When you go to a store to buy a mobile, among all the features you look for the rating of waterproofing. Why do you do that? You do that to ensure the chances of your phone to resist the effects of water damage. Or to ensure it does not get affected by the random accidental splashes. But, what to do when any liquid gets into the phone even after having the best rating in the market? More specifically, what to do and how to get liquid out of charging port.
However, before that, we need to discuss what happens if any liquid gets into the port and how it can affect the working of your iPhone. As we go further, we would know what things to do when the water gets into the charging port and what things you should avoid when you encounter this situation. Finally, we are going to discuss how you can get the liquid out of your device to use it.
Possible Ways A Liquid Might Get into the Charging Port
In our daily lives, we can encounter liquids around us to carry out almost all our work whether it be eating, cooking, or bathing. Thus, there can be numerous ways a liquid might have gotten into your device’s charging port, and here are some of the most common ways.
Dropping Your Device into Liquid
Believe it or not, dropping your iPhone/charging port into the water is the most common way to get any kind of liquid into the charging port of your device. You might be close to any water body, as small as your kitchen sink or as big as on the beach. You can accidentally drop your device into the water, making it prone to water damage.
Splashing A Liquid onto Your Device
You might be watching your favorite show on your device while having your dinner and suddenly hit the glass of water that was close to it. This leads to the water falling over onto the device and there is a chance of the liquid getting into the charging port of the device.
A Very Humid Day
On a humid day, there is a lot of moisture in the air around us and if you keep your device out for a long time, you can risk that some moisture might settle on the device and get into the charging port. It might be a very minimal amount of moisture, but some high-end devices detect the presence of moisture and for the sake of safety, don’t let the device charge.
Effect of Liquid Getting into the Charging Port
Every smartphone consists of openings in it such as charging and headphone ports, into which liquids can easily find their way. Even dust or sand gets into the openings of smartphones. When a liquid gets into the device, the highest risk of the situation arises as soon as it gets into the internal circuitry. It can cause short circuits between the electrical parts and cause an accidental burst of heat. This can sometimes lead to the explosion of the battery of the device, thus making it prone to harmful accidents.
How to Identify if the Charging Port has been Affected by Liquid
If you ever have encountered an accident related to your device in regard to any liquid, you might want to be sure if your device has been affected by the liquid or not. To be certain about it you can check the status of your device in the following ways.
- Almost every smartphone has a liquid contact indicator, which is a small sticker present on the inside of the device. It would change the color of any liquid that seeps into the main circuitry. It is generally found beside the SIM slot.
- Alternatively, many high-end devices flash a warning if any kind of moisture is present in the charging port to prohibit you from putting it on active charge. However, this warning only flashes when put in your charging cable inside the port.
What You Shouldn’t Do When the Charging Port Comes in Contact with A Liquid
Don’t Put It on Charge
After your charging port comes into contact with a liquid, and you are aware that it is still present in the charging port, don’t plug in your device to charge. Even if you successfully got rid of the liquid from the device, there would still be moisture present in the carvings and ports of the phone. Upon charging your phone, it might short-circuit the system and lead you to more risks.
Don’t Apply Too Much Heat
Overheating of any device is bad for its proper functioning. Even though it seems instinctive to apply as much heat as possible to the charging port, to dry it up faster, it isn’t recommended. It might lead to additional problems due to overheating of circuitry. Thus, avoid hair dryers, keeping beside fireplaces and tungsten bulbs. Keeping it under the direct sun is also something that you should avoid to ensure proper working of the charging port after you have shaken your iPhone/charging port to eliminate major clogged-up liquids.
Avoid Blowing the Liquid Out from the Charging Port
After getting some liquid into the charging port, you might think that blowing the liquid out of the charging port is a quick fix. However, you should avoid doing that as it can lead to the seepage of some amount of liquid into the inner circuit of the device.
Getting the Liquid Out Using Rice
We all have seen reels and DIY videos of people putting their phones into a bowl of rice to save their phones from water damage. We have not tried it to get liquid out of charging port. However, the whole process actually creates more problems for you than water. It is recommended that after cleaning out the liquid from the charging port of the device, to eliminate almost all the moisture from the charging port you should put your switched-off phone into a big bowl or container and tightly seal it with dry rice.
