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Thank you all

Hi folks,

I bought my iphone after having been a palm treo user. Fell in love with it right away. After I had it for about 2 weeks it jumped into the toilet. Really. All by itself. I've heard this can happen if it has to go home each night to a PC when it really wanted a Mac to cuddle up to.

Anyway, you can imagine my distress after shelling out some big bills. In desperation, I found this forum and read through it (ignoring the evil folks trying to cover up the water sensors). I was pretty sure I was going to go by a new one or just re-activate my Palm.

I want to thank everyone who wrote in real solutions.

I was able to grab my phone quickly after it hit the water and shook it and wrapped it in a paper towel. When I tried to wake it up the screen was really faint and then nothing. I had to go to a meeting so I left it wrapped in the paper towel and left it in the car.

When I got home about two hours later I tried to press the towel agains the ear holes, the charger hole (had no idea then where the sim card was). I found this forum and decided to try the rice (large grain, no worries about the rice getting stuck) trick. I just put it in a bowl and poured the dry rice on top of it and left it that way.

I left it there for 24 hours occassionally pressing the home button to see if there is any response...none. I decide that I'm plugging it in. If it is dead, it is dead. But, no a little sliver apple lights up. The thing boots up but there is lots of water under the screen, very trippy looking. I unplug it and try the home button and nothing. So I plug it in again and the apple icon lights up again. I figure that maybe the battery is dead so I leave it on the charger until the battery shows a full charge.

I put it in a bag full of rice and leave it over night. The next morning I wake it up, voila! It works but still has the water spots covering most of the screen, but working. Everything works, I plug my headset in, stick it back in the bag of rice and put it in my pocket, the ipod works so I ride my bike to and back from a meeting listening to tunes. The water spots start to lessen throughout the day and that next morning all the water spots are gone.

The initial drowning was on Monday evening and today is Sunday. So far, so good. I'll let you'll know if anything goes wrong, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic.

Thanks again for posting all the great ideas.
 
So, I'm screwed.

My 3G just went through a full wash/rinse/spin/etc cycle in the good ole Maytag.

It's currently apart with the screen lifted, drying out. I realllllly hope it dries out but I'm not that optimistic.

Ironically, my headphone jack sensor is only slightly pink. The one in the USB slot is ragingly red though. I'm aiming for several days of drying, and if that doesn't work I'm going for a complete disassembly to see if I can cover the sensors somehow.
 
I fell in a lake with mine in my pocket and after about 2 weeks it now finally works with a little water damage to the screen but it is bearable. I really think apple tries to play it off that if it gets wet you HAVE to buy a new one which is definitely not the case. I opened it up and dried everything and for awhile my battery just wouldnt charge but now two weeks later it does and everything is working. It just takes a little perservereance and patience (especially for that stupid third ribbon cable that attaches the screen back).
 
Wonder if you painted it and took it in, if it would fool them?

Simple answer - no. It will be immediately apparent that it has been tampered with, apart from the fact what you are suggesting is fraud.

I did see some youtube clip of a guy suggesting this also, but he looked like he had an IQ of about 60, so more fool anyone who follows his advice really.
 
It works

Used advice in forum

Dry Rice, Silica Bags I had around from recent pro purchase and put in oven overnight with light on only.

Thanks alot
Saved me 400$ Canadian
 
i kept my iphone in rise for 6 days after i droped it in the bathtub and it would`n work at all, and now it`s working without any problems. touchscreen functional / camera functional / wifi functional ... no problems what so ever ... it`s strange how a simple thing like rise can repair a phone
 
