iPhone 5S Water Damage in Rice (Attempting repair and asking questions)

Do you have a backup of it.

That's good that you haven't tried to plug it in or power it back up. As you know, water and electricity don't mix.

What does the warm sizzling noise signify?

Most probably a short circuit. Or an arcing of power from a "hot" line, to ground. Basically electricity running to an area where it shouldn't be going.

Is the phone completely fried and dead already?

Probably not COMPLETELY fried and dead.

Do you think the phone can revive since I acted really quickly after the accident?

This will work in your favour, but it's a complete unknown.

How long do I need to leave the phone in the rice before attempting to reboot it? Will my data still remain in it?

Ideally, if your priority is to get data off it, then I wouldn't attempt to reboot it prior to having all residual liquid and trace elements removed internally. This is something a reputable independent repairer can do (forgo any post warranty support) .. look for someone who specializes in this and micro soldering. Alot of the time, data can be recovered even when the phone can not be fully revived.

The rice merely serves as a dessicant. I would leave it in the rice for a week at least and it would be better if you used silica dissicant packs instead.

I certainly hope you have an up to date iCloud and/or iTunes backup as there is a very good chance that the data will not be recoverable. As long as you have a backup, then when this sort of thing happens there would never be any fear of data lose in the first place.

Rice is just a placebo. You'll find the same results will be achieved by leaving it to dry naturally.

Rice can't remove corrosion, trace elements and short circuits.

It is not purely a placebo. Rice, in a sealed environment, will remove moisture from objects in that sealed environment, as any dessicant in a closed container will do. I agree it's highly unlikely to fix damage as the damage usually occurred the instant any energized electrons got wet. But rice will indeed remove residual moisture from the device. As with any dessicant, it is a slow process though, taking many days at least to truly remove any residual moisture.

Replace it

US$ 269 + tax, exchange, at an Apple Store genius bar unless you are prepared to wait for a miracle

and nothing is going to happen in 3 hours probably not even in 3 weeks

3 and a half hours is too short, try days not hours. But now you have caused more damage by turning it on before it dried.

Get a new phone.

ZeHunted wrote:

Alright guys so the phone's been in the rice bag for about 3 hours+ now and I just took it out for a minute to check. I hit the power button and the screen is still completely black just like when the incident occurred. No sound or display shown. What does this mean? Is the drying process not working?

Not even remotely long enough to allow a dessicant to dry any object out. You should have left if for at least 5-7 days or even longer. Drying semi-closed devices in a desiccant container is a long, slow process. And, if there is still moisture on connections and such, by energizing things you just about assure that the device will short out and be ruined, if it was not already so. You really need to leave it OFF and in the container for a long period to have any chance of success at all.

This is what happens to most water damaged devices. This damage occurs almost instantaneously. No amount of rice and desiccants is going to remove this.

I'm sorry this happened to you. You've done the right thing already by seeking help before attempting to power the phone on.
Let's answer your questions---you've already gotten great advice from SunofRa78.

Rice is a myth. Rice does nothing for your phone that simply leaving it on a counter to air dry wouldn't do. The point is, at the end of the day if the water molecules evaporate from your phone, the minerals carried by the water are left behind---dried on your logicboard. More importantly, the instaneous corrosion that happens the second your phone hits water--the green stuff---is dried on the board as well. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE should you be putting electricity through this! That is the quickest way to turn a repairable phone into an unrepairable phone.

The best things to do is get your phone to a trusted professional who can open it up and clean and then dry the board. Only then should you attempt to power the phone on. If you do this promptly, you have an great chance at recovery of the board. If you get your phone into the hands of a professional who is able to troubleshoot and repair the damaged lines on the board (sizzling sound) then you have an excellent chance at data recovery. If you choose to cross your finger that "rice" will "work" and attempt to power on your phone, your chances of data recovery diminish significantly although you may still get lucky.

Now lets answer the rest of your questions.

What is warm sizzling noise? Damage to the motherboard as components are shorted out.

Is phone completely fried and dead now? Probably yes, but that doesn't mean it can't be revived.

Do I think your phone can be revived? It depends mostly on whether or not you seek quality treatment without attempting to power it on.

How long to leave in rice before attempting to reboot? Forever. You should never attempt to put electricity through a corroded phone that has not been cleaned. That is the same as hooking up a battery to a board with salt sprinkled on it.

Will my data remain on the phone? Yes
What should I do now? Get it to a local professional with the best track record in iPhone data recovery. Identify one with a no data = no fee policy. If you can't find anyone local, send out for data recovery.

Best of luck, I'm sorry this happened 😟

No. Apple don't offer any data recovery services.

No. Your data is contained on the logic board and not accessible to anyone, even Apple, unless you have it backed up. The only way to access the data is to get your logic board repaired to the point that it can hold power, produce an image and accept touch