iPhone Wifi Receiver Replacement

Knut

Knut

New Member
Hey Guys,

Basically, I dropped my iPhone 4 in Water, which seemed quite bad at the time, but I dried it up and it seemed to work decently for the rest of the day. Everything except for my Wifi was working fine. I can still get wifi, but only sometimes, and I have to be standing right next to the router.

My question is: Is there anything I could do to make this better?

And Also; If I have to replace the Wifi Reciever, could I use a receiver from an iPhone 3G?

Thanks in advance.
 
You need to let the phone dry for a few days. Put the phone in a bag of rice and the rice will absorb the moisture. But I doubt you will be able to just switch out wireless.
 
Sorry but I forgot to mention, I got the phone wet on Monday, so I doubt there is still water in there, or do you still think there is some?
 
Still could be wet inside especially if you didn't let it dry thoroughly and you used it the same day.
 
Ok wait, Should I take of the back of the phone, then put it in a bag of rice for 2-3 days, or keep the bag on?
 
take it apart if ya can and lay it aside. take out the battery. leave it alone. might and likely have water trapped. put in the sun for a while if possible. If its working now then don't use until dry. leave it alone.
 
Tell me if I understood you:

Open it up, put the battery in the Sun, then take the rest of the Phone, put that in a bag of rice and leave it there for a couple of days?
 
not the battery. the phone. out there with you. don't have to leave out there. working in the garage or cutting lawn. that works. let it dry. take back in when not there. that will work.
 
I already did the thing where you put it in the oven for a little while at a low temperature, was that a bad idea?
 
Electronics don't take too well to water. Not sure how long it was in the water or if it was fully immersed. You shouldn't even have used it, remove the battery and put it in a bag a rice for a couple days. Most likely its trashed now but you may get lucky.
 
thats a new one john. Bag of rice. One thing though. Isn't rice as hard as a rock with out being cooked. never cooked before. at least for 44 yrs next month.
 
I dont ven have the screwdrivers to take it apart. :(The wifi is literally completely broken now, I guess Ill have to get a new part or a new phone. Thanks for the help anyway :)
 
Ideally take it to someplace that services iPhones. The rice trick is good if you don't have any other options, but it's not guaranteed to get all the moisture out. Moisture can definitely last a few days inside a phone and it will cause corrosion over time that may result in your phone failing days after it got wet. At this point though (a week after) it probably won't make any difference.

If you want to try servicing it yourself, the WiFi antenna isn't too hard to get to (on the 4 anyway, the 4S is another story). You'll need what's called a pentalobe screwdriver to take off the back. This guide shows you where the wifi antenna is and how to remove it. It's just a metal shield that sits on top of a board. It's mostly black, but there will be a couple of gold colored spots on the underside, that is where it connects to the board and it's possible this area got wet and is corroded. If so clean it with some rubbing alcohol, put it back together and give it a try.
 
The actual wifi adapter is part of the motherboard and is basically impossible to repair. Luckily, since you still get signal right next to your router that means that the wifi adapter probably isn't damaged and is just having an issue using it's antenna which is the metal shield that the guide I linked shows you how to remove. The antenna is just a piece of metal so you don't need to replace it, just clean it off.

And that kit you linked is fine, but all you're going to need is the pentalobe screwdriver and a small phillips screw driver. You should only be taking out a total of about 7 screws (two for the back cover, five for the antenna) and won't be using the pry tools at all.
 
I'll say this too, underneath the shield/antenna there are several cables attached to the main board. These cables have many small pins where they connect, and if they got wet they could have corroded and become brittle. You'll want to avoid unplugging these cables because you could permanently damage them if they did get wet.
 
Ok, I'll take it apart, clean the metal contact points and the entire shield, then put it back together, how small does the Philips Scredriver have to be? I have something which is part of a small screwdriver kit, could that work?
 
The Phillips screws inside about a little smaller than the pentalobe screws on the outside. I use a size 000 Phillips screwdriver.
 
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