However, in doing that you risk the problem of getting the dust and rice powder to get into the charging port. This might damage the internals of the charging port rather than soaking the moisture left from the liquid.
What to Do if Liquid has got into Your Charging Port
Switch Off Your Device
If you detect any moisture or liquid inside the charging port of your iPhone, immediately switch it off. It avoids you from any risks that might occur because of any short circuit while the electrical impulse goes through the circuit. Switching your device off and keeping it idle for some time to dry off the liquid is the best thing you can do to avoid the damage that could be caused by a short circuit.
Rinse it with Fresh Water
This idea might seem out of the world as you just encountered your charging port get affected by a liquid. However, rinsing your device after you might have encountered seawater from the beach is advisable. Components like Salt and other minerals present in seawater increase the conductivity of the liquid and lead to higher probabilities of facing a short circuit in the system. After rinsing the phone in freshwater, you eliminate the risk of the high conductivity of the liquid. Upon rinsing the device under freshwater, dry it up with a dry cloth and thoroughly clean up the charging and other ports like SIM slot and Headphone port.
Go Wireless for Some Time
In case of an emergency, if you need to access your iPhone for necessary work, try to use as few wired devices with it as you can. If you have access to a wireless charger, then put your phone to charge on that instead of risking it by putting it on a charge through the charging phone. Also, avoid using the port for connecting headphones and try to use a pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones to access the audio. You run a risk of damaging yourself as you are in contact with the phone itself through the wired headphones. You might face serious injuries upon a short circuit, and it might travel through the wire towards your body.
How To Get Liquid Out of Charging Port?
After all the previous steps, you know what to do and not do when a liquid gets into the charging port of your phone. You also have an idea of how to detect if your phone is alright after the liquid came into contact or the liquid has seeped into the internal circuitry of the phone. Now you want to get rid of the liquid present in the phone to use it further. This is how you can get the liquid out of the charging port.
Getting the Liquid Out Using Wool or Q-Tip
The most efficient way to get the liquid out of the charging port is by cleaning it with cotton wool or a Q-tip.
- Switch off your phone so that no electrical charges cause bridges in the circuit.
- Wrap a piece of cotton or a tiny absorbent cloth around a toothpick or a small wooden stick or take a Q-tip.
- Insert it gently into the charging port of the device.
- Now, gently rotate the wool or Q-tip and move it around the inside edges of the charging port
- The wool or Q-tip would likely soak most of the liquid and moisture present in the port.
- After that leave the device under a fan to dry off the rest of the moisture that might still be present inside.
Getting the Liquid Out Using a Fan
Instead of blowing direct air into the charging port of your device, using a fan claims to be more useful. It provides a strong force of air and ventilates the port excellently. It is preferred to keep your phone by the side of a running fan rather than just keeping it idle outside. The dry air from the fan and a concentrated one lets the moisture inside of the charging port dry out faster than most methods. It also reduces the risk of overheating by avoiding the use of dryers and heaters.
Getting the Liquid Out Using a Vacuum
This might be the most overachieving option; however, it is a valid one. The powerful vacuum can suck up all the liquid or moisture present in the charging port. It highly reduces the risk of the water seeping into the internal circuitry of the device and damage it might have caused to the battery, speakers and microphone, and the charging port itself. It might be more efficient than using wool or a fan and might be the least time-consuming option.
After getting the liquid out of the charging port, it might be very useful to place the phone’s charging port near a pack of Silica Gel. A pack of Silica Gel is very common with new boxes of electrical appliances. The Silica Gel packet would soak in all the moisture that might have been present and couldn’t be eliminated through the above methods.
Conclusion
So this is all about how to get liquid out of charging port. Dropping your iPhone into a liquid or getting it wet is more common than you think it is. Hence, you don’t need to worry because most of the time it doesn’t affect much and even if you think it’s serious, following the above guidelines and tips might save you from water damage.
Drying out the moisture is the most important part of the process as eliminating the liquid is a way easier and faster step. Avoid using the device for the longest time possible. It is advised to keep the phone off overnight to decrease the chances of any moisture still present in the charging port.
This guide and tips can be used for all iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. Just remember the warning of moisture being present in the charging port depends on the specific Android device. Also, the warning flashes only if you have an iPhone XS or a newer device.