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whsbuss

macrumors 601
Original poster
May 4, 2010
4,266
1,099
SE Penna.
Today I accidentally had my AirPods in my swimsuit pocket and went in the hot tub. Only for 5 minutes then I discovered them. So I blew them out and after a few minutes they worked again. Initially the case had a green LED then I took them home. About two hours later I opened them and no LED charging light. I tried plugging in a charger but nothing.

AirPods still work but the case seems damaged. I did notice a bit of moisture left over inside the lightning port and tried to blow it out. But to no avail. I will wait a few days to see if the case dries out.

Any ideas on how I could get it charging again?
 
There’s an old school method of drying that might work to get the last of the moisture out. Fill a zip-loc bag with rice (uncooked) and place the charger in it for a day or so. The rice will draw out any hidden moisture. You’re from the east coast as I am. Lots of humidity. If you go to a diner or restaurant that has the old glass salt shakers, you might see rice in them. That’s to absorb humidity so salt wont become a solid piece in the shaker. I’ve used this method on a cell phone before and it works great. The reason I noted “uncooked” is I told someone about this and they used cooked rice. I still laugh about that today.
 
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Yeah I tried all that but the case just won't come alive. My thoughts is the control board got damaged. Only good thing (for now) is I charge the AirPods in my wife's case so I can use them. Hopefully Apple will release AirPods 2 with wireless charging. I can wait till then (since I also have Bose QC35s).
 
You can also try electrical contact cleaner spray. probably sold in Radio Shack (if you can find one anymore) or Best Buy or RC car/plane model shops. That might remove any minor moisture damage (rust) that simple drying can’t. The contacts in the case aren’t very big so it wouldn’t take much to disrupt a connection. I’m just spitballing here. Don’t know what you’ve tried so far. Hope it helps.
 
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