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Dropped iPhone in water!

iphone got wet, but seems to work although very dim

a few days ago a bottle of water in my purse leaked, getting my iphone wet (but not submerged) for 4 hours before I discovered it. I dried it off, shook it out (it was still on), turned if off, then blowdried the headphone jack and port with cool air for a few minutes. left it to air dry. that night i let it sit in a tub of rice.

the phone and everything is fully functional, including reciving calls and all the aps. only thing is, the screen doesn't light up - it is super dim and I can barely see it. this has not changed since the moment I found it wet.

when i look in the headphone jack water sensor, there is no red, only white. any suggestions? i'm afraid to do the alcohol thing because I don't want it to damage it any further (and also, the water that spilled was purified). would apple be able to fix this?

thanks for your help everyone!
good luck with all those wet iphones. maybe they should start making waterproof ones!
 
meagain said:
Right - I've always wanted a plug for the headphone port as it's worried me a bit for dust/debris, etc. There must be something (rubber) commonly available that'll fit them. I'm going to search around for this.
Click to expand...



The Switcheasy Rebel cases come with a headphone jack plug. I am pretty sure all Switcheasy cases come with it. I don't use it because I will lose it after I take it out for the first time but I do use the dock cover. I don't know of any independent headphone jack plug manufacturers. Maybe someone else does.
 
I always heard that putting the phone in rice for over 8 hours will do they trick. I think if the iphone had a removable battery, these water accidents would possible end less tragic.
 
I always heard that putting the phone in rice for over 8 hours will do they trick. I think if the iphone had a removable battery, these water accidents would possibly end less tragic.
 
Seriously, the phone is very easy to dis-assemble. remove 2 screws in bottom, attach small suction cup to screen just above home button, pull. This will open it enough to at least try and dry it out better. Carefull to not let the screen flop open too far. (use a suction cup that comes with a fish tank accessory). If you're real adventurous it can be further disassembled to dry out easier.
 
Water Censor and Compressed air

Will the liquid in compressed air set off the water censor in an Iphone?
 
Sorry for the double post here, I was answering someone else and then I had to add my own situation to the thread to see