It doesn’t matter that since the generation of the iPhone 7 Apple phones have some water resistance, because even if you use them as if they weren’t (no, I don’t go bareback with them in the pool or on the beach or even in the shower), from time to time you take some other disappointment. I usually carry my iPhone around my neck and also in my hands and it will not be the first or the last time that one of the messages that scares me the most appears on the screen: ‘Liquid found in Lightning/USB-C connector‘.
The first consequence of the appearance of this message is that can’t charge phone and, if you are doing so at that time, Apple strongly recommends unplugging the charging cable and allowing it to dry for a few hours. Throughout my life as an iPhone user it has happened to me a few times and beyond the cold sweat, I have learned not only how to get it to dry, but also what to do and what not to do.
To charge or not to charge? There is a trick to continue having the iPhone with battery
I insist: I don’t even go into the water with my iPhone, nor have I even had an accident in which, for example, a wave swept away my towel and took my phone away. Sometimes it is enough to have the phone out in the open and there is humidity or it is directly raining to do so. the message appears. And the worst thing is that usually You discover it when you go to charge the iPhone because it has a low battery.
Even so, Apple usually gives the option of emergency charging. That is, although it is recommended to let the device (or connector) dry before charging, you allow it to be powered with the cable at your own risk. And if there is moisture inside the connector and we still insist on the passage of electricity, the process could corrode the part or directly damage the device permanently. When in doubt, I don’t risk it.
I have a plan B: wireless charging I don’t like it too much (in short, I find it inefficient), but I always have my wireless charger on hand to charge by simply placing it on the pad, so that the connector area is free to continue drying but the iPhone battery will dry. fills without damaging components, allowing me to continue using it.
How to safely remove moisture from the connector
From that moment on I have gained time: I have the iPhone with a full battery and under no circumstances do I put the charger in the socket. There are many methods to dry a phone: with rice, with alcohol and there are even those who try to apply heat (spoiler: better not), but for me the above are impractical.
After all, the rice may dry out, but you can’t prevent a grain or dust from getting into some groove. In that scenario I prefer to put it vertically, with the charging port facing down so that the water falls by gravity and place a couple of bags of silica next to it.
Taking into account that in my case it is usually due to specific exposure to humidity or a drop and not because it has fallen into water directly, we are talking about small amounts of liquidsomething that is generally solved with a little patience and, with the mobile phone vertically and the port in the lower area, shaking a little or gently tapping.
Likewise, I also leave the phone vertically so that the water falls by gravity and I put a kitchen paper underneath, which helps me dry the charging cable plug. After letting it dry for a while in a dry area away from direct sun, I try again with the same cable or another one, because you never know if maybe the problem is in the cable.
Finally I also turn it off completely in case it were a technical problem and to avoid operating with humidity and normally after a while I can charge the phone again as usual.
Cover | Picture of brad in Unsplash and Water icons created by Creaticca Creative Agency – Flaticon