Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Yep, I'm the guy who just washed his new iPhone 5 in the washing machine.

F

flosswell19

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 28, 2012
6
0
Super load, warm/cold, heavy wash. Tide.

This is what my 2 week old iPhone 5 has just endured. I took my wet clothes out only to witness to the sheer horror that was sitting helplessly at the bottom of my washing machine. :eek:

That was this morning. I put a load of clothes in before I went to bed, so it had been washed and sitting there for around 7 hours. I have a Commuter Otterbox case, which may be it's only hope for survival. Other than a small amount of moisture around the camera lens, I really couldn't see any damage on the outside. Once I was done screaming obscenities, off came the case and it went straight into a sealed tupperware of rice. I didn't try to turn it on or press anything. The battery probably would have been dead by this time anyways, it was low last night.

Everything I've read from people with similar water damage experiences say to be patient, which is exactly what I plan to do. I'll give it a shot in a few days. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I admit, I've done some pretty stupid things to my phones before... but this takes the cake. I'll post an update soon, if anyone cares.
 
B

bhigh8

macrumors 6502
Sep 23, 2012
421
3
flosswell19 said:
Super load, warm/cold, heavy wash. Tide.

This is what my 2 week old iPhone 5 has just endured. I took my wet clothes out only to witness to the sheer horror that was sitting helplessly at the bottom of my washing machine. :eek:

That was this morning. I put a load of clothes in before I went to bed, so it had been washed and sitting there for around 7 hours. I have a Commuter Otterbox case, which may be it's only hope for survival. Other than a small amount of moisture around the camera lens, I really couldn't see any damage on the outside. Once I was done screaming obscenities, off came the case and it went straight into a sealed tupperware of rice. I didn't try to turn it on or press anything. The battery probably would have been dead by this time anyways, it was low last night.

Everything I've read from people with similar water damage experiences say to be patient, which is exactly what I plan to do. I'll give it a shot in a few days. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I admit, I've done some pretty stupid things to my phones before... but this takes the cake. I'll post an update soon, if anyone cares.
Click to expand...

Wow!! good luck.
 
mattroman246

mattroman246

macrumors 6502
Mar 19, 2009
488
4
Upstate NY
that sucks man, i feel for ya. I once knocked a glass of ice tea all over my brand new macbook keyboard. totally fried it. Anyways, good luck and worse case scenario $229 for an out of warranty replacement. Could be a lot worse
 
j.dstasio

j.dstasio

macrumors 6502
Jun 9, 2009
333
10
South Jersey
I'd pop the display off in order to get the most from the rice's moisture absorption. The front glass& LCD lifts off similar to the 3G & 3GS did. All you need to do is remove the two pentalobe screws at the bottom near the lightning connector & use a small suction cup to remove it. Doing this will expose the battery & logic board.

If you don't have a pentalobe screw driver check a local repair shop that would probably give you one.
 
spork183

spork183

macrumors 6502a
Jul 30, 2006
878
0
Forget the important stuff like "does it work". I want to know, "Did it Bend?" :D
 
F

flosswell19

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 28, 2012
6
0
j.dstasio said:
I'd pop the display off in order to get the most from the rice's moisture absorption. The front glass& LCD lifts off similar to the 3G & 3GS did. All you need to do is remove the two pentalobe screws at the bottom near the lightning connector & use a small suction cup to remove it. Doing this will expose the battery & logic board.

If you don't have a pentalobe screw driver check a local repair shop that would probably give you one.
Click to expand...

Good call! I'll try that.
Thanks guys
 
E

eab191

macrumors newbie
Jun 3, 2011
23
0
emergency water damage kit radioshack

That sucks! im sorry that happened to youre brand new iphone 5.

The other day i was at radioshack actually returning a samsung galaxy s3 so i could get the iphone 5 instead..they sell an emergency water damage kit for only 5 bucks!

the rice is tried and true, but i would give this a shot, for only 5 bucks you cant go wrong and it might just be what your new iphone needs. Hope this helps! good luck
 
Learylvr.

Learylvr.

macrumors regular
Nov 18, 2011
202
3
Do you have Apple care+? My daughter did the same thing, hers was in a otter box as well. Didn't try the rice thing, just got a replacement a couple of hours later for $49 since she had AppleCare +
Good luck, accidents happen...
 
Rory Manton

Rory Manton

macrumors 6502
Dec 13, 2005
250
9
Yeovil Somerset
Sorry to hear of your loss, I hope it gets better soon .

