of course, the probability of dropping a phone in distilled water is minimal. If it's salt water the phone is DOA. You can't remove the battery fast enough to save it. As the most common dunking iPhones get is in toilets it depends on whether it is before or after you flush. Before, you're in the same position as salt water. For regular household tap water you probably have a chance, unless you live in Flint, Michigan. But that's all about the initial dunking so far. There's stuff in the phone that will absorb water, so even after you dry it the water will continue corroding parts, and the phone may appear to work initially, but may die days or weeks later. So I will agree with the more rational of the technicians who have posted here (I count 2 or 3 at most) that your best bet, assuming you don't just want a new phone from Apple at a discount, is to open the phone, disconnect the battery, and dry it out. But I would still recommend the new phone first.

 

I will ask a serious question of the technicians here - if the dunking was in dirty water, would you rinse the inside with distilled water? I've done this a couple of times with laptops that have been dunked in puddles (deep puddles; 3+ feet during a Bankok rainy season downpour) and they worked after disassembling, drying out thoroughly, and reassembling.

Most will use an ultrasonic to clean the phone which is a professional device for cleaning specifically circuits. But there is room for error in using this machine. Which can allow a board to not be perfectly cleaned. Otherwise when operated correctly it will clean a board perfectly.

I suppose how how you define the "problem". The OP didn't specify with more details, but more often than not, part of the solution from an end-user involves recovering contacts, photos, and other data not backed up for whatever reason. The fact remains that none of you are immune to losing your data no matter how often you back up your phone.

And as for Error 53, I'm quite sure the self-destruct code Apple added to iOS 9, causing the error over lost communication with the original home button will be removed. Even an iPhone that's never been opened or touched by "unauthorized" repair people is not immune to error 53. There are cases of it occurring on never before opened or modified phones. 

<Edited by Host>