Possible solution

Like many of you others, I too had an iPhone + water incident. I have no idea whether it was submerged for 2 or 20 minutes. After a quick freak out session, I dried it off as best as a could and pulled out the SIM card. When I got home (~3 hours later) I tried to dry it further with a hair dryer on low. I could get the thing to boot, but the touch screen was not working and it gave me an error to the effect of "this devise is not compatible." I also could not unlock the phone or turn it off because the screen did not work. After leaving it in front of a fan for a while I went to turn it on and nothing happened. At this point I removed the two screws from the bottom (figuring I had already voided the warranty) and attempted to open the case. I was doing this wrong, however, and only managed to make a slightly larger crack for air to flow into the phone. Soon after that I plugged it in and some things began to work again. The screen became functional as were all of the buttons, still however, the microphone appeared to be filled with water. After doing research online, I learned how to open the iPhone with a suction cup. 1st - remove the two screws on the bottom; then 2nd apply suction cup to the bottom of the screen gently and gently lift. This exposes the insides and preserves the rubber seal. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-e-FWUcJN4). Once open I used some compressed air to blow gently around inside. It is currently open in a sealed container with some desiccant pellets to help dry things out. On the last test everything was working properly (although the mic was still a little funny sounding, but definitely usable). Hope this helps. Good luck.
 
It seems like just about everyone posting in here about having had a water accident with their iPhone ends up having a working iPhone again. I didn't get so lucky. About a month after the accident it's still dead. What's interesting is that I do get the silver apple.. that is to say, the phone does boot. But just as soon as it would actually show the UI it just fizzles out and dies. Right after the silver apple should disappear the display (and presumably the entire phone) shuts down. Remember how the original Gameboy would flash a bunch of crazy grey lines right when you turned it off? My iPhone does something very similar as it shuts down after booting.

At first I thought it was the battery. It may well be. But then it should work when plugged in via USB, I'd say. My latest suspicion is that it is the 16GB flash memory chip inside. It probably simply died for good. The reason I think this: assuming that the iPhone works similarly enough to an actual computer, the software responsible for the boot sequence would be stored on the phone's mainboard--not the main memory chip. Since the pre iPhone OS phase seems to work flawlessly, I assume the main memory chip, which houses the actual OS files, is fried.

Does this make sense to anyone? Granted.. the next gen iPhone is coming out in a couple of weeks (or July at the latest, I'd guess), and I'm sure I will be getting it as I've been using a 2G iPhone since my 3G bit the dust. It'd still be interesting to know if I'm on to something here..

I may look into buying a replacement flash memory chip and replacing the one in my iPhone 3G.
 
IPhone in salt water

I fell into Monterey Bay this AM while removing an outboard moter from a dingy. I had my Iphone in my jacket pocket and it got soaked, as I was completely in the water (less than a minute). I've read the posts about others dropping their IPhones into water but all seem to be about fresh water dunking. I'm sure salt water will be more difficult to restore an IPhone but I can hope (and pray). I would appreciate any tips, especially from others who have had a salt water experience with their phones.
 
i dropped my iphone into the toliet this afternoon, was clean water luckily, i paniced, quickly reached in and started fumbling with the phone it took me a good 5 seconds to actually get it out of the water after i fumbeled with it, shut it off immediately but it rebooted because the dock connecter was shorting out (knew this from experience when i dropped the bottom in soup one time) dried it off real good, blew out the headphone jack, took the sim off to dry that area out, turned it back on and everything seems to be working just fine except for about 5 min after the screen backlight flickered a few times but since the backlight has stayed on with no problem and everything else is working, should i be worrying about further problems or am i pretty much out of the woods on water damage, fyi my sensor did not turn red :)
 
Dropped my iphone in water, help!

So my iphone dropped into a coup of water in my car while driving, it fell in charger down side. and didn't fully submerge or shut off. I grabbed it immediately. I stupidly didn't turn it off, but did wipe it off and continuously blow out the charging area as well as the speakers, kept trying to dry it. It seemed to be working fine after that, no touch screen issues or water spots under the screen, seemed fine! But now it won't charge, it charged a little last night but stopped this morning, it's almost dead and I don't know what to do! Help!

Thank you.
 
Refurbs Pricing

Anybody know if Apple's replacement policy has changed since the release of the new 3GS? Now that the 3G is $99 for new 2-year agreements, might we see a price reduction to the refurbished phones?

Anybody, anybody, Bueller? Here's to hoping I don't have to bit the bullet.
 