I must say what a refreshing change to have a post about damaging a phone and then not blaming it on poor build quality, software or after market equipment but on good old stupidity.

Hats off to you Sir:D

( Just put mine in a Griffin Survivor to help alleviate operator stupidity and clumsiness!)
 
vastoholic

vastoholic

macrumors 68000
Jan 28, 2009
1,957
1
Tulsa, OK
The worst I've done was swimming at a friends house and ran and jumped right in with my phone in my pocket (thankfully this was before iPhone but still). I remember my brain visualizing my phone in my pocket just as my body was touching the water. :( As soon as I came up for air I was yelling at myself. I didn't try to get it to work after that. I decided I'd rather find out what a 3 wood would do to a flip phone on the driving range.


OH OH OH! I almost forgot, luisadastwin reminded me, another older phone took a dip in a toilet at a restaurant. I had my phone in a pocket of a light jacket that was zipped up. I lifted it up a bit to do my business and I guess I was either standing way too close or it bounced off my arm (don't remember) but thankfully I hadn't started going yet.
 
Last edited:
F

flosswell19

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 28, 2012
6
0
Rory Manton said:
Sorry to hear of your loss, I hope it gets better soon .

I must say what a refreshing change to have a post about damaging a phone and then not blaming it on poor build quality, software or after market equipment but on good old stupidity.

Hats off to you Sir:D

( Just put mine in a Griffin Survivor to help alleviate operator stupidity and clumsiness!)
Click to expand...


Aaaaaaaaand dead.
Who woulda guessed??

I'd like to take this time to blame this unfortunate loss not on ignorance or washing machines, but on poor build quality, software or after market equipment. Apple really seems to be losing their focus on putting out a decent product. :D

After 3 days in the rice ICU, I tried to power on, then plug in and power on, but it was completely fried and I got nothing. I didn't end up taking the display off, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have mattered.

I sucked it up and took it to the Apple Store, where I dropped 229+50 for a replacement phone and Apple Care (they taunt you for not buying it before by now offering it for half price). They took a look at it and told me that it was completely dry, which is a good testament to the rice bath, but that the processor was completely fried and even had burn marks all around the interior components. It was basically reduced to a very clean, very dead, paperweight. Pretty likely that it was a goner long before it ever hit the rice to dry out. Maybe I lacked patience, but I was also fairly certain that this was the case, which is why I didn't bother with any professional repair services.

Moral of the story??
Check your damn pockets when it's laundry time. You might find something a little more valuable than a crumpled 5$.

Thanks for all the feedback! :)
 
GoCubsGo

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
flosswell19 said:
Aaaaaaaaand dead.
Who woulda guessed??

I'd like to take this time to blame this unfortunate loss not on ignorance or washing machines, but on poor build quality, software or after market equipment. Apple really seems to be losing their focus on putting out a decent product. :D
Click to expand...
You're not serious, right? Apple should be making a waterproof phone now?
Sucks about your phone but you own this mistake, not Apple.
 
F

flosswell19

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 28, 2012
6
0
jessica. said:
You're not serious, right? Apple should be making a waterproof phone now?
Sucks about your phone but you own this mistake, not Apple.
Click to expand...

Of course I'm serious!!

It's 2012, phones should be able to withstand washing machines, blenders, trash compactors, drops from airplanes, unprotected scuba dives, predator missles, and bear attacks

(sorry for the sarcasm, couldn't help myself :D. I know I'm an idiot, only joking....)
 
sagejyoung

sagejyoung

macrumors newbie
Dec 1, 2012
8
0
flosswell19 said:
Super load, warm/cold, heavy wash. Tide.

This is what my 2 week old iPhone 5 has just endured. I took my wet clothes out only to witness to the sheer horror that was sitting helplessly at the bottom of my washing machine. :eek:

That was this morning. I put a load of clothes in before I went to bed, so it had been washed and sitting there for around 7 hours. I have a Commuter Otterbox case, which may be it's only hope for survival. Other than a small amount of moisture around the camera lens, I really couldn't see any damage on the outside. Once I was done screaming obscenities, off came the case and it went straight into a sealed tupperware of rice. I didn't try to turn it on or press anything. The battery probably would have been dead by this time anyways, it was low last night.

Everything I've read from people with similar water damage experiences say to be patient, which is exactly what I plan to do. I'll give it a shot in a few days. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I admit, I've done some pretty stupid things to my phones before... but this takes the cake. I'll post an update soon, if anyone cares.
Click to expand...

Dude-this is horrific. sorry to hear. are you insured?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom