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The iPhones such as iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 12 have shown that they can handle quick dunk in water without filling with water, even though Apple has not added waterproof to any of its key features. There have been reports however of phones not being able to charge when wet, which can be distressing to some phone owners. Unfortunately, the same can happen with the 6, 6s, 7, 7s, 7 plus, 8, 9, 10 (X), 11, and 12 series.

This is usually caused when the water used in the charging port has created too much moisture for the charger to handle and will proceed by giving a charging error when plugged in.

Turning off the Device

Fortunately, you should be able to resolve the charging error at home without having to send it back to the store for repairs. If your iPhone is not charging because of water damage, the first thing you should do is turn the device off so the water doesn’t mix with the electricity and cause more damage, and give it at least 24 hours before turning back on.

Removing the sim Card

Secondly, open all ports including your SIM card port and try and shake all the moisture and remaining water out of the ports.

Air Drying

Sometimes shaking just won’t be as effective, and may require blowing into one of the ports for the remaining water to flow through the other ports. Once that has been done, air-drying your phone is the next step that should be taken to make sure all liquid is gone. Using a blow dryer is not recommended, use a can of compressed air instead. However, if you are stuck with a blow dryer, make sure that you turn it to the coolest settings. The only reason the air dryers or the blow dryers are not recommended is due to the hot air emission that could potentially melt the adhesives within the phones.

Using the q-tip

Once all that has been exerted, use a q-tip (or a similar absorbent) to soak any remaining liquid on the charger port. This should be followed by turning the iPhone on and testing the charging port after a 24-hour period. Since there is a 24-hour period before treatment is effective, it is recommended you don’t turn on your phone or use it at all to prevent damage.

Using Alcohol

Sometimes the water has been soaked too far into the phone and you may have to manually open the device and give it a clean with just a toothbrush alongside 90% isopropyl alcohol.

The u2ic might also need replacing which will require it to be sent off to repairs with your Apple Care warranty or a similar trusted repair shop around your area.

Take it to an Expert

If all else fails and it doesn’t charge after a period of 24 hours of cleaning, there could be some internal damage to the hardware that needs to be looked at by an expert. If you have a warranty this shouldn’t be an issue, otherwise paying for a professional to repair the iPhone would be the best idea if you aren’t confident with repairing technology yourself.

What not to do?

drying iphone using rice

One thing you should not do is put the device in rice. This solution is not suitable and could cause more problems than it solves. Instead, try silica gel to remove liquid from your device or something similar as provided by authentic phone repair shops. These are professionally used to remove water from devices and are highly recommended.

Lastly, if your phone has a warranty, don’t open it else your warranty will go down the drain

Conclusion

We hope this article covers this question as conclusively as possible and helps you clean your iPhone series mobile for any water damage issues encountered. The important thing to remember is it is fixable and often can be resolved from home. Lastly, in order to avoid such accidents in the future, we recommend getting iPhone waterproof cases as per your iPhone size from our editor’s favorite store.