Hi folks,
I am not sure what happened here but I was handed an iPhone 6 from a friend who was no longer using it and reported "damage" to the screen and strange behaviour (see below). I believe he had it off for months, perhaps longer, as latest photos/emails were very old (like 2017). It wasn't being used, dead battery. I charged it up for a few hours, turned it on and noticed what he was telling us about the screen:
1. touch-screen acting strange, not tracking properly
2. a couple of vertical lines on the screen (around the same area to the side of home-button)
3. friend said his wife used the phone when fingers sometimes wet and believes water got into the home button area
So the screen looks a bit like these pictures below but not exactly (I didn't manage to get a photo of it but these are similar):
So anyways... it was to the side of the home button, going vertically upwards. It was affecting the TOUCH *as well as* the display, as when I tracked my finger across the vertical line it would stop tracking (hence the strange jittery screen behaviour). Also, the KEYBOARD that would pop up would have the letters U H and B sitting under that area, and I could NOT TYPE THOSE LETTERS (I could see them under the vertical lines but touch unresponsive along that vertical)!
So I got out my phone repair kit, opened up the penta screws on the bottom of the phone and suction-cup on the screen and pried the phone open. Inspected the inside, all looked good. I could not see anything wrong in there physically. I tried to wipe or clean the edge of the screen next to that area (I figured it was something near the home button as my friend said water might have gotten in to the home button). Nothing obvious. So I closed it back up....
PROBLEM STILL THERE (this was last night).
Was looking on eBay for a replacement screen this morning, they are cheap... $15. It sounded like both screen and touch layer were messed up, probably shorted or water-damaged along the vertical and it coincided with the home button so I assumed water got in and worked it's way into the edge there and caused the issue along that vertical line.
To my astonishment, not less than 24 hours later.... as I'm about to click the order button on eBay for a new screen, the vertical line started to get more and more faint.
I started to type and I was actually able to type U, H and B, it no longer jittered as I dragged my finger across that vertical line. I waited another hour, had another look, the line was FAINTER (but still noticeable). Waited another hour, looked at the screen.... I CANNOT FIND THE LINE AT ALL!
I don't get it! Did me opening the phone somehow dry it out? I had it open for 20 minutes tops, I removed a few screws over the home button and placed them back after seeing nothing obvious.... and the phone was STILL MESSED UP when I closed it up again last night. This morning it was STILL showing signs of the lines. How the heck did it all of a sudden in a few hours just recover without me doing anything?
I could understand if it quickly improved after opening (perhaps water was in there since 2017 and never had a chance to evaporate since the phone and home button plate were still screwed on).... or gradually improve a bit each hour after opening (although I would guess that putting everything back and sealing up the phone would stop the evaporation). There was NO CHANGE while I had it open and after I closed it up, and NO CHANGE for at least another 10 hours (the next morning) when I checked again. Then in the blink of a few hours it just cleared up fully just sitting on my desk? Magical healing properties?
Not technically a repair posting, but just wanted to share what happened as I was just about to dive in.... My repair attempt got thwarted by Murphy!