What to do if water gets in the charging port of your phone? Dropping your phone in water or accidentally spilling water on it is usually not the end of the world. You can easily get your phone to work again if you act immediately.
Water in your phone is not a good combination. You cannot just wipe off the water from inside your phone like the charging port. So, in this guide, we will find out more about how to get water out of the charging port of your phone in great detail.
First thing you need to do to get water out of your phone’s charging port
Latest and high-end smartphones like the iPhone have some degree of resistance against water. They can even remain submerged under several feet of water without causing any damage. However, the insides of the phones are another matter. Electronics don’t do well when they come in contact with water, and corrosion is another issue when water meets the internal metal components of your phone.
Whether your phone or any other electronic device gets wet or slips in the water, there are a few precautions you need to take immediately. Even if you have water on your phone camera or inside the charging port of your phone, you need to take the following steps immediately.
- You need to halt what you are doing and turn off your phone.
- Remove any cable or accessories, such as charger, earphone, or phone case, from your smartphone.
- Keep your phone vertically with the charging port facing down. This will get any excess water out with the help of gravity.
- Wipe out water from the area around the charging port of your phone with a piece of cloth.
- Make sure you keep the phone in a well-ventilated room with dry airflow.
Quick Fixes on how to get water out of the charging port of your phone
If the water was outside your phone, then you could just wipe it off with a dry cloth, and you would be done. But removing water from inside your smartphone can be tricky. Nonetheless, there are several different ways you can try to remove water from your phone’s interior. So, here we’ve shared multiple ways how to get the moisture out of your phone’s charging port.
Let your phone’s charging port dry naturally
The most straightforward process is to do nothing and leave your phone to dry naturally. Before you do that, make sure that you remove any moisture from the exterior of your phone. Especially from the area around the charging port. Need to perform it gently so as to not further push water inside the water.
After that, place the phone in an upright position, with the port facing downwards. Keep your phone in this position for a few hours, as the moisture will evaporate by then. However, you have to keep on checking every 30 minutes to confirm that the water has been removed completely.
Drawback
The main drawback of this way is that leaving water inside for a long period can cause corrosion to the internal metal elements of your phone. Its consequence would not be immediately apparent.
Dry your phone’s charging port using a cooling fan
A faster way to remove the moisture from your phone’s charging port is to use a cooling fan. All you have to do is to direct the air from the cooling fan to the charging port of your phone. A thirty-minute exposure is more than enough to completely dry it out.
Drawback
Full or higher fan speeds directed to your phone’s charging port can cause serious damage. So, it is recommended that the fan is set at the lowest power level.
Dry the charging port with a hair dryer
Do you want to find out how to get water out of your charging port fast? Use a hair dryer. A gust of warm air can rapidly remove any trace of moisture from the insides of your phone’s charging port. Ten minutes of continuous exposure to hot air from the hair dryer would do the trick.
You can also use the dryer to remove water or wetness from the exterior of your phone too.
Drawback
Your phone screen, battery, and other internal parts are heat sensitive. So, blowing hot air inside can cause damage to them. So, you should use this method as a last resort and select the least powerful heat setting on your hair dryer.
Place your phone with Silica gel
If time is not the issue, then you can try out placing your phone with silica gel packets to get the water out. Silica gel is a good absorbent of moisture, so place your phone over several packets of silica gel and keep it overnight or for 24 hours. Make sure to keep the silica gel and your phone inside a sealed container.
Drawback
Obviously, this process takes a lot of time. So, attempt this method if you are that patient.
Other methods to get water out of your phone
There are several other ways other than those mentioned earlier that are supposed to remove moisture from your phone. You’ll find them as quick-fix solutions on the internet. However, most of these fixes are not effective, and some of them might cause more damage than fixes.
Place your phone to dry out in the sun
It is often touted as a simple and effective fix to remove moisture from your phone. But exposure to hot sun can cause some serious damage to your phone, especially its heat-sensitive parts. Your phone battery might overheat, or the internal circuitry of your phone might get fried, etc.
Place your phone overnight in rice
Using rice grains to dry out wet objects is a well-known and popular method. In fact, if you place your phone in a jar/bag of rice grains overnight, it will absorb the moisture. However, the main issue arises from the fine rice particles that will surely enter your phone via the charging port or other small entry points. Luckily, we know a bunch of other processes on how to get water out of the charging port without rice.
Shake your phone
A popular belief or suggestion you’ll see on the internet is that shaking your phone vigorously will expel any water droplets. However, this is far from the truth. Though shaking will really expel large droplets of water, it will also cause smaller droplets to go further inside your phone. This will cause you far serious problem.
Dry out moisture from your phone with a vacuum
This method is similar to the hair dryer or the cooling fan method. However, it also shares its drawbacks; if you use the vacuum at full power, then it will definitely cause internal damage.
Insert external objects to get water out of your phone
Another way to remove water from your phone’s charging port is by using objects like toothpicks or cotton swabs. Then you insert these objects inside the charging port to remove the water. However, this method is best used to clean the microphone speaker of your phone or its charging port then remove moisture. The water will make the cotton or the wood wet and cause more damage.
Customer Support
Another method that most people never think of at the beginning is taking your phone to customer service. Many people think it is a drastic measure and tends to delay making the decision. The main reason is it might cost you if you don’t have a warranty. Or even if that is not an issue, it still might take several days before they fix it for you.
Why doesn’t it work?
What should you do if you have tried the above-mentioned method and your phone still won’t charge, or worse, your phone won’t even start at all? If such a thing happens, then it is unfortunate.
However, it is important to know the reasons for this occurrence and whether you can salvage anything. Here we’ve discussed a few reasons why your phone might not charge even after you’ve removed the moisture from the charging port.
Noticeable corrosions in and out of the charging port
You might notice signs of corrosion around the charging port of your phone. If that is the case, the chances are there are corrosions inside the port too. The main reason for this occurrence is that you have taken too much time to remove the moisture. Or if you haven’t tried at all.
The main solution is to immediately take your phone to your nearest customer service or to a phone repair technician. If you are lucky, you can get your phone to work or charge again. However, it will be an expensive fix.
Your phone won’t turn on
If your phone doesn’t turn on, despite removing any moisture from it, then the water has caused internal damage. Most likely, the water has reached the inside of your phone and damaged the circuitry. If that is the case, then there isn’t much you can do.
Your phone gets hot
This means that your phone’s lithium batteries have suffered water damage and are getting hot as a result. You could try replacing the batteries if they are replaceable. And if you are using an iPhone, then you could take it to your nearest Apple service center to carry out the replacement.
Conclusion
We’ve covered everything there is about how to get water out of the charging port of your phone. We’ve shared some of the best fixes that you can try, the precautions that you could take, and the reasons why the fixes don’t work. Hopefully, you’ve found this detailed article helpful.