Getting water in your iPhone camera is a lot more common than you would think, but what should you do if this happens?
When your iPhone camera gets water in it, here are the first steps that you should take:
- Turn your phone off
- Remove the battery and your sim card
- Check to make sure there’s no water coming out of the back
- Get the water out of your camera
These steps will also help to prevent further damage.
There is a lot of debate on the internet about what works to remove water out of the iPhone camera and the iPhone itself. This guide will provide you with accurate information to help you clear the water from the inside of your iPhone’s camera without causing you to break the warranty.
My iPhone Camera Got Water in It
The fact that your iPhone camera has water in it should not be a cause for panic. Although, it can be irritating when you’re trying to take a photo of a beautiful landscape, or a selfie, only to be met with a blurry picture.
When water gets into the camera, it’s pretty harmless as far as damage goes. It will eventually dissipate. The issue is the risk of it moving further into the hardware of the phone and causing damage. The damage to the rest of your phone is what you need to focus on preventing as most warranties do not cover water damage.
What You Should Do When There Is Water In Your iPhone Camera
Most people want to take their entire phone apart but if your phone is covered by warranty, this is not a good idea. Here are the first steps that you should take:
Power Your Phone Off
This is simply a preventative measure. If water were to get into the inner workings of your phone, cutting the power to it will reduce the likelihood of severe, permanent damage and possibly losing all of the files that are not backed up.
Remove the Sim Card and Battery
These fragile phone parts do not mix well with water. The longer that they have been exposed to water the higher risk of damage there will be.
Both parts are usually sealed tightly but water is always able to find its way into the tiniest of openings. If water were to get inside of a battery or a sim card, there would be no reversing the damage that’s done.
On the back of most batteries, there is a sticker to indicate whether there is water damage or not. If the sticker is white, it means that no damage was done. However, if it is red, pink, or has a horizontal stripe on it, that indicates there indeed is water damage.
A Few Proven Methods to Remove Water from Your iPhone Camera
There are several different ways that you can do this and the only tools you need are:
- Enough rice to cover the top and bottom of your phone
- An airtight container that your phone will fit inside of
- Silica gel packets
- A hairdryer or a microwave
Here are three different methods to draw water out from your iPhone camera, as well as from the phone itself.
The Popular Rice Method
This method has been around for ages! Some people will claim that placing your phone in rice to draw out water is a myth but it only doesn’t work if it isn’t done the right way.
- Take your container and fill it with rice
- Place your phone in so that the bottom and top of your phone are both fully covered. You shouldn’t be able to see it.
- Put the lid on your container, make sure that it’s completely sealed.
- Place the container in a room temperature environment
- Leave the container alone for 72 hours.
You should not open the container to check your phone. The rice will draw the water from the camera and when 72 hours is up, you should open the container to a water-free camera lens.
The Silica Gel Packet Method
This is like the rice method, although it has been proven to take less time in drawing the water out of your iPhone.
- Line the bottom of your airtight container with silica gel packets
- Place your phone on top of them, with the problem side down. For instance, if it’s the backside camera that has the condensation, the back side should face down.
- Seal your container and leave it alone for 24 hours
Again, do not open the container to check on your phone. This is the mistake that a lot of people make, which is why it sometimes doesn’t work.
The Silica Gel Packet and Rice Methods Together
The setup is similar:
- Place rice in your container
- Mix the silica gel packets with the rice
- Place your phone into the mixture so that it is covered on the top and on the bottom. You should not be able to see your phone.
- Cover the container with a lid- make sure that it’s fully sealed
- Leave your phone in a room-temperature environment for 24 hours
And of course, there is always the option of bringing your phone into the store if you need this taken care of immediately.
Try This to Make the Water Removal Process Faster
Before placing the silica gel packets in the container, you can take a hairdryer to the rice for 60 seconds. Take care to mix the rice with your hand while you are heating it up so that the heat disperses evenly. Although, you don’t want the rice too hot as it can harm your phone.
If you do not have a hairdryer available, a microwave will suffice. Microwave the rice in 15-second increments to ensure the rice does not get too hot. You do not want the rice to melt the silica gel, or damage your phone.
What Causes Water to Get into Your iPhone Camera?
Aside from the obvious mistake of dropping your phone in water, there are a few other ways that water can sneak into the lens of your iPhone camera:
- Drastic changes from one temperature to another
- Having your phone out in humid weather
- Inadequate protection from rain or snow
Ensuring that your iPhone is properly protected in these conditions can assist in the prevention of water damage issues, as well as water getting trapped within the camera.
What You Should Not Do If You Have Water In Your iPhone Camera
Upon searching the internet for your situation, you will run across some bad advice. Here are a few things that you should not do:
- Take a hairdryer directly to your phone, as it can melt the plastic pieces
- Put your phone in the microwave
- Not only will this not work but it is highly dangerous!
- Set your phone in the sun
- Put your phone in front of a heater
- Vacuum your phone
- Take your phone apart (Especially if you are not a professional)
All of these methods will damage your entire phone rather than take care of the issue at hand.
Water in Your iPhone Camera is an Issue That is Easily Resolved
It doesn’t matter if you dropped your phone into a sink of water, or if you forgot your phone out in humid weather; the removal of the water from your camera lens is easy. As long as you follow the instructions for your preferred method, you will have a condensation-free iPhone camera in no time! It just takes a little patience.