Written by Ali, who has been fixing electronic devices since 2019. Updated .
No. Putting a wet phone in rice does not dry its insides. Water gets under the screen and onto the circuit board, where rice can’t reach it, and it starts to corrode the board while the phone sits in the bag. Rice dust can also get into the charging port. Switch the phone off and get it checked as soon as you can.
What to do instead
- Switch it off and don’t turn it back on to test it.
- Don’t charge it. Power running through a wet board causes the most damage.
- Take off the case and wipe away any liquid on the outside.
- Bring it in as soon as you can, and tell us what it was dropped in. Salt water, drinks and dirty water damage a board faster than clean water.
There’s more detail in phone dropped in water? The first hour.
Why “it works now” isn’t the end of it
A phone can seem fine after getting wet, then fail days or weeks later as corrosion spreads on the board. If it got properly wet, have it checked even if it still turns on.
Can the photos be saved?
Often, if it’s looked at quickly. If the phone won’t turn on, see data recovery: we check what can be recovered first and quote before any work starts.
Water damage repair in Nuneaton
Ezone Repairs checks and repairs water-damaged phones, iPads, laptops and Apple Watches at 9 Harefield Road, Nuneaton. See water damaged phone repair.