Water Damage: Advising Your Customers

Water Damage: Advising Your Customers

Water damage is a hot topic among members of the Repair Community, simply for the fact that everyone handles water damage a little bit differently. From what they charge their customers for water damage repair to how they perform the repair, each repair shop is different. You've probably heard about the popular "rice method," which states if you put your water damaged device in a container filled with rice, the rice will absorb the water leaving your phone as good as new. This simply isn't true. You cannot use rice to fix a water damaged device. All you get by using the rice method is a sticky, messy, corroded iPhone. So we wanted to know more about what repair shop owners are telling customers to do the moment water damage strikes. We asked our Repair Community, "What do you tell your customers to do when water damage strikes? Power down or remove the battery? To rice or not to rice?" The comments gave us great insight into what people are being told about water damage and how it's being handled by the Repair Community. Luckily there were only a few repair shop owners who hadn't gotten the "NO RICE" memo. Let's see what members of the Repair Community had to say!    

Water Damage: What Do You Do?

  So, what should you do when water damage occurs to your electronic device? OR what should you tell your customers when water damage happens to them?   What to do when water damage strikes:

1. Power off device
2. Take out battery
3. Take to repair shop ASAP
4. Ultrasonic cleaning of the device
5. Replace any damaged components

  What NOT to do when water damage strikes:

1. DON'T put it in rice
2. DON'T put it in the oven
3. DON'T plug it in
4. DON'T turn it back on
5. DON'T wait any longer to get it fixed!

  Time is of great importance when a device has experienced water damage. The longer the device sits after being submerged, the greater its chances of corrosion and damage to the logic board. Turning off or unplugging the battery in a water damaged device is important so as to not short out any electrical components. Repair shop technicians will then disassemble the device, clean any corrosion with an ultrasonic cleaner, and replace any components that were damaged. Often repair shops offer a warranty on the water damage repair, or a flat fee which varies depending on the shop. Is this how you handle water damaged devices? If not, what do you do differently? We'd love to hear from you, so be sure to leave your comments below! Join the conversation over on Facebook, where everyday the Repair Community discusses new topics related to the iPhone repair industry. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Tumblr, too!