How to Tell If Your Phone Has Water Damage
How to Tell If Your Phone Has Water Damage
How to Tell If Your Phone Has Water Damage
Your phone took a dip. Maybe it fell in the sink, got caught in a downpour on the walk back from the library, or took a wave on East Sands. It seems fine now – but is it really?
Water damage is tricky. Sometimes the effects are immediate. Sometimes they don’t show up for days or even weeks. Here’s how to check, what to look for, and what to do about it.
Check the Liquid Contact Indicator (LCI)
Every iPhone and most Samsung phones have a built-in water damage indicator. It’s a small strip that changes colour when it comes into contact with liquid.
Where to Find It
- iPhone – Eject the SIM card tray and look inside the slot. You’ll see a small dot. If it’s white or silver, no water contact has been detected. If it’s turned red or pink, liquid has reached the inside of your phone.
- Samsung – Usually located inside the SIM tray slot as well, though on some older models it’s behind the battery (if removable).
A triggered LCI doesn’t always mean serious damage – even high humidity can sometimes set it off. But if you know your phone got wet and the indicator has changed colour, take it seriously.
Symptoms of Water Damage
Even if you can’t check the LCI, your phone will often tell you something is wrong. These are the most common signs.
Muffled or Distorted Speakers
Water in the speaker grilles makes audio sound tinny, quiet, or crackly. You might notice it during phone calls first. Sometimes the earpiece works but the loudspeaker doesn’t, or vice versa. If your speakers suddenly sound wrong after any exposure to moisture, water is the likely cause.
Screen Spots, Lines, or Discolouration
Dark patches, coloured lines, or a general cloudiness on the display are classic signs of moisture behind the screen. You might see condensation under the glass or notice that parts of the screen look different in certain lighting. This can appear hours or days after the phone got wet.
Charging Problems
Water in the charging port causes corrosion on the pins. You might see a “liquid detected” warning, or the phone might charge intermittently, or only at certain angles. Left untreated, the corrosion gets worse and the port will eventually stop working entirely.
Face ID or Touch ID Stops Working
The sensors for Face ID and Touch ID are extremely sensitive. Even a small amount of moisture reaching these components can cause them to fail. If biometric unlock suddenly stops working after your phone got wet, that’s not a coincidence.
Ghost Touches and Unresponsive Areas
The touchscreen registers taps you didn’t make, or certain areas of the screen stop responding. This happens when moisture interferes with the digitiser layer beneath the glass. It can be intermittent at first and then get progressively worse.
The Danger of Delayed Water Damage
This is what catches most people out. Your phone falls in water, you dry it off, and it works perfectly. You think you got lucky. Then two weeks later, problems start appearing.
Here’s what happens. Water gets inside the phone and sits on the circuit board and connectors. Even after the phone appears dry on the outside, moisture remains trapped internally. Over days and weeks, that moisture causes corrosion – a slow chemical reaction that eats away at the metal contacts and solder points on the logic board.
By the time symptoms appear, the corrosion has already spread. This is why acting quickly matters, even if your phone seems fine right now.
The Rice Myth (Please Don’t Do This)
Putting your phone in rice does not fix water damage. This is one of the most persistent tech myths out there, and it needs to die.
Rice does not draw moisture out of electronics. At best, it does nothing. At worst, rice dust and starch particles get into the charging port and speaker grilles, creating additional problems. Studies have shown that leaving a phone in open air dries it just as effectively as rice – which is to say, neither approach addresses the actual problem.
The actual problem is not the water itself. It’s the minerals, salts, and contaminants in the water that cause corrosion. Even after the water evaporates, those deposits remain on your phone’s circuit board, slowly causing damage. Drying the phone – whether with rice, silica gel, or time – does nothing to remove those deposits.
What Professional Water Damage Repair Actually Involves
Proper water damage repair is a board-level job. Here’s what we do:
- Full disassembly – Every component is removed from the phone.
- Ultrasonic cleaning – The logic board and connectors are cleaned in a specialised ultrasonic bath that removes corrosion, mineral deposits, and contaminants at a microscopic level.
- Inspection under magnification – We examine the board for damaged components, burnt traces, or corrosion that the cleaning couldn’t reverse.
- Component replacement – Any damaged components are replaced at board level.
- Full testing – Every function is tested before reassembly.
Water damage repair starts from £99. The final cost depends on what we find during inspection – sometimes the cleaning is enough, sometimes components need replacing.
Salt Water vs Fresh Water
This matters a lot if you live in St Andrews. We’re a coastal town. The North Sea spray, the haar rolling in off the coast, and the salt-laden air all contribute to more aggressive corrosion than you’d get from dropping your phone in a glass of tap water.
Salt water corrosion is faster and more destructive than fresh water. If your phone has had any exposure to sea water or salt spray, don’t wait and see. Bring it in sooner rather than later.
Act Fast – Don’t Wait for Symptoms
If your phone got wet, the best time to bring it in is now – before corrosion has time to spread. Early intervention gives us the best chance of a full recovery.
Repair St Andrews, 1 City Rd, St Andrews, KY16 9XQ. Call 01334 478866 or walk in. Open Monday to Friday 09:30-17:30, Saturday 10:00-17:00.