Lucky me... I was able to fix it myself. Immediately after it hitting the water I began shaking the water out of the ports. At this point, the phone shut off and died. I then proceeded to blow dry the ports until no more water appeared. I noticed condensation build-up on the camera lens, so acted fast and opened it up by removing the two screws on the bottom. Once open I went back to blow drying, using the cool air option, the insides.

I decided to leave it open all night. Much to my surprise I woke to find NO condensation on the camera lens. Decided it was time to give it shot. With fingers crossed and after a 15-minute charge it worked!!! Shocked was/is an understatement.

Took it to the Genuis Bar and their bench mark tests showed no major damage, just some 3rd party apps crashing. We're 36 hours after the "incident" and so far, so good. PTL!!!!
 
Oh My God I Love APPLE!!!!

Three days ago, after two hours of sleep,(thanks to my newborn), after checking the time I dropped my iphone in a full glass of water. I unknowingly fell back to sleep. About 30 minutes later, on my way to the bathroom, I saw something strange in my cup. I ran to the cup in my zombie like state and pulled the iphone out, which was still plugged in from the night before. The screen went black and I thought my iphones days were over. After reading some tips on the internet,(putting my iphone in rice for 3 days). I started it up tonight, and is running perfectly, just like before. I'd like to see any other phone, made by any other company handle a 30 minute bath! Unbelievable!!!
 
Here is some help

Just a few responses to some posts that I saw.

** 1. If you have gotten your iPhone wet *DO NOT*, I repeat *DO NOT* try to turn it on, or plug it up. Let it sit for at least 2 days (see#2) and place it in a warm dry space. Do not use a blow dryer, or put in oven, or microwave. It doesn't help to have it hotter, just needs to be warm. When the 2 days is up, check that you can see no moisture at all, and then try to turn on. If the liquid is sticky or dirty, then you might have bad contacts inside. If it doesn't turn on at all, or the batt runs low fast, the battery could be fried. Easy cheap fix.

2. Yes the rice draws the moisture out of the air, but it must be a lot, and needs to be in an enclosed area, like a zip lock, or Tupperware with the device.

3. There are replacement parts available for the iPhone (Speakers, Buttons, LCD's, and touch screens) and they are not too hard to replace. You just need some technical know how. Everything but the motherboard can be fixed at or under $50 a piece. I know how to do most of the replacements, and I know where to get the parts. If anyone wants to know anything, just email me at nickle.cadmium@gmail.com
 
Iphone Sensor Paper

I currently work with Iphones and I would like to state a few things based on some advice given about the litmus paper located in the headphone jack. Regardless if that paper has turned red or not, the Iphone will still show damage inside once opened, therefore if you have dunked it in water or it has gotten wet in the rain, or condensation has traveled into it, it will be deemed out of warranty. if you some how are able to change that litmus paper back to white, it wont matter, once opened, they will know. The best and only trick that works maybe 25% of the time is to try and shut your phone off asap once wet, place in a bag of rice and seal. leave it for a few days and replace with fresh rice and leave for a few more days. if it does not work properly after this you might as well buy a new once. WATER AND ELECTRONICS DO NOT MIX! do not take it into a bathroom during or after a shower or bath, do not leave it near water/toilet/sink, do not use it while it is raining, and use a proper iphone sport case when working out with it to prevent sweat from getting inside it..

Thank you,
 
Believe it or not, water damage can actually be reversed a lot of the time. The first and obvious danger when a phone gets wet is the threat of a short. To avoid this, power the phone off as soon and possible and let it completely dry out before turning it on again (a bag of rise seems to accelerate this process a little bit and countless posters have already mentioned).

