In this tip, iPhoned explains how to check whether your refurbished iPhone is not an ex-water damaged model. This is because there are some major drawbacks.
Does your refurbished iPhone have water damage? This is how you check it!
Refurbished iPhones are becoming increasingly popular. An excellent development in principle; they are cheaper than new models and better for the environment through reuse. Of course, there are also parties that participate purely for the money, and therefore have no pure intentions.
For example, it sometimes happens that companies sell ex-water damage models. Annoying, because these are often of lesser quality. In this article, we will tell you how you can check whether your refurbished iPhone is an ex-water damaged model.
1. Check the liquid damage indicator
A logical first step is to check the liquid indicator. All recent iPhones are equipped with such an indicator. On the website of Apple you can see exactly where to look. The idea is simple: as soon as a phone has come into contact with liquid, the indicator turns red. With a phone without water damage, it must be white or silver.
Unfortunately, you are not yet sure whether your phone is an ex-water damage model. The indicators may have been replaced. It is also possible that not the external indicator, but rather the internal indicator has come into contact with liquid. We will explain how to check this below.
Also read: 3 tips to fix iPhone water damage
2. Use a diagnostics app
A logical next step is to run a few diagnostic tests. This sounds more exciting than it really is. In fact, it’s just about seeing how powerful your phone is. For example, download the TestM app and check all aspects of your phone. The hardware test is particularly important.
iPhones with water damage often have a (partially) defective motherboard, which makes it difficult for them to handle peak performance. Let that be exactly what a diagnostic test requires of a phone: the app does nothing more than draw the maximum power from your device. Phones with water damage often fail while performing these tests, get stuck, or exhibit stability issues in some other way.
When your refurbished iPhone reboots while running the test, and then just after seeing the Apple logo shows a completely red screen, you know it’s wrong. Then your motherboard is so affected, either by water damage or something else, that nothing can be saved from it. In this case, check whether a refurbished iPhone has a warranty on your refurbished device.
→ Download TestM from the App Store (free)
3. Heavier guns: check your motherboard
The third method is the most rigorous and therefore the most thorough way of checking. There is also a liquid damage indicator on the inside of your iPhone. It is precisely this indicator that Apple (and official repair points) checks when carrying out repairs.
This indicator is placed just above the battery on most models. The ‘strip’ is again in principle white or silver in color, and turns red as soon as it comes into contact with liquid. Note: this method is not without risk. After all, you have to unscrew your iPhone. This requires some technical knowledge, but it is not impossible. Now that you have the iPhone open, immediately check the motherboard for corrosion. Corrosion is hard to miss and looks like this:
In principle, corrosion can be ‘repaired’ (read: cleaning), but not without risk. Isopropyl alcohol, an alcohol form intended for disinfection, is often used. Direct contact is made with parts of the motherboard, such as transistors, which is obviously not good. In principle, you may never ever touch the motherboard, because of the components and their vulnerability.
In addition, it is very difficult to get rid of all corrosion, so that a motherboard often experiences negative effects from contact with liquid anyway. Finally, you can check the screen for residual moisture drops. Today’s phone screens are made up of several layers, making it practically impossible to properly clean up all liquid residues. Moisture drops often resemble air bubbles: you just often cannot ‘slide them around’, as you can do with air bubbles.
You never know for sure
Okay, now you know what to watch out for. However, you can never be sure whether a device comes from an ex-water damage estate. Today’s technology is getting better and better, and with it the way in which technicians can patch such devices again.
Moreover, an ex-water damage model does not necessarily have to perform less than a ‘new’ one. After all, they can last for years. However, it can also turn out less well. A well-known phenomenon among ex-water damage phones is the so-called ‘slow death’. Due to the corrosion on the motherboard, the phone will slowly but surely perform less and less, with all kinds of problems as a result.
For example, it can happen that it fails more and more, other parts such as the proximity sensor start to function less or the speakers malfunction. You can easily compare the various refurbished providers in the Netherlands on price and rating in our refurbished iPhone price comparison.
Do you want to buy a refurbished iPhone? Check out our independent refurbished iPhone price comparator in which we have included all the refurbished offer.
→ Compare all refurbished iPhone offers here