Phone Got Wet? What to Do Right Now (and What Not To)

Dropped it in a sink, got caught in the rain, went for a swim with it still in your pocket - water damage is one of the most time-sensitive repairs there is. What you do in the first few minutes has more effect on the outcome than anything done afterwards.

Power the phone off straight away if it isn't already off - do not try to turn it on "just to check." Do not plug it in to charge. Do not press buttons repeatedly to test if it's working. All three risk pushing moisture further into the device or causing a short while it's still wet.

Dry the outside with a soft cloth and, if you can safely open it, remove the SIM tray - trapped water around it is a common corrosion point.

The bag-of-rice method is common advice, but it doesn't actually draw moisture out of a sealed device the way people assume, and rice dust can get into ports and speakers and cause its own problems. It also does nothing for corrosion, which is the real risk with water damage - that starts developing while the device sits waiting, rice or not. Getting it to a technician sooner does more good than any amount of rice.

Water itself rarely destroys a phone outright - corrosion on the internal components afterwards usually does. That corrosion starts forming within hours, especially if the liquid wasn't plain water (seawater, coffee, juice - anything with minerals or sugar in it - is worse). The sooner the device is opened, cleaned and dried professionally, the better the odds.

We open the device, inspect for visible corrosion and moisture ingress, and clean affected components before testing. Diagnosis is free if you go ahead with the repair; if you decide not to, a diagnostic fee applies. We won't know the full extent of the damage - or whether it's economically worth repairing versus replacing - until that inspection is done, and we'll always tell you honestly rather than guess a price upfront.

Water damage is the one repair category where we can't promise a fixed outcome before opening the device - some water damage is straightforward, some isn't. What we can promise is an honest assessment and, where the repair goes ahead, the same 3-month warranty as any other repair. If you're in Vereeniging, Gauteng, the best thing you can do right now is stop using the device and bring it in.