Dropped your phone in water? Do this immediately — not that

Dropped your phone in the pool, the bath, or — as happens surprisingly often in Malta — the sea? Water damage does not have to mean a dead device. Sigma Mobiles offers professional water damage recovery in Malta, using ultrasonic cleaning and corrosion removal techniques that give your phone the best possible chance of survival.

What you do in the first few minutes after water exposure makes all the difference. Power the phone off immediately. Do not test if it still works. Do not plug it in to charge. And absolutely do not put it in rice — the rice myth has been thoroughly debunked. Rice dust gets into ports, rice absorbs moisture too slowly to help, and the hours spent waiting give corrosion time to spread. Power off, wipe the exterior dry, remove the SIM tray, and bring it to our Hamrun workshop.

Salt water vs fresh water: why Malta matters

A phone dropped in the Mediterranean at St. Julian’s or Golden Bay faces a far worse prognosis than one dropped in tap water. Salt water is highly conductive and leaves behind corrosive crystal deposits that continue eating away at copper traces and solder joints for days or weeks after the phone appears dry. Ultrasonic cleaning is not optional for seawater exposure — it is essential. Fresh water (tap water, pool water without high chlorine) is more forgiving but still requires proper drying and inspection.

Our water damage recovery process

Immediate teardown: We open the device and disconnect the battery to stop any electrochemical corrosion in progress.
Microscope inspection: Every connector, chip, and trace is examined for visible corrosion. We identify which areas are affected and assess severity.
Ultrasonic cleaning: The logic board goes into an ultrasonic bath that agitates a specialised cleaning solution at 40kHz — reaching under BGA chips and inside connectors where a brush cannot reach. The solution dissolves salt crystals and mineral deposits.
Controlled drying: The board is dried at a controlled temperature to evaporate all residual moisture without warping components.
Reassembly and testing: We reassemble the phone and run a full functional test — display, touch, cameras, speakers, microphones, charging, wireless, and biometrics.

Success rates and honest assessment

Water damage recovery success depends on: how long the phone was submerged, whether it was salt or fresh water, whether it was powered on when wet, and whether anyone attempted to charge it afterwards. A phone briefly splashed with fresh water and immediately powered off has an excellent prognosis (80%+ recovery). A phone that spent 20 minutes in seawater while powered on and was then plugged into a charger has a much lower chance. We give you an honest assessment after the diagnostic — if the damage is terminal, we will not charge for unnecessary work.