Liquid & water damage repair & advice

My device has had liquid or water damage, what should I do first?

When an electronic device is exposed to liquid there are immediate risks. As soon as liquid is in contact with electronic components it has the potential to carry a charge, this is likely cause short circuits between components. This means there is a chance to blow components and integrated circuit chips.

• Do not try and turn the device on, this will almost certainly contribute to problems.

• It is very important that where possible you remove the battery as soon as possible, and then keep it removed.

• Do not try and charge the device or connect the USB cable, even with no battery connected this will still put power into the device and could still cause short circuits.

If these 3 guidelines are followed there is a good chance the liquid / water damage can be repaired. The quicker the battery is removed the more chance you have or your device being saveable.

There are some other things you can do to help your device.

• Place the phone in a bag of rice or silica gel. This will help draw out the moisture. Note this helps reduce the risk of further problems due to corrosion of the solder joins and components.

• Place in a warm ventilated place.

• Try not to place on a radiator or other hot areas or use a hairdryer as excessive heat could damage the device beyond repair.

The longer your device is left untreated, the more the liquid damage could develop. This is due to liquid / water damage residues and other contaminants in the liquid / water beginning to corrode the printed circuit boards and faults will start to occur or total failure may occur.

Liquid / Water Damage Assessment

During a liquid / water damage assessment we disassemble the device, and clean all residues and corrosion with our solution. We remove visible corrosion from solder joins and apply fresh solder where necessary.

Due to the nature of liquid / water damage we must charge a liquid / water damage assessment fee of £20*

Although there is a £20 fee for the assessment, this cost would be taken off the cost of any subsequent parts and repairs needed.
*Must be paid in advance and is none refundable.

After we have fully cleaned and dried the device we can then test the device to see if any other parts are affected. Most commonly after liquid damage liquid leaks into the backlight layers of most screens. This causes severe distortion and inconsistencies in the LCD display. We can usually replace the backlight but occasionally may need a new screen. Although this is dependent on how much liquid damage there was and how much of the device was exposed to the liquid.

Some liquid damaged phones appear to be working when brought into the repair centre. This could be due to corrosion within the Micro Chips (ICs) shorting together allowing an electrical current to run. This allows the phone to switch on, however it can sometimes be a short circuit, and when the engineer cleans and flushes the phone it removes the short circuit, and may result in the phone no longer powering up. It is also possible in some instances (usually dependent on how long ago the water damage occurred) that during the repair we may knock a component off the board due to corrosion having affected it contact points. Your Computer Centre, its management, employees and its agents cannot be held libel should your water damage phone fail during repair. We cannot be held responsible for what happens when we take apart a water damaged phones.