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pennzeno

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 26, 2011
2
0
On Sunday, a little bit of gatorade was spilled on my iPod classic. The iPod was not submerged in water and was only partially wet. As soon as I could, (about an hour later) I put the iPod in a bowl of rice to dry out. I only now took it out and it does not work. The iPod is now back in the rice, as I have read that it should be in rice for about 5-7 days.

Both sensors in the dock and headphone jack appear to be normal and do not show signs of pink. What do you suggest I do? Is it worth it to wait it out and see if the iPod shows signs of working in the next few days? Do I take it to the Apple store? (I am aware that I am not covered under the warranty since this was an accident).

I have also read about iPod specialists such as methodshop.com and rapidrepair.com that can supposedly repair water damaged iPods. Is this worth trying?

Basically, I am looking for the cheapest way to have a working iPod again. Any suggestions?
 

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,957
46,414
In a coffee shop.
Firstly, your thread title is somewhat misleading. This is not about the iPod classic, it's past, future, or function. Rather, this is one of those self-inflicted bizarre disaster threads (the :"I spilt beer/tea/coffee/coke, or left my iPod in my jeans pocket when it went into the wash, or, I dropped it where I shouldn't have, or dropped it in the sink, or my gf knocked over a glass of water, or, or,......"), not a thread about the Classic iPod.

Secondly, while I am constantly amazed at the sheer variety of accidental deaths experienced by iPods (and iPhones) on these fora, I am even more surprised at the (perhaps understandable) impatience of those who - however inadvertently - spill liquids on their devices.

So, a bowl of rice (changed every few days as rice absorbs liquid, and dry rice ifs better to absorb the liquid residue that is undoubtedly still being absorbed in your iPod) is a good place to leave a water damaged iPod for at least a week, preferably. Do not, under any circumstances, turn the thing on during this time, not to look, not to peek, not to test or try out to see if it works. It will not. This is because it will not have dried out fully, and, if you switch it on, the power surge will - on account of the still damp interior - fry what is left of the internal electronics of your iPod.

If, after the best part of a fortnight, your now dried out iPod will not respond to the "on" switch, it may be time to consider buying a new one.

Cheers
 

Inopia-Vi

macrumors regular
Jul 20, 2011
165
0
Lost in space
You try charging the iPod? Maybe battery is dead. A splash of Gatorade isn't going (shouldn't!) kill an iPod.

Charging it may cause a surge at the same level as turning it on. Your best luck is to bring it to apple... but a repair is 129$ and you can find those iPod Classic on Kijiji or Craiglist below that price...
 

iEvolution

macrumors 65816
Jul 11, 2008
1,432
2
Wait it out as long as you can, I had a 2nd gen nano that went through the wash I actually only waited about 3 days without rice and it worked fine, continued to work for about 2 years after too until I sold it.

So liquid doesn't automatically mean destruction, you are doing the right thing by keeping it off. I'm willing to bet it works again.
 

pennzeno

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 26, 2011
2
0
Thanks for the help. I've actually left it in rice for over a month at this point. When I hook up the iPod to my computer the apple screen flashes... where do I go from here?
 

zachlegomaniac

macrumors 6502a
Sep 20, 2008
806
370
Dropped my iPhone 4 in a water feature while climbing a tree to prune it for work. Employee plucked it out within 5 seconds. Riced it up and I was talking on a starchy iPhone in no time. If that doesn't work then I would definitely just buy a new one. If it's old school and you love it just find a third party place to fix it near you (although they can be expensive).
 
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