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How lucky is this???

V

volsgod

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 5, 2008
10
0
Silverdale, WA
My daughter's iPhone 3G fell out of her pants pocket and into the toilet two nights ago. :eek: Rather than fish it out herself, she ran to get me. I am guessing it was submerged between 45 seconds to a minute when I fished it out. It was still on and I was unable to shut it off since the touch screen and buttons were non-responsive. It shut down on its' own after about 2 minutes, while I was still holding it over the sink.

I found several articles on the web discussing various drying methods for submerged iPhones. I removed the SIM and shook the remaining water from the phone. Using a hairdryer on medium heat, I dried the phone off as much as I could. I then placed the phone in a sealed bag with about a cup of uncooked white rice. I placed the bag on the dash of my car that was parked in the sun yesterday morning and left it for 10 hours. I brought it in last night and used the hairdryer again for about 15 minutes.

I then plugged it into the macbook and attempted to turn it on. iTunes recognized it as an iPhone in recovery mode. After about 20 minutes and a backup restore, the iPhone is working fine. :D Everything seems functional, including the touch screen, speakers, camera and microphone. There is some layered splotchiness in the display which I believe to be residual moisture. The splotches are less obvious this morning and I think that they continue to dissipate as it dries out.

Anyway, the daughter dodged a bullet and I wanted to let everyone know the situation in the event something similar occurs to you.
 
Here's some wallpaper for ya.
 

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SFStateStudent said:
What about the water damage indicator? Look down the headset jack and let us know if it's pinkish. I'm wondering if the plastic casing makes it easier and faster to dry out now... Congrats on your save! :cool:
Click to expand...

I had read about that indicator too. I put a flashlight down the earbud jack and it is (still) white. No sign of red or pink fading.

To answer the other questions,

The battery life seems to be the same from what I can tell thus far.

No unusual smells I could detect.

She was not using the toilet to my knowledge. She claims she was listening to music and turned quickly and the phone slipped out of her back pocket and fell into the toilet.

To update, throughout the day, the screen resolution has continued to get clearer as the splotches keep fading. :D
 
she was pulling down her pants with the phone in her back pocket and the act of bending over WHILE pulling down the pants made the phone shoot out of the pocket..

THAT is what happened. TRUST ME! its happened to me TWICE before - not wit the iphone. I dont keep it in my back pocket anymore.
 
lindsayanng said:
she was pulling down her pants with the phone in her back pocket and the act of bending over WHILE pulling down the pants made the phone shoot out of the pocket..

THAT is what happened. TRUST ME! its happened to me TWICE before - not wit the iphone. I dont keep it in my back pocket anymore.
Click to expand...

Interesting 'cause I was wondering how the phone fell out the pocket with pants down. :p
 
well, first off, girls pants are tighter and the pockets are smaller. The phoneusually sticks up out of the back pocket a little.

Now when you bed over, the phone pops out a little more, then when the pants go down, the top of the phone is out even more, and the angle makes it slide right out into the toilet. PLOP! and horror.

I am 100% sure that is how it happened.. or she was on it using her shoulder to hold it while she pulled up her pants and it slipped, but with nothing in the toilet (meaning she didnt GO yet) then i can GURANTEE that it fell outta the back pocket.

ask her? !
 
lindsayanng said:
well, first off, girls pants are tighter and the pockets are smaller. The phoneusually sticks up out of the back pocket a little.

Now when you bed over, the phone pops out a little more, then when the pants go down, the top of the phone is out even more, and the angle makes it slide right out into the toilet. PLOP! and horror.

I am 100% sure that is how it happened.. or she was on it using her shoulder to hold it while she pulled up her pants and it slipped, but with nothing in the toilet (meaning she didnt GO yet) then i can GURANTEE that it fell outta the back pocket.

ask her? !
Click to expand...

lol... is it that important?
The iPhone survived. That's what counts =)
 
To punish your daughter I'd make her ware this on her phone for future toilet protection. At least until she is old enough to respect the power of the toliet.
"The iToliet case":(
 

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i know.. i just thought it was funny that the phone flew out of her hand while listening to music - usually because a teenager wouldnt want to say "well i was pulling down my pants......"
 
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