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thunderstorm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 11, 2012
225
111
England, UK
Hi guys. So my mum dropped her 3GS into the toilet last night. She dried it off and we put it straight into some rice. This morning she wakes me up and says, "I took it out of the rice, it wouldn't turn on so I plugged it in and it started buzzing weakly and a red light came on so I unplugged it and put it back in the rice." I should mention, it didn't just fall into plain toilet water- it fell into bleachy toilet water…
Anyway, since it's a 3GS I've bought her a 5 because it's time she upgraded anyway. My query is, she hasn't backed up to iCloud in a very long time, I know this because I've put her on my old 3GS until the 5 arrives and I couldn't set it up from an old iCloud backup- do you think the phone will ever turn back on long enough for me to sync her apps and photos etc? She uses her laptop even more rarely than iCloud so that won't help. Does it just need to sit in the rice for a while longer? It's only been in about 18 hours. Thanks. :)
 

stuaz

macrumors 6502
Jun 16, 2012
446
1
Hi guys. So my mum dropped her 3GS into the toilet last night. She dried it off and we put it straight into some rice. This morning she wakes me up and says, "I took it out of the rice, it wouldn't turn on so I plugged it in and it started buzzing weakly and a red light came on so I unplugged it and put it back in the rice." I should mention, it didn't just fall into plain toilet water- it fell into bleachy toilet water…
Anyway, since it's a 3GS I've bought her a 5 because it's time she upgraded anyway. My query is, she hasn't backed up to iCloud in a very long time, I know this because I've put her on my old 3GS until the 5 arrives and I couldn't set it up from an old iCloud backup- do you think the phone will ever turn back on long enough for me to sync her apps and photos etc? She uses her laptop even more rarely than iCloud so that won't help. Does it just need to sit in the rice for a while longer? It's only been in about 18 hours. Thanks. :)

I would think plugging it in wouldn't of helped, but plain water might have be saveable but bleach? I doubt very much as that will be far more corrosive.

All you can do is wait a little longer I guess. At least 48 hours.
 

thunderstorm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 11, 2012
225
111
England, UK
I would think plugging it in wouldn't of helped, but plain water might have be saveable but bleach? I doubt very much as that will be far more corrosive.

All you can do is wait a little longer I guess. At least 48 hours.

I know, I have no idea why she thought plugging it in would have been clever, I guess she just thought it had run out of charge?
And re: bleach. Don't even start :p I don't know how/why it fell in, but when she gets the 5 she's getting a lecture about not taking it to the toilet with her!
Okay, I'll leave it in and tell her not to touch it. Thank you!
 

The-Real-Deal82

macrumors P6
Jan 17, 2013
16,290
23,996
Wales, United Kingdom
She didn't have it in a shirt pocket did she? I've heard of people putting their phones in there and then leaning over to flush a toilet (in your mums case cleaning) and the phone plummeting into the bowl. Oops, hope you get a result! :)
 

thunderstorm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 11, 2012
225
111
England, UK
She didn't have it in a shirt pocket did she? I've heard of people putting their phones in there and then leaning over to flush a toilet (in your mums case cleaning) and the phone plummeting into the bowl. Oops, hope you get a result! :)

Back jeans pocket! I'll never understand! Thank you :)
 

thunderstorm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 11, 2012
225
111
England, UK
Update: she insisted on checking it again. Plugged it in and tried turning it on. This time the screen came on but it looked like some kind of X-ray, so she turned it off and put it back in the rice. Is it likely to get better with yet more time in the rice? Thanks again.
 

lunaoso

macrumors 65816
Sep 22, 2012
1,332
54
Boston, MA
Update: she insisted on checking it again. Plugged it in and tried turning it on. This time the screen came on but it looked like some kind of X-ray, so she turned it off and put it back in the rice. Is it likely to get better with yet more time in the rice? Thanks again.

I have a friend who dropped theirs in the toilet and left it in rice for 3 days straight and it's fine, which was a miracle in itself. So the fact that bleach is included, plus plugging it in, it doesn't look good. Hope you get lucky. :)
 

thunderstorm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 11, 2012
225
111
England, UK
I have a friend who dropped theirs in the toilet and left it in rice for 3 days straight and it's fine, which was a miracle in itself. So the fact that bleach is included, plus plugging it in, it doesn't look good. Hope you get lucky. :)

Damn :( I've managed to restore my old 3GS from a sync on her laptop but that was nearly 8 months ago now. It's really just a matter of wanting to salvage photos from June onwards! Thanks, I hope so too! :eek:
 

lunaoso

macrumors 65816
Sep 22, 2012
1,332
54
Boston, MA
Damn :( I've managed to restore my old 3GS from a sync on her laptop but that was nearly 8 months ago now. It's really just a matter of wanting to salvage photos from June onwards! Thanks, I hope so too! :eek:

Check photostream when the new one gets here. Hopefully most of them are still there.
 

lelisa13p

macrumors 68000
Mar 6, 2009
1,946
47
Atlanta, GA USA
Sounds like you need to tell Mum that when she feels compelled to turn on the "baptized" iPhone, to put her hands in her pockets instead. ;) Every time she turns it on, she takes a bigger chance that it will be fried. Wait a couple of days, leaving it in the rice, and then try it, long enough to maybe send the pix to iCloud for transfer.

Patience, Mum, just like we tell our kids. :)
 

macingman

macrumors 68020
Jan 2, 2011
2,147
3
Update: she insisted on checking it again. Plugged it in and tried turning it on. This time the screen came on but it looked like some kind of X-ray, so she turned it off and put it back in the rice. Is it likely to get better with yet more time in the rice? Thanks again.

Every time she plugs it in all she does is short the phone which causes much damage.
 

Fernandez21

macrumors 601
Jun 16, 2010
4,839
3,177
Since its already been wet, maybe try cleaning out? Taking the screen off is pretty easy and then take some alcohol and or electronic cleaning solution and clean the board from the bleach film that's probably still on it. And take the phone from her and put it in rice and wait a couple days then try again.
 
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