Bought iPhone 3G for $65 on craigslist, fixable?

G

gotsmartz

macrumors newbie
I bought an iPhone 3G on craigslist for $65 in hopes to fix it, it came with the box, charger, everything, and the iPhone is PRISTINE. It is less than a week old, not a single scratch, but unfortunately the original owner went in the ocean, and before his swim trunks dried completely he put the device in his pocket and it no longer turns on, it was not submerged. I took it apart and am soaking it in alcohol, there looks to be a little salt buildup on the inside on the connectors. I also scraped the motherboard about a millimeter on accident getting it apart but I don't think it broke any connections. Maybe I can ebay it for parts, alot of it looks good inside, and the outside is completely perfect. Any chance this thing will show any sign of life or did I get ripped off?
Thanks in advance,
Harrison
 
chances are, the original owner tried to fix it before selling it to you. what do you think?
 
i didnt know it was OCEAN water, that;s why I thought I got ripped off. The original owner did not open it, the warranty seals inside were intact
 
well i think if it was on when it got wet or he tried to turn it on before it dried completely you are SOL
 
I mean "everything inside" is not ruined, I am POSITIVE of that, towards the bottom of the unit everything looks new and clean, the water did not reach it. The water also looked to have done no damage to the screen. As I said, it wasn't submerged, just alot of moisture I guess, the inside doesn't look that bad really.
 
gotsmartz said:
I mean "everything inside" is not ruined, I am POSITIVE of that, towards the bottom of the unit everything looks new and clean, the water did not reach it. The water also looked to have done no damage to the screen. As I said, it wasn't submerged, just alot of moisture I guess, the inside doesn't look that bad really.
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Did the water sensors go off?
 
Why would anyone bother with a water damaged iphone?
Its pretty much done. Try to get rid off it on ebay if you can.
I dont think you'll bring it back to life in working condition obviously.
 
Applejuiced said:
Why would anyone bother with a water damaged iphone?
Its pretty much done. Try to get rid off it on ebay if you can.
I dont think you'll bring it back to life in working condition obviously.
Click to expand...

Well there was a time when I dropped my Samsung flip phone into a salt water pool. Fished it out, took the battery out and then threw it into a sock in the dryer. Worked after that until I got a new phone. Wouldn't recommend it with the iPhone though, that Samsung was a beast.
 
I dont think the glass screen would make it inside a dryer :D


iPhone Savvy said:
Well there was a time when I dropped my Samsung flip phone into a salt water pool. Fished it out, took the battery out and then threw it into a sock in the dryer. Worked after that until I got a new phone. Wouldn't recommend it with the iPhone though, that Samsung was a beast.
Click to expand...
 
If you plan on opening it up and trying to repair it just remember to take your time.

I just went through replacing the lcd and the digitizer and will never do it again.
 
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