First and foremost: do not turn on the phone and do not put it on charge. Power on a wet logic board is not a "check to see if it works," but short circuits and burnt traces. The sooner the device is de-energized and disassembled, the better the chance of saving the board.
The first fifteen minutes
- Turn off the phone if it's still on. Don't restart — just turn it off.
- Do not charge or connect to a computer.
- Remove the SIM tray: some moisture escapes through the opening.
- Blot the housing, hold the phone screen-side up and don't shake it — that way liquid spreads further across the board.
- Take it to service the same day.
What never to do
Rice doesn't dry — it leaves starch dust in the ports and creates a false sense that the problem is solved at home. A hair dryer and batteries push moisture deeper under the screens and soften the adhesive. Alcohol poured into the housing dissolves some of the dirt but also spreads it across the board. None of these methods stops the main problem — corrosion.
Why "dried and works" is a trap
Water evaporates, but salts and impurities remain. They conduct electricity and are hygroscopic: contacts oxidize for weeks after the phone "comes back to life." The classic scenario — the device works for three days, then Wi-Fi disappears, a week later it won't hold a charge, and a month later it won't turn on at all. At this point, repair costs more than cleaning would have cost right away.
What service does
The logic board is removed, washed in an ultrasonic bath, corrosion products are removed and dried under supervision. Then power is checked across the circuits and only then do we decide what exactly was damaged: often it's not the board itself, but a battery or flex cable. The display is examined separately: liquid under the matrix creates stains, and we wrote about them in the article on stains and black spots on the screen.
The price depends on what diagnostics show, so honestly we can't name it in advance — but diagnostics are done first and before any work begins. You can book an appointment right away without waiting for the phone to "dry out.