Help! Water damaged iPhone - specialist repairer required.

Forums › Apple iOS and devices › Help! Water damaged iPhone - specialist repairer required.

Steve53

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#262223 11-Jan-2020 09:18

My daughter recently purchased a LifeProof iPhone case for her iPhone 6 Plus, before heading off on a canoe trip, unfortunately the case leaked, as we discovered shortly after capsizing at a rapid.

She's so desperately upset as she's been keeping a video log of her journey on the Te Araroa Trail over the past 3 months ;

I'm home after accompanying her on the 5 day Canoe trip and was hoping to retrieve the video footage from the iPhone, but the phone won't turn on and is not "seen" by her iTunes /Photo's account on her iMac.

Is there anyone (in NZ) who specialises in retrieving digital files from a water damaged iPhone? We've already taken it to a local guy but all he could do was dry it out on a heat plate, & then suggested he replace the LCD screen and battery (as I suspect most of the mobile device repair shops may do). We allowed him to dry it out and clean contacts etc, but it's still dead. I don't really want to go from shop-to-shop paying $40 a time to get the same answer.

Potentially I suspect it may be a more complex problem, and really want to find someone who is capable of "Component Level" repairs (if possible). 

Any help/advice greatly appreciated.

SATTV

1648 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2389986 11-Jan-2020 09:32

My first port of call will be datalba https://www.datalab.co.nz/

Dont bother with any mall type repair shops.

The other one would be Service Plus https://serviceplus.co.nz/ in Auckland but either way be prepared to pay.

John

I know enough to be dangerous

Dial111

978 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2389987 11-Jan-2020 09:33

Does your daughter use a cloud service like iCloud, DropBox, Google Photos etc where her media has been automatically backed up to?

clicknz

467 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#2390182 11-Jan-2020 11:05

Ugh - sorry to hear of this - very disappointing!

It could be that the battery connections have shorted out with the water damage and changing the battery may indeed give you access to the phone again.... but it's always a gamble and impossible to know what other damage may have been done.

Trying the battery change would be a less-expensive option to try - I believe data recovery services can be very expensive and I don’t think they generally deal with water damaged items (usually corrupted file structures, I think).

Maybe there’s a skilled iPhone surgeon on the forums that may help out.... ?? Meanwhile I would suggest keeping the phone in a warming cupboard and trying to connect it to power again after 24 hours or so. Good luck.

Cheers,
Mike

Photographer/Videographer clickmedia.nz

sqishy

470 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2390188 11-Jan-2020 11:33

It needs taking apart then drying out, as above you may just need a new battery then you could be lucky to have it start long enough to extract. I have done a new battery on a 6s but long term I would plan to just get data of then get a new phone.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2390250 11-Jan-2020 13:29

I know a couple of YouTubers who specializes in these things. But they're in the US. But they may know people.

Bung

6477 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2390251 11-Jan-2020 13:37

If the phone has been soaked I don't think a warming cupboard will get the water out from the larger ICs. As well a lot of "water" is contaminated with salts that would be left behind. Repairers like iPad Rehab seem to be leading the push back against Apple's data recovery isn't possible. Check her YouTube channel for ideas.

alasta

6701 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#2390257 11-Jan-2020 14:25

You really have two paths depending on how important the lost data is.

You can go directly to a data recovery specialist which is the greatest chance of recovering data, but will cost you some serious money.

Alternatively you may feel that you would like to exhaust other options before incurring the cost of a specialist, however each attempt to recover the data is likely to reduce the probability of success if and when you do eventually find that you need a specialist.

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2390278 11-Jan-2020 16:00

alasta:
You really have two paths depending on how important the lost data is.

You can go directly to a data recovery specialist which is the greatest chance of recovering data, but will cost you some serious money.

Alternatively you may feel that you would like to exhaust other options before incurring the cost of a specialist, however each attempt to recover the data is likely to reduce the probability of success if and when you do eventually find that you need a specialist.

I'm not sure if data recovery specialists can deal with apple mobile products. However ios specialists do, someone like ipad rehab for example.

GeekGuy

590 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2390306 11-Jan-2020 17:26

https://www.deviceservice.co.nz/

He is on Cascades Rd Pakuranga and has been repairing iPhones for years.

Steve53

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2390785 13-Jan-2020 08:32

Many thanks guys.

