Eli5: How are phones waterproof even though the charging port terminals can be exposed to water and not short circuit them?
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Waterproof USB Type-C connectors leverage a rubber seal and a seamless housing to keep water out. These connectors should be rated for IPX8 water ingression performance (per IEC 60529).
Where the 8 in the IPX8 rating refers to the depth and length of time a device may remain underwater; in this case a device can survive for 30 minutes in a water depth of 1.5 meters.
The most common rating found in modern phones is IP68 where the 8 still pertains to same criteria but the 6 refers to the device also being dust proof.
The port should shut off the moment it detects moisture. This is done by chips isolating the port’s connections to the rest of the circuitry. An opto-isolator or optical isolator is a very popular isolating chip.
One way it can detect moisture is by detecting when one or multiple low voltage contacts on the port short to the ground contact or their voltages drop to almost 0volts.
When this happen, the device often warns the user that moisture has been detected and to disconnect or not charge the device. This is not so much for the safety of the device as the port is off at this point but because it does not know what the power source is. If the power source doesn’t have a waterproof rating, it may get damaged when connected to the wet port on your device.
Hope this helps understand or was it too much info?
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