My girlfriend dropped her 6 week old 4s into the toilet. Straight away i but it in a bag of rice and left it for 3 days. Now plugged it into charger battery screen came up to say needs charging. Charged it for few hours but when i press the home button its just blank. Yet i know its turned on as i can key in the passcode and hear the clicks of button pressing. It'll ring but no screen yet it the screen works when plugged in at first when it has a dead battery. Anyone have this and fixed it ? Gonna try restore it tomorrow too see if it helps.
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4s fell in toilet
- Thread starter jaybe1
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You're going to need to disassemble it and clean it with some rubbing alcohol, regular isopropyl is recommended, but rubbing alcohol is ok too (rubbing alcohol has added minerals). You can use a toothbrush to clean it, just be careful not to scrub too hard, and take your time when disassembling it. I'd also recommend replacing the battery 
Sounds like a trip to the apple store with $199 (or whatever the exchange rate is if you're in another country) in pocket is in order.
I wouldn't even d*ck with taking it apart... go for a replacement and tell her to be more careful next time!!
...the dangers of pooping and texting
I wouldn't even d*ck with taking it apart... go for a replacement and tell her to be more careful next time!!
...the dangers of pooping and texting
Why not?? If he fails at the repair he can still go back to Apple and have it replaced for $199.
It's not that hard to take an iPhone apart and there isn't anything in there damaged much by water. Really just the connectors. The battery has chemicals that react with water so if you are going to open the iPhone it's no big deal to swap the battery (it's under $10).
I have salvaged almost every water immersed device I have encountered.
That said I would not open it just yet. I would leave it in rice longer, perhaps a few sessions of low heat (like a hair drier but on low and not directly for too long).
With the device warmed up, back in rice. And change the rice each time.
Michael
well... if he screws something up even worse and/or makes it noticable to a genius that he's taken it apart he's throwing away any shot at getting a free replacement. I just had an apple genius sitting at my kitchen table with me yesterday (guy my wife went to grad school with...and for those who may try to ridicule this guy, it's his 3rd of 3 jobs, one being for the DoD so he's pretty well--off and VERY smart. Just likes to stay busy and loves working at Apple.) and he said they do still give out free replacements... so if you walk in with a phone exhibiting the behavior that the OP says is happening and plead your case you're more likely to get a free replacement. If you go hacking at it and taking it apart (presuming the OP doesn't quite know what he's doing... I may be wrong) then take it in and it's obvious it's been hacked at... I doubt a genius is going to give you a "goodwill" replacement...
I still say it's not worth the hastle for $200... maybe I have a different viewpoint though. My wife and I need 100% guaranteed working phones. If I were to hack and try to fix hers in the same position, I couldn't trust it to work 99.999% (five-nines) of the time like I would like it to. To me that alone is worth the money.
I didn't really need the biography of your friend. I don't judge people like that.
But taking an iPhone apart is not hard at all for what is discussed here. Two screws, slide up the back, and the back lifts up and off. From there it is one screw to remove the battery. That's it. And that would be what I do immediately after immersion since the iPhone's battery is not normally removable. A quick alcohol bath, shake dry, blow with air, and into rice with cover still off (iphone wrapped in a net to keep rice from getting inside exposed back--if a grain of rice wedged into a tight crevice, then expanded from moisture, it could break something).
Anyone can do that.
Now I can strip an iPhone completely but that is something that is not for everyone.
Michael
Smartphones falling in the toilet is a very common "accident". I read an interesting article about it (should have captured the link). What I do know, is that the rice treatment works, but you've got to know the specifics.
Here's what I've read, then passed onto a friend when she dropped her iPhone 3GS into the toilet.
As soon as the phone is retrieved out of the water, quickly get it into a bag of rice that covers it with approx an inch or two for good absorbtion. Every 48 hrs, move it into a fresh bag of dry rice. Maintain this practice for ten days. That's how long it takes to completely dry the phone.
Once she reached day ten, the phone was removed, booted up & all was well. It's a terrific solution to an unfortunate accident. Had I not seen it for myself I'd find it hard to believe.
Here's what I've read, then passed onto a friend when she dropped her iPhone 3GS into the toilet.
As soon as the phone is retrieved out of the water, quickly get it into a bag of rice that covers it with approx an inch or two for good absorbtion. Every 48 hrs, move it into a fresh bag of dry rice. Maintain this practice for ten days. That's how long it takes to completely dry the phone.
Once she reached day ten, the phone was removed, booted up & all was well. It's a terrific solution to an unfortunate accident. Had I not seen it for myself I'd find it hard to believe.
If it was purchased with a credit card, some credit card companies protect your purchases against accidental damage or theft.
Such as American Express allows this protection for 90 days after the purchase date. http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/american-express-purchase-protection-perk.html
I don't know other credit card companies though.
So you may want to research and/or call your credit card company to see what you could do.
Also if your girlfriend has renters insurance, they may reimburse the cost, depending on what the insurance covers and the deductible.
Such as American Express allows this protection for 90 days after the purchase date. http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/american-express-purchase-protection-perk.html
I don't know other credit card companies though.
So you may want to research and/or call your credit card company to see what you could do.
Also if your girlfriend has renters insurance, they may reimburse the cost, depending on what the insurance covers and the deductible.
I second that. Hopefully she brought with Amex.
Some other credits cards will offer similar protection but you have to read their fine print carefully.
Nope, nothing in there to get damaged by water
As soon as it gets wet it starts to corrode, nothing you can do about it. It may work for a while but the life of the phone will be much shorter. I say drop the $199 for an OOW replacement but that's just me.