I tried iPad Repair right out of the gate, as I was aware of Jessa's excellent reputation - unfortunately, they quoted US$340 + 4-6 weeks to start work. This includes the cost of a 64Gb USB, but they will charge extra for bigger drives to copy the files to, if required.

Here's what they emailed (for anyone who may be considering this option in future):-

"This service is a hardware repair to facilitate operation of a $300.00 non functioning device for the purpose of recovering data
stored on the device. Path to data is guaranteed.

There is no guarantee of the function of the device itself after the data is extracted.

This service includes a 64GB USB.

Larger drives and data will add to cost due to processing time.

(128GB drive- plus $100, 250GB drive- plus $200, 320+GB drive- plus $300)

USB cost is fully refundable if returned.

Typical turnaround time is currently 4-6 weeks.

Rush service is available if needed."

trig42

5809 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2390788 13-Jan-2020 09:01

That's about the same price you'd pay a data recovery place here (though as mentioned above, not sure the NZ ones do iOS devices, and they'd in all likelihood be destructive).

Good luck, and gutted about the Lifeproof not being life-proof. I know it's no consolation now, but $1.99 per month for 50GB iCloud storage makes pretty good sense - photos and videos automatically backed up to iCloud.

Steve53

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2390796 13-Jan-2020 09:26

Thanks everyone - just as an aside - any kind Cloud backup is of course a great asset and recommended, but absolutely no good at all where cell coverage/internet isn't available.

Out in the wilds of the central and lower North Island (and in many parts of NZ), there is little or no coverage, and so thats why the files we lost were not uploaded. She backed up everything whenever the option was available. She also took the precaution of upgrading her Dropbox storage to ensure a secondary backup, but again, cloud services are great, but not to be relied on solely in circumstances like this, and waterproof external backup options are very expensive and too heaviy for hikers looking to keep weight to a minimum.

If the LifeProof case had performed as per the info on their website (https://www.lifeproof.com/en-us/iphone-6s-plus-cases -#1 Selling waterproof case), the phone would have been OK, but a small defect in the case, which wasn't noticed at the time of fitting, caused this problem. I'm sure they would replace the case because of the defect, but I very much doubt they will accept responsibility for the damage caused as a result. I intend to email them this morning.

Appreciate the info guys.

I'll also be contacting Data Services and a couple of others here in NZ, shortly.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2390809 13-Jan-2020 09:55

Steve53:

Thanks everyone - just as an aside - any kind Cloud backup is of course a great asset and recommended, but absolutely no good at all where cell coverage/internet isn't available.

Out in the wilds of the central and lower North Island (and in many parts of NZ), there is little or no coverage, and so thats why the files we lost were not uploaded. She backed up everything whenever the option was available. She also took the precaution of upgrading her Dropbox storage to ensure a secondary backup, but again, cloud services are great, but not to be relied on solely in circumstances like this, and waterproof external backup options are very expensive and too heaviy for hikers looking to keep weight to a minimum.

If the LifeProof case had performed as per the info on their website (https://www.lifeproof.com/en-us/iphone-6s-plus-cases -#1 Selling waterproof case), the phone would have been OK, but a small defect in the case, which wasn't noticed at the time of fitting, caused this problem. I'm sure they would replace the case because of the defect, but I very much doubt they will accept responsibility for the damage caused as a result. I intend to email them this morning.

Appreciate the info guys.

I'll also be contacting Data Services and a couple of others here in NZ, shortly.

I was going to say that, you beat me to it. First world town folk think that internet is an omnipresent entity. Unfortunately it's not.

Really sorry to hear the lifeproof case wasn't. Could you educate us what the defect was in case it may be of help to someone in the future?

Steve53

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2390859 13-Jan-2020 10:44

Sure . . . .

When we fitted the case, and tested it (in water) as per the instructions, all seemed good - unfortunately after the initial water test (during installation) looks like the inner seal moved (near the headphone jack) when we took it apart and installed the iphone. (Apologies, I said it was a defect in the case previously - in fact I meant the inner seal).

There's no way we could have known about this as it would seem reasonable to assume the seal was glued in place to prevent it moving and would stay put when we dis-assembled it after the test. Apparently it's only pressed into place, making it difficult to check when the whole thing is put back together with the phone inside.

Interestingly, Otter say their cases are not waterproof.