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My iPhone 6s accidentally fell headfirst into the (clean) toilet water two days ago. It didn’t remain in the water for more than 1.5 seconds; I immediately took it out. I focused first on the charging port since my biggest fear was that it stopped working (which would prevent charging and back up), and unfortunately forgot to think about the earpiece grill (which actually was in the water longer than the charging port since the iPhone fell headfirst in the water).

About 10 hours later, I charged it and it worked. I tested the iPhone thoroughly and everything worked, except for two things:

  1. Apparently, the earpiece is damaged since during phone calls or while listening to voicemails, the sound intensity is always stuck on low (I can’t adjust the volume, but turning on and off the loudspeaker does work surprisingly). I’ve identified that replacing the earpiece would solve this issue, thanks to ChatGPT.

  2. Here is what I’m not sure about. The volume up button also stopped working, i.e., the volume down button works, and I can also adjust the volume “digitally” in the control center (I don’t know the name, but you can see it in this volume control image )

It’s really just the volume up button that doesn’t work anymore. What piece of hardware can I order from ifixit.com or any other phone hardware store to replace that? ChatGPT told me confusing information, so I prefer to ask.

I don’t know if it’s relevant to mention, but the power button (to turn the iPhone on or off) stopped working for about a day and a half, until it started working again about 15 hours ago.

So after some more analysis, the volume up button worked sometimes when the Ring/Silent switch was put on OFF. And when it did work, phone call volume could be adjusted without issue. However, when the Ring/Silent switch was put on ON, it didn't work. After asking Google Gemini, Claude AI, and ChatGPT, they all came to the conclusion that the upper component cable in the iPhone was damaged, which led to this behavior. So I ordered a new upper component cable, followed this iFixit guide, and after reassembling the phone, the issue disappeared. So my iPhone works again.

TL:DR
The upper component cable, a.k.a. audio control cable, apparently was somehow damaged by the water. Replacing it solved all issues. The earpiece was not faulty. First time in my life that I had to not only open a smartphone, but also completely disassemble it (since the cable is at the bottom of the phone) and reassemble it. And I managed to do all this without breaking anything, since the iPhone worked again flawlessly after reassembly. Yay! Thank you all for your help. And if someone in the future finds this post and has a similar issue, I would suggest replacing this cable before thinking about getting a new phone. I was on the verge of giving up and buying a new (refurbished) smartphone, and I attempted this repair out of desperation. Luckily, it worked, and I can keep using this phone for now.

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    Oh dear - water corrosion has potential to make things much worse so time is of the essence. Have you totally disassembled the phone to clean and properly dry everything before attempting to order parts? Commented Sep 7 at 22:38
  • @bmike I opened up the iPhone and everything seemed in order. Unfortunately it was also the first time that water damage happened to my phone so I didn't immediately know how to react. About 36 hours have passed since the incident before I opened the phone, so that's why I would suppose the damage is done by now. Next time I will act quicker (I also didn't have isopropyl alcohol at home on the moment, it happened late in the night) Commented Sep 7 at 22:50
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    Yes, but unless you take out the logic board and clean like indicated in the link above, it could still be wet… no worries, we don’t know what we don’t know and that’s why this site is awesome. To learn Commented Sep 8 at 0:18

1 Answer 1

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  1. Make a backup now
  2. Decide how much budget you can spend on this
  3. Open and clean with isopropyl if you decide to invest. You can see corrosion easily or post clear photos and ask us to help in a follow on question.
  4. Do not leave the phone charging overnight until you are sure it’s dry and no risk of shorting out the battery or misbehaving charge circuitry / wet battery.
  5. Once you have good photos of the internals and are sure there’s no remaining water, you can budget for buttons and parts that need replacing or get a quote from a pro (who likely can charge flat rate for parts they stock).

Good luck! This is a solid opportunity to learn some skills, maybe save money and reduce waste with a DIY or professional repair.

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  • Thank you for your detailed answer I accepted and upvoted it. I wasn’t at home so couldn’t open the smartphone again but I noticed that when I plug in headphones the issue doesn’t disappear. I.e. I thought initially that the issue is the earpiece but now checking with headphones the issue remains, the sound intensity for phone calls and voicemails is always the same (but no issue at all for YouTube videos) even with headphones. Do you agree that in that case, the issue is with the Audio IC? This complicates thing, I was so sure the issue comes from the earpiece but apparently it’s more complex Commented Sep 8 at 12:12
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    Good troubleshooting. Do screen volume adjustments (software) and Bluetooth requested volume changes also fail on the phone? Commented Sep 8 at 12:22
  • Screen volume adjustment works with YouTube videos and music but not with phone or Whats App calls (or voicemails). I can slide it up and down but the volume does not change (or even disappear if I put it at zero). So it looks like the sound intensity is somehow stuck for phone calls. Turning loudspeaker on and off works with phone calls but again regardless the volume intensity is stuck. I don’t have any Bluetooth device near me currently. If it’s really the Audio IC this complicates things since this is soldered as opposed to a piece you could easily replace (like earpiece or flex cable). Commented Sep 8 at 12:46
  • sorry to disturb you but I need your input. I discovered that when I switch the physical Ring/Silent switch (the "button" that lies "higher" above the volume physical buttons) on ON, the volume up button doesn't work. HOWEVER when I switch it on OFF (so silent mode is OFF) the volume up button works for a few minutes (and then I need again to ON OFF the switch). During those few minutes when the volume up button does work, every time I use it, I get the notification "Silence mode OFF". Also the phone call volume does actually get adjusted when the volume up button works. Commented Sep 10 at 22:13
  • Does that mean that there is a short circuit between the volume up button and the Ring/Silent switch? I.e. somehow when silent mode is ON, the volume up button signal gets "drowned" into the Ring/Silent switch, and never reaches the logic board, while when it's OFF, somehow physically this allows the volume up button signal to reach the logic board? This would explain why I get a notification with "silent mode OFF" everytime I use the volume up button (during those minutes where it works), i.e. the water caused corrosion and a short circuit between those paths Commented Sep 10 at 22:16

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