When your iPhone’s charging port gets wet, you may see a warning saying “Liquid has been detected.” Maybe it fell into water, you accidentally spilled a drink on it, or you plugged in a charging cable with a wet connector. Your iPhone will refuse to charge saying “Charging Not Available” until it is satisfied that the port is dry. If you unplug the cable and plug it back in, you’ll see an emergency replacement option to continue charging regardless. However, it is possible that it could damage your phone.
Your iPhone is called a smartphone for a reason. He’s “smart” enough to know when something is wrong and do whatever it takes to protect himself from permanent damage. When it detects liquid on the charging port, it will stop charging to prevent corrosion of the charging pins. Once the pins corrode, the charging port may stop working or you may experience connection issues. It also does this to prevent the port from shorting out, which could damage components on your iPhone’s motherboard.
Apple includes this option because you will sometimes need to charge your iPhone in an emergency. So use it only when you really need to use the emergency functions of the iPhone, knowing fully the consequences. Sometimes the warning may even appear due to a bug. So if you are reasonably sure that no liquid has touched the charging port, go ahead and do the override.
What to do and what not to do
If you have confirmed that a liquid is causing the warning to appear, unplug the charger immediately. Hold your phone upright and gently tap it against your hand to let some of the liquid out of the port. If it was just a small spill, let the port dry for 30 minutes in a well-ventilated room before trying again. If your iPhone has been completely submerged, wipe up as much water as possible with a towel and leave it for at least two to five hours. If you just want to be safe, leave it for 12 hours. Meanwhile, don’t try to dry it in rice. Not only does it not work, but the small particles of rice can also damage your iPhone.
If you want to speed up the drying process, you can use a fan. Just make sure the fan is blowing cool air at an angle and the phone is away to avoid pushing moisture into the iPhone. Don’t use anything that generates heat like a hairdryer or heater, as this could damage the phone’s delicate internal components. You can still charge your phone using a wireless charger, but be aware that this will generate a bit more heat than wired charging because wireless charging is inefficient. Fortunately, this won’t affect the long-term health of your iPhone battery if you do it this way from time to time.