A lot of suggestions coming in, IMHO
1- Go for a replacement if possible
2- Hack it, remove two screws, slide the back, remove battery and do the whole alcohol swab and dry with a blow dryer.
3- Go for a replacement if possible...yet again even it works after step 2.
4- Step 1 is the best.
5- Why you reading on when i just said go to step 1.
and
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/464858/
FYI. pls dont judge me, cause i didnt do nothing.
And for future reference, not asking why the person in question will use an iphone in the bathroom but will suggest something worthwhile. Please note I have nothing to do with the said supplier, no commercial connection whatsoever http://www.liquipel.com/
and a video for you
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVHb5C1GDVw
1- Go for a replacement if possible
2- Hack it, remove two screws, slide the back, remove battery and do the whole alcohol swab and dry with a blow dryer.
3- Go for a replacement if possible...yet again even it works after step 2.
4- Step 1 is the best.
5- Why you reading on when i just said go to step 1.
and
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/464858/
FYI. pls dont judge me, cause i didnt do nothing.
And for future reference, not asking why the person in question will use an iphone in the bathroom but will suggest something worthwhile. Please note I have nothing to do with the said supplier, no commercial connection whatsoever http://www.liquipel.com/
and a video for you
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVHb5C1GDVw
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Don't they say you shouldn't fully submerge the phone in water? I know in the demonstration they showed that but I think I remember hearing or reading them saying they don't recommend that.
I didn't really need the biography of your friend. I don't judge people like that.
Michael
Well michael, this is a public forum so typically when someone replies to a post, even if they've quoted you directly, they construct their replies as if others will be reading them as well.
Not to mention 99.99% of all forum-posters are super critical of everything and everyone so forgive me for assuming that you fall into that 99.99% who would spend the next 30 minutes building an argument about how "dumb" an apple "genius" is in order to discredit one aspect of my post.
Regardless, while what you're proposing may be an easy task for you to perform -- you're making great assumptions that everyone has the patience, eyesight, steady hands, etc. that you do and that it takes to remove all of the tiny screws and perform the action you are proposing.
On the other hand, one could argue that what I and others are proposing is a bit presumptuous-- It IS easier, quicker, and more reliable in the long-run. Sure we're assuming that the OP has the $$ to pony up but in my opinion, if someone can afford the luxury of a smartphone to begin with it's not too much of a stretch to assume they have the $200 to replace it.
There, I've given my opinion. It seems others agree with the simplicity of replacing it at apple.
Nope, nothing in there to get damaged by water
Depends on whether or not your live in a hard water area. If so, it leaves a residue when it dries, which is more of a problem than the water itself.
wow. i never thought of it that way. The water that goes thru my toilet everyday ought to be hard as they come. salinity maybe?
HAHAHA, OMG, I am sitting back here laughing my butt off at you (her) for doing that. Taking a 6-800$ device and dropping it in the toilet. I mean what kind of idiot do you have to be to do that? I mean really. That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of.
And on a serious note, feel sorry for her. I did the same thing last week, slipped out of my scrub pocket, but was fortunate enough I had quick hands and got it out quick. Thought it was dead. Only triggered the dock water sensor. Hope you get resolve!
And on a serious note, feel sorry for her. I did the same thing last week, slipped out of my scrub pocket, but was fortunate enough I had quick hands and got it out quick. Thought it was dead. Only triggered the dock water sensor. Hope you get resolve!
Of course you shouldn't fully submerge your phone in water, even LiquiPel'd. Just like you shouldn't slam headlong into a cinder block wall in a car going 80 MPH, just because you have seat belts and airbags protecting you. Or how you shouldn't put on a bullet proof vest and then deliberately get shot in the chest, because you trust the vest will protect you.
Liquipel is to help protect against accidents, but is not an ironclad guarantee that your phone will be fully protected against every dunk. They don't recommend intentional dunking because they don't want idiots coming back to them complaining that their iPhones died when they repeatedly dunked their phones in water to "test" the LiquiPel. At the very least it's a liability disclaimer, and at most it's common sense that you shouldn't tempt fate.
Anyway, back to the topic: if it were me, I'd consider that toilet-dunked iPhone a total loss, go to the Apple Store and be prepared to plunk down money on a replacement. I'd even put it in a ziplock bag and make the genius fully aware of where that phone has been before he or she opens the bag up and attempts to handle the phone.
Because, call me crazy, but, that phone has been in the same liquid where human waste is routinely deposited. I don't care how thorough a cleaning it gets, that phone would never touch my face again.
And if I were the Genius handling that case, I'd appreciate being warned before I go mucking around with a phone that's been submerged in toilet water. I might even do the freebie thing if it were within my power to do so, if the person were honest so I could get the Purell at the ready.
(That's also why my phone and other gadgets are banned from the bathroom... to avoid the risk of them taking a "bath" in there.)
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makes sense but we talking about an iPhone. we also ignored the health hazard. Apple doesn't deal with repairing biohazard affected products as the case with the kid who urinated over school property MacBooks.
hope it's replaceable
Exactly. The water itself is not going to hurt sealed chips, which have already been subjected to water from early on.
I have recovered every immersed iPhone that I have encountered (4 or 5 over the years). None were mine. All either worked fine till replaced, or are still working now. It's not like there are pools of water in there corroding the machinery lol.
This link, however, has about the most extensive list of things to do to fix an immersed phone that I have ever seen:
http://www.wikihow.com/Save-a-Wet-Cell-Phone
I had never thought of this one before, but it makes sense:
Michael