iPhone 3GS in lake for approx 20 sec - dried with car defroster
I too had this horrific experience with my new iPhone 3GS while on a camping trip. I tried something else that no one else has mentioned so I thought I'd post it up. A friend suggested using the defroster in the car since it would remove moisture, and I could leave it on a warm setting to help dry. It worked great, and within a couple hours I had my phone working again! Good luck to anyone else who ends up in the same boat.
If you want the full story, read on:
I had stupidly left my iPhone in the pocket of my swimsuit while I was on a boat. I jumped in the water, and as soon as I got in I realized my iPhone was with me! I got back into the boat as quickly as possible. I'm guessing it was fully submerged for about 20 seconds. When I got back in the boat, and got it out of my pocket the screen was still on. I was trying to turn it off as quickly as possible, but the warning "Accessory not made for iPhone/Airplane mode" kept coming up. I held the top button down to turn it off. By this time the screen seemed to be fading. I thought I saw the "Slide to power off" come up, but I was having difficulty getting it slide all the way. Finally I saw the little spinning symbol, so I managed to get it to turn off. After that I tried holding the phone in the middle, and spinning it back and forth to shake as much water outward as I could manage, then I left it in the sun until we got the boat back to the land (about an hour later). By now I could see lots of water droplets under the camera lens. I'll admit that I still had hope because I thought since I was able to turn it off it hadn't shorted itself out. Once I got back to camp, someone suggested to use the defroster on the car to dry it out. His theory was that when you have the defroster on, it uses the AC compressor which removes moisture. Turn it on warm, but not all the way hot. I left it like this for about 30 minutes and could already see the water droplets under the camera lens clearing up. I left it there for about another hour. By then the droplets were completely gone. By then it had been about 3 - 4 hours since the initial dunking. I was afraid to turn it on too soon, but I was also very antsy. I just wanted to know if I was going to soon be out $500. I tried pressing the top button to turn it on, and nothing was happening. Then I plugged it into the car charger and it came on! I noticed some watery streaks under the screen, but everything seemed to be working fine. I tested all the functions and there were no problems except for the visible water streaks under the screen. I left it on for a few minutes, and then turned it off for about an hour. Then I began using the iPod, for playing music on the car ride back home. When I went to bed I could still see the streaks under the screen, but I thought they may be getting smaller. I turned the phone off before I went to bed, and when I woke up the next morning the water streaks were completely gone. Except for the water sensor in the headphone jack being half red, you would never know it had gotten wet. I'm just crossing my fingers, hoping I don't have any problems in the near future because of this, or anything else, since my warranty is now void.