---
title: "Sources — Every Technical Claim on This Site, Referenced"
description: "The full reference list behind this site: manufacturer documentation, published standards and established physical constants, with what each one is cited for."
url: https://fixmyspeaker.me/sources/
updated: 2026-09-14
---

# Sources

Written and maintained by [Muhammad Usama](https://fixmyspeaker.me/author/muhammad-usama/) · Last checked: 2026-09-14

Every technical claim on this site traces to one of the references below. If a statement here cannot be traced to a primary source, it is labelled in the text as convention, inference or estimate rather than presented as fact.

**What counts as a primary source here:** manufacturer documentation, a published standard, a government or intergovernmental health body, or an established physical constant. Blog posts, other speaker-cleaning sites and unattributed statistics do not qualify and are not cited.

## Manufacturer documentation

1.  [If you see a liquid-detection alert on your iPhone](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102643) Apple Support · HT102643 Cited for: not using rice, external heat or compressed air; not inserting objects into ports; tapping the device with the port facing down; waiting before reconnecting power.
2.  [How to use Water Lock and eject water from your Apple Watch](https://support.apple.com/en-us/108352) Apple Support · HT108352 Cited for: sound-based water ejection existing as a shipping manufacturer feature, and for the Apple Watch clearing its speaker with a series of tones.

## Published standards

1.  [IEC 60529 — Degrees of protection provided by enclosures (IP Code)](https://www.iec.ch/publications/iec-60529) International Electrotechnical Commission · IEC 60529 Cited for: IP67 being defined as immersion at one metre for thirty minutes, and IP68 having no single universal condition — depth and duration are declared by the manufacturer.
2.  [Web Audio API specification](https://www.w3.org/TR/webaudio/) W3C · W3C Web Audio Cited for: how tones are synthesised locally in the browser, and why no audio file is downloaded.

## Hearing safety

1.  [Understand Noise Exposure — recommended exposure limit 85 dBA over 8 hours](https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/noise/prevent/understand.html) US CDC / NIOSH · NIOSH REL Cited for: the recommended exposure limit of 85 dBA averaged over eight hours, and the 3 dBA exchange rate that halves safe duration for every 3 dBA increase.
2.  [Deafness and hearing loss: Safe listening](https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/deafness-and-hearing-loss-safe-listening) World Health Organization · WHO Cited for: sound levels below 80 dB being unlikely to cause hearing damage.

## Physical constants

These are standard reference values rather than any one publication. They are stated here so a reader can check our arithmetic:

| Quantity | Value used | Used for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Density of water (20 °C) | ≈997 kg/m³ | The ~830× density ratio against air |
| Density of air (20 °C, sea level) | ≈1.2 kg/m³ | Same |
| Surface tension of water (20 °C) | ≈72 mN/m | The force a tone has to overcome at the grille |
| Excursion vs frequency | ∝ 1/f² at constant SPL | Why low tones move the diaphragm further |

## Claims we deliberately do not make

Being explicit about this is part of the point. The following appear routinely on competing sites and are absent here because we cannot source them:

-   **Success-rate percentages.** We have run no trials, so we quote no figures.
-   **Device-count claims** such as "tested on 47 models". We have not done this.
-   **"165 Hz is the resonant frequency of phone speakers."** Resonance varies by model; no single figure describes all of them.
-   **Cumulative usage statistics** such as "2 million devices cleaned". We collect no analytics, so we could not know this even if we wanted to.
-   **Any medical or repair-outcome guarantee.**

## Corrections

If a source here has moved, been superseded, or does not say what we claim it says, tell us at [our contact address](https://fixmyspeaker.me/contact/) and we will correct the page. Our [editorial policy](https://fixmyspeaker.me/editorial-policy/) sets out how that process works, and [how this works](https://fixmyspeaker.me/methodology/) explains which claims are established physics and which are convention.

Last checked: 2026-09-14