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My wife spilled her chocolate wine on my iPhone. I immediately cleaned it off and allowed it to sit in a bag of rice for a day. Now everything works, except that the earpiece speaker is very very quiet. I’ve disassembled the phone and noticed that the and liquid sensor/sticker is still white. There are several red dots on the earpiece speaker. Are those also liquid detection stickers or are they supposed to be red? I’ve also looked at logic board and ribbons and detect no signs of liquid exposure(no dried wine that I can see). What should be my next step? Is there a way to clean the speaker? Or do I just need to replace it?
Be careful about using compressed air and desiccants. I’ve repaired two iPhones with the same issue by using a sonic toothbrush to shake the moisture and dirt from the earpiece. Simply place the bristles directly on the earpiece grate and turn the toothbrush on high for a few minutes. It will dislodge all the buildup and your phone will be as good as new. One of my phones had been submerged in a sink for about 10 seconds and this fixed the issue while compressed air and desiccant had no effect. Update (12/09/2011) Bryan’s solution, the sonic toothbrush (I simply used a mechanical one) actually worked! I cannot even believe it, my jaw just hit the floor. THANKS BRYAN! (still stunned this worked…. I thought, there was no way)
I had the same issue with my iphone 4. One day the volume seemed low and muffled. The sound was fine with an external headset or blue tooth so I knew it had to be in the speaker. In my case I think pocket lint and dirt ended up clogging the ear piece. I used my air compressor and about 90 psi of pressure and blew out the ear piece, speakers on the bottom, and the headphone jack. I was surprised at how much dust came out. Since then the phone has been like new. Just make sure that your compressor doesn’t have any condensation in it. In my case I actually blew a little moisture out from the speaker area. It was hot here one day and I was using the phone. I believe my sweat and lint may have been the issue. Hope this helps someone else.
My phone fell in the toilet…. yet it stayed on, the only issue i noticed was the ear piece speaker volume became really low..i managed to fix it by simply using an airfloss. I placed the air floss directly on the earpiece grate an give it a couple of puffs(blows).. it did the job..(just make sure the air floss is completely dry before using)
My phone was doing the same thing and it’s never been wet or dusty but the AT&t store replaced the sim card and now the sound level is back to new
HELLO! i had the same problem! only i spilled sesame salad dressing on my phone and it dried. I thought of sewing Buffalo Wild Wings but instead i googled many different ways to clean my iphone. what i did (and it worked after a few minutes of cleaning) i cut off the tips of Q-Tips leaving about a centimeter of the cotton on the stick. then i sprayed it with windex and the edge of the Q-tip in the ear peace then took an electric tooth brush and ran it on my speaker however i called and it was still pretty bad, then i resorted to using rubbing alcohol (dries fast) i did the same process but did it a few times at the end i used a regular tooth brush as well. I AM PROUD TO SAY I CAN HEAR MY MOM CALL ME NOW!! ….well kind of proud ;D
I had a friend spill a shot of fire whiskey on my phone and it went right into the ear piece. After having to use speaker phone for about a week and hearing about repair costs from $50 to $200…I got fed up and used one of those little alcoholic swab napkins you find in a first-aid kit along with a toothpick and scrubbed away. I did avoid not getting a lot of alcohol in and along with the toothpick I was able to get the ear piece working. To this day I have a habit of putting my iPhone face down :-)
2018 and the toothbrush thing worked for me. Thanks a mil
I poured boiling water on my phone while pouring some tea, I popped it in rice,,tip…Wrap your phone in thin tights before you plunge in rice. I got a grain of rice stuck in my charger port that I had to poke out with a pin…plus there is dust in rice. Anyway Im impatient after 20 mins it didn’t work so used the toothbrush and it worked. Must get clogged from time to time. I just used a soft tooth brush and gave it a good scrub speaker facing down
