# If your phone fell in water, put it in...different water?

I went down the electronics repair rabbit hole tonight. I was first pulled in by Joey Does Tech's fascinating, surgery-like repairs (opens new window) under a microscope.

Then, I got curious about learning to do repairs myself and clicked on iFixit's Microsoldering 101: Water Damage and Corrosion (opens new window) video. As the commenters attest, Jessa Jones explains repairing water damaged electronics in a very articulate, yet engaging, and no-nonsense manner in this video.

The tidbit of knowledge she shared that really tickled my brain was this: if a device of yours was in contact with water, don't put it in rice. Ideally, you should put it in isopropyl alcohol, or even, distilled water, instead.

In my brain, wet equals bad for electronics. So, putting electronics in any kind of liquid makes me feel a little uncomfortable, but their (expert) reasoning, makes sense (to me, the complete electronics noob). The damage that water does to electronics isn't as a result of the wetness. Rather, the impurities in the water cause the corrosion (opens new window) (i.e. damage) on electronics.

# Bonus link

If you're interested in watching more electronics repairs, this (opens new window) video by TronixFix (opens new window) where he repairs Pokemon Gameboy games, some of which had corrosion, is a fun one!