The second issue is that evaporated water can leave a residue on the internal connector and contacts and even corrode them over time resulting in a bad connection. To reverse this, the phone must be disassembled and cleaned, and corroded parts need to be replaced. Sure this is not a trivial task and it will void your warranty but if your moisture sensor in already tripped and you’re phone is as good as dead you really have nothing to lose. Some companies offer an iPhone water damage service that will do this for you and you may be surprised at how often the damage can be reversed. Just another option if you think all hope is lost for your water damaged iPhone.
 
dropped my iphone in orange juice

yesterday i had my iphone on my lap, i was backing into my garage my elbow hit myi phone bounced it on my middle seat in my reg. cab truck then it bounced into my coffee cup full of oj...and i just got it 2 weeks ago...it was like a swan dive and instantly grabbed it out and dried it off and blew and put the blow dryer at the end. It was only in there for about 1 or 2 seconds from the center button down....
and now i can't hear it ring and click and along with no speaker phone what should i do???

i did open it and tried to air it out but it was sticky in some spots i dont want to do anything to ruin it any more...
it did say and error like it can not connect in this mode change to airplane mood. i restored it and it went away...
Everything works fine expect the speakers any advice....it was a great alarm and love using the speaker on it and the fact that it was loud.....

help please!!!
 
I actually just went through a similar iphone hell this week, but fortunately thanks to everyones help it worked out. I was at a party on Saturday night where I got a little intoxicated and somehow tripped into an unlit jacuzzi. I immediately hopped right out and searched my pockets to find my soaked iphone which had turned off while under water. I handed it to someone who went inside and dried it off as well as they could. I instinctively tried to turn it back on and it was unresponsive. I then laid it down and went to sleep, the next morning I went online and read about what methods I should use to have a chance at it working again. I then removed the sim card tray and left the phone in front of a fan for two days. I then intermittently set it on a towel on top of my toaster oven set at about 170 degrees until it got pretty warm and then I would turn the toaster off. Over night I set it on top of my computer which kept it pretty warm as well. I also left it overnight in the upright position in order for the water to drain out. I also left it in a bowl of rice at one point just to try every method out. Today I finally plugged it back into my computer and everything came back on fine. :) The only thing is that at the top of my screen there is a small area where it is slightly lighter black than everywhere else, but barely noticeable. Thanks a lot everyone!!! P.S.-I will no longer carry my phone around any body of water while I am drunk, I promise.

this same thing happened to me. except i didnt fall in, just my phone. an FYI dont ever go near water w/your iPhone while drunk! i dont know if i can get my phone to work. i went away over the weekend and left my phone sitting in the sun through the window. the camera had bubbles in it and when i came back later that day they were gone but the phone wouldnt turn on. weird thing was was the morning after my phone went swimming i plugged it into the computer and worked perfectly fine then about 5-10 mins later it stopped and wont go past the apple sign. i also figured out how to open up my phone (exposed the inside) and blow dried it hoping it would help, but 2 days later its still not working. any ideas??
 
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.
 
water repair for iphone

I too dropped my iphone in water, actually it was in my shirt pocket and I bent over to check the water temp in the pool forgetting I had my phone in my shirt pocket. My iphone fell in and needless to say it was not working. My wife suggested I put it in a plastic container with a product she had purchased called "DampRid". It comes in a container about the size of a small crock of butter. I put the DampRid in the bottom of a plastic container along with my iphone and left it for about two hours. When I pulled it out, I turned it on and everything worked as if nothing happened. This is the best fix I have come accross and I have suggested to many that have had issues with water and it worked every time. Hope this helps. Jim
 
Fixed my wet 3gs

:) I have to share this with you all, for those who like my were dying with my iphone when it stopped working after getting wet, and had the sign that tells you this accessory is not compatable with iphone and no network keeps coming on. First of all calm down, after getting the iphone from where it was when it got wet. Dry it up and shake it to get out as much water as possible. As soon as possible find someone who has an air compresser, you can buy a portable can of airosol they use it to clean camera lenses. You then take out the sim card and air clean that slot, do the charger dock and all openings till all the water is blowed out with the compressed air. My iphone has just come back to life after we tried everything from rice to silca gel and the rest. I was going to give up when we tried the air compressor and it just came back to life just as new, I am so happy I still can't believe it. Good luck coming from someone who knows the feeling.:apple:
 
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