A spilt drink, a dropped phone or a flooded office: water damage is one of the most common reasons devices arrive at our lab. The good news is that data can very often be recovered. The bad news is that the first hour matters most, and the most common “fixes” are the ones that do the damage. Here’s what to do.
Why water is so harmful to electronics
Pure water conducts poorly, but the water in a spill or flood is full of minerals, sugar, salt or dirt. As soon as power flows through it, it causes short circuits. Even after the device dries, those residues stay on the circuit board and start to corrode the components and connections, a process that continues for days or weeks.
Do this straight away
- Switch it off and remove power. Unplug the charger. If the battery can be removed, take it out.
- Don’t try to turn it on to “see if it still works” or to copy files off. This is when most of the damage happens.
- Pour off any standing water and gently blot the outside dry. Don’t shake it hard.
- Keep it as it is and get it to a specialist as soon as you can.
Don’t do this
Rice doesn’t work. It absorbs very little moisture from inside a sealed device, leaves dust and starch in the ports, and wastes the time in which corrosion is starting.
- No hairdryers, ovens or radiators. Heat can warp components and spreads moisture further inside.
- Don’t charge it, even if it seems dry.
- Don’t open a hard drive to dry it. The inside of a drive must stay sealed and dust-free.
Hard drives in floods
If a hard drive has been underwater, for example in a flooded office or basement, the platters inside may be contaminated with silt or dirty water. The drive must not be powered on. In the lab it is opened in a clean room, and the platters are cleaned before the data is read. Drives that are kept wet (sealed in a plastic bag) are often in better condition than drives that have been left to dry out with residue on the platters.
Phones and laptops
Modern phones and many laptops have their storage soldered to the main board, and in Apple devices and most modern phones that storage is encrypted and tied to the board. So the data usually can’t be read by removing a chip. Instead, the board is cleaned and repaired just enough for the device to start, and the data is then copied off. The less corrosion there is, the easier that repair becomes, which is why quick action matters.
Get help quickly
We recover data from flood- and water-damaged drives, laptops and phones, as well as after fire and other disasters. If something has got wet, switch it off and call 020 7394 2529 for a free consultation. We also offer a free pickup across London.