I saved my wet iPhone 4!

[daver11]

I dropped my brand new iPhone 4 in, well, lets decide to call it "water". It got totally soaked, but I saved it! Here is what I did:

1) I took it out of the "water"

2) I turned it completely off

3) I thoroughly rinsed it in the sink (this step was necessary for me, but may not be for others)

4) I removed the SIM card and dried everything off as bet I could

5) I got my vacuum cleaner and hooked up the attachment with the smallest nozzle

6) I placed the vacuum attachment at the bottom of my iPhone (where the connector is) and sucked air though it for 20 minutes. At the same time, I stood about 3 or 4 feet away blowing warm air over my iPhone with a hair dryer (I set my hair dryer to the lowest heat setting)

7) Then I submerged my iPhone in a bowl of uncooked rice

8) 4 or 5 times over the next 24 hours I repeated the vacuum procedure

9) I left the iPhone in the rice overnight

10) In the morning I put the SIM card back in, powered it up, and viola! It works!

And here is the best part. The MasterCard I used to buy the iPhone comes with purchase insurance. I told them what happened, and they are refunding the $299 I paid! Of course, that really just covers my loss of the residual value of the phone. I would of been able to get about $300 for it when the new ones come out again. Still, I could of been much worse.

By the way, most people are not aware that their credit cards have purchase insurance. You usually do not have to pay extra for it. If you suffer a loss, it never hurts to call your credit card company and ask.

[saxon48]

Glad to hear your iPhone was fixed! That ol' uncooked rice method works time and time again on every sort of electronic device.

[ijen0311]

So you have the phone and $299?

[daver11]

Originally Posted by ijen0311

So you have the phone and $299?

For now. MasterCard may want the old one, or maybe not. Either way, I come out about the same in the end. Here's why:

I get the refund no matter what. I can keep using my current phone, and have nothing to sell when the new ones come out again, or I can but a new one now, and resell it for about what I paid when the new ones come out.

Although the phone still works, it no longer has a warranty, or a demonstrable resale value, other than for parts or scrap, so I have still suffered a loss.

[richc71]

Good for you. I dropped my in a slow draining sink Monday. Tried drying it out using rice and an oven set to 45C. Two days and no luck. Called Apple and they'd replace it for $199. That's ~$50 more than one of these online repair places. In 20 minutes at the Apple store, I had a brand new 32gb iPhone 4. They don't have refurbished units yet.

[daver11]

Originally Posted by richc71

Good for you. I dropped my in a slow draining sink Monday. Tried drying it out using rice and an oven set to 45C. Two days and no luck. Called Apple and they'd replace it for $199. That's ~$50 more than one of these online repair places. In 20 minutes at the Apple store, I had a brand new 32gb iPhone 4. They don't have refurbished units yet.

I'm glad you mentioned that. Apple also offered me a $199 replacement. My refund is still in the underwriting department at MasterCard, so I assume they will now just pay for the replacement. That's fine with me! Now I will have a phone with a warranty and resale value. Plus I won't have to worry about any mysterious odors!

[sdhb3760]

Went swimming for 15-20 minutes with my fully-charged iPhone 3G. Read a bunch of posts about how to deal with it--bought a bag of uncooked rice, a can of compressed air, and Damprid. Took out the sim card and resisted the temptation to turn it on for a while because of the short-circuiting danger. After trying damprid in a bowl for a couple of hours or so (which actually made the phone WETTER because instead of absorbing the water, the damprid seems to just gather it and bring it nearby). Nothing worked for several days. Finally I dipped it in 91% rubbing alchohol (which seemed counterintuitive, but at that point I was willing to try anything) for a minute or so, then put it in a new bag of uncooked rice in a sunny spot for about 2 days, just plugged it in and it works!

Sob story: in the interim I went out and upgraded to a 3GS because they were out of the Iphone4, but now I want to return the 3GS and restore the formerly wet one so I can wait until they get it in stock! Any tips on that???

cheers.

[swoosh0217]

So did you drop this in the toilet? LOL!!!

[Roy43]

So, some of you have NO trouble with getting paid back for a phone that is working? I think that is WRONG to do that, but then what I think dont count, but there is someone who will judge you on that! Enjoy the shakedown of your credit card Company! Glad I dont know you, dont need friends like that!

[medom]

Hard work pays off. The trick didn't work when i droped mine in the pool.

[latafairam]

I put one of those shields that require you spray the surface with water, now the camera lens is foggy and the iphone freezes and the touch screen doesn't respond properly.
NOTE I was being really careful not to let water in the open parts (headphone jack, buttons and mic/speaker), guess not careful enough.
I'll let it dry for a few hours see if that helps.

[Applejuiced]

Originally Posted by Roy43

So, some of you have NO trouble with getting paid back for a phone that is working? I think that is WRONG to do that, but then what I think dont count, but there is someone who will judge you on that! Enjoy the shakedown of your credit card Company! Glad I dont know you, dont need friends like that!

And who are you to judge?

[jav6454]

Originally Posted by Roy43

So, some of you have NO trouble with getting paid back for a phone that is working? I think that is WRONG to do that, but then what I think dont count, but there is someone who will judge you on that! Enjoy the shakedown of your credit card Company! Glad I dont know you, dont need friends like that!

And you are? Exactly... just a post on the Internet.

[Fast/Furious]

Originally Posted by Roy43

but then what I think dont count,

At least you got one thing right. Do you happen to work for MasterCard?