If your phone or laptop has been in water, what you do in the next hour matters more than anything we can do later. Read the first section, then bring it to us. Liquid damage work starts at Rp 500,000 and diagnosis is free.
01 Do this right now
Turn it off and leave it off. Do not charge it. Do not plug it into anything. Power running through a wet board is what turns a recoverable device into a dead one.
- Power the device off immediately — don't wait to see if it still works.
- Don't plug in a charger or cable. This is the single most common way a survivable phone dies.
- Don't press keys or buttons repeatedly, and don't shake it — that moves liquid further in.
- If it's a MacBook, don't close the lid. Turn it upside down, like an open tent, so liquid drains away from the board.
- Skip the rice. It doesn't dry the inside of a device and adds starch and dust. It mainly wastes the hours that count.
- No hairdryers, no ovens, no direct sun. Heat pushes moisture deeper and can warp components.
- Bring it to us as soon as you can. Same day is good. Same hour is better.
02 Why speed matters so much
Water itself isn't usually what kills a device. Corrosion is. The moment liquid reaches the board, it starts reacting with the metal contacts, and that reaction continues for days or weeks — quietly, whether or not the device still seems to work.
This is why a phone can be dropped in a pool on Monday, appear fine on Tuesday, and be dead by Friday. The damage was progressing the whole time. A device cleaned within hours has a far better outlook than the same device brought in a week later, which is why we'd rather see it early even if it seems okay.
03 What it costs
Liquid damage work starts at Rp 500,000 (around US$31). The range is wider than for other repairs because we don't know what we're dealing with until the device is open — a quick clean on a freshly wet phone is a different job from board-level repair on one that sat in a drawer for two weeks.
Diagnosis is free, and we quote before we work. We open the device, assess the corrosion, and tell you what it needs and what it will cost. If it isn't economically worth saving, we'll say so plainly rather than run up a bill on a device that won't come back.
04 What we actually do
Liquid damage isn't a single repair — it's a process, and how far we go depends on what we find:
- Full disassembly and removal of the battery, to stop any power reaching the board.
- Ultrasonic cleaning of the logic board — this lifts corrosion and residue out of places no brush or cloth reaches.
- Component-level inspection under magnification to find damaged parts and burnt traces.
- Component-level soldering to replace individual failed components, rather than only swapping whole modules.
- Testing and reassembly, with replacement of any parts the liquid destroyed.
- Data recovery where the board can be brought back far enough to read the storage.
05 Being honest about outcomes
We'd rather tell you this before you hand the device over than after:
✓ What we can promise
- A free, honest assessment of what's survivable
- A quote before any paid work begins
- Proper ultrasonic and board-level treatment, not just drying
- A straight answer when a device isn't worth saving
✕ What we can't
- That every liquid-damaged device can be saved
- That a device working at collection will keep working
- The usual 30-day warranty — liquid work is excluded
- That data will always be recoverable
To be explicit: liquid damage repairs are carried out on a best-effort basis and are not covered by our 30-day warranty. Corrosion can keep progressing even after a successful clean, so no honest repairer can guarantee a liquid-damaged device long term. We tell you this clearly before starting, and you're quoted on that basis. The full terms are in section 04 of our warranty policy.
06 If it's the data you need, say so first
For a lot of people the phone is replaceable and the photos aren't. If that's you, tell us when you arrive — it changes how we approach the job. Recovering data and restoring a device to daily use aren't always the same path, and knowing which you care about lets us prioritise properly.
We offer data recovery from Rp 750,000 for damaged, water-affected and bricked devices — photos, documents and messages. It isn't guaranteed, but it's often possible even when the device will never run reliably again.
07 Seawater, pool water and Bali specifics
Not all liquid is equal, and living here you'll mostly meet the worst kinds:
- Seawater is the most aggressive. Salt is highly conductive and corrodes fast. A phone in the sea at Batu Bolong needs attention in hours, not days.
- Pool water contains chlorine, which is also corrosive, though generally less brutal than salt.
- Rain and humidity damage is real. Wet season riding with a phone mounted on the handlebars, or a laptop left in a damp room, causes slow corrosion that shows up weeks later.
- Sweat and sunscreen get into charging ports more often than people expect, especially on daily beach trips.
If your device went into the sea, don't wait to see how it behaves. That's the case where the difference between an hour and a day genuinely decides the outcome.
08 Common questions
My phone still works after getting wet. Do I need anything done?
Ideally yes. Corrosion continues invisibly, and devices that seem fine often fail days or weeks later. A clean now is far cheaper than board repair later.
Does rice work?
No. It doesn't reach moisture inside a sealed device, and it adds dust and starch. The time spent waiting on rice is time corrosion is spreading.
How much does water damage repair cost in Bali?
From Rp 500,000 at our Canggu store, depending on what we find. Diagnosis is free and you're quoted before any paid work.
Can you recover my photos if the phone is dead?
Often, but never guaranteed. Data recovery starts at Rp 750,000. Tell us data is the priority when you arrive.
Why isn't liquid damage covered by your 30-day warranty?
Because corrosion is progressive and unpredictable — it can continue after a successful clean. We'd rather exclude it honestly than promise cover we couldn't stand behind.
My iPhone is water resistant. Doesn't that protect it?
Water resistance degrades with age, drops and previous repairs, and it was never rated for salt water or pressure. Treat a water-resistant phone that's been submerged the same as any other.
09 Find us
iAm Store Bali
Jl. Raya Canggu 101x, Kerobokan Kaja, Canggu, Bali, Indonesia
Open Monday–Saturday, 9:00–20:00 · Closed Sunday
Phone / WhatsApp: +62 819-9943-0835
Email: iamstorebali@gmail.com
Open in Google Maps — on the main Canggu road, easy from Berawa, Batu Bolong, Pererenan and Seminyak.
Phone in the water?
Turn it off, don't charge it, message us now. The next hour matters.