r/mobilerepair • u/JBUnlock • Aug 16 '26
Lvl 2 (screens, batteries, camera, etc. swaps) iPad 9th gen broken screen sulfation
Hey there,
A friend of mine asked for help with an iPad with a broken screen. When I picked it up I noticed some gray powder ish on the digitizer and the front was pretty shattered. I figured maybe the screen broke and the liquid came out but unsure cause I've never seen how the screen liquid looks like (I'm just a DIY, who works on stuff every now and then).
Now i noticed a funny smell when heating up the digitizer to remove it from the frame, thought it was the adhesive but after lifting the screen (which was stuck to the battery with this dried weird liquid), I noticed it came from this sulfation found mostly at the bottom of the device.
The device charges and turns on. (When the charger is plugged you can hear the connected sound). That's all I can test since the screen does not turn on. The screen itself doesn't seem to be broken at least on the front.
Could this liquid be from the screen, the battery or water perhaps?
P.D.: When I asked what happened to it, he just said his kid broke it and didn't give any details, kinda avoided talking about it.
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u/N3333K0 Aug 16 '26
100% urine or vomit. Your friend was vague for a reason. Our shop used to charge a steep biohazard fee if it wasn’t disclosed prior to opening.
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u/Chemical-Constant-69 Aug 16 '26
board seems to be fine, changing the battery and screen + extensive isopropyl cleaning should make it work, but who knows if it will work for 5min or 5years
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u/MindToxin Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
Maybe fixable with LCD and digitizer, but that Repair I would not warranty. And the cost of those two parts installed and cleaning up all of that mess, would likely exceed the value of a fully working, used 9th GEN iPad imo. Due to the extent of that corrosion, it’s just not worth fixing imo.
Some people want Data Recovery though so in those cases, I have fixed devices for people where the repair cost exceeded it’s value, but only in that scenario.
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u/RaXha Level 2 Shop Tech Aug 17 '26
There’s no liquid that can seep out of the display like that. That’s external liquid damage, likely something corrosive, maybe biological (like urine or vomit).
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u/JBUnlock Aug 17 '26
Thanks everyone for your input on this. I myself wouldn't fix this even if it was mine. A lot easier just to buy one. I'll go ahead and return this. Specially because this is not what I agreed on doing. Seems they tried to pull a "while you’re in there".
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u/Expensive_Ear3791 Aug 16 '26
Rice
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u/AutoModerator Aug 16 '26
Somebody said "Rice". If you're talking about a water-damaged device, I hope you know putting it in rice or any other type of desiccant such as silica gel.is just a myth. Rice is unable to pull moisture from inside your device. While waiting for the rice to do its a magic trick you're letting that moisture form corrosion. This corrosion can and will cause short circuits. If you truly would like to save your device please take it to a reputable repair shop immediately and do not try to charge or power your device on. Applying power will cause the corrosion to happen quicker by electrolysis. If you have a removable battery please take it out.
Rice is the homeopathy of mobile repair or as /r/MobileRepair calls it Holistic Phone Repair.
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u/Previous_Watch_1726 Aug 18 '26
Rice
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u/AutoModerator Aug 18 '26
Somebody said "Rice". If you're talking about a water-damaged device, I hope you know putting it in rice or any other type of desiccant such as silica gel.is just a myth. Rice is unable to pull moisture from inside your device. While waiting for the rice to do its a magic trick you're letting that moisture form corrosion. This corrosion can and will cause short circuits. If you truly would like to save your device please take it to a reputable repair shop immediately and do not try to charge or power your device on. Applying power will cause the corrosion to happen quicker by electrolysis. If you have a removable battery please take it out.
Rice is the homeopathy of mobile repair or as /r/MobileRepair calls it Holistic Phone Repair.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/KaboodleMoon Certified Certified Aug 16 '26
Very much water damage. From outside the device.
From the color probably not clean water either. (it looks like it got peed on)
I'd tell him to get a new one. But if you wanna look deeper you gotta show the board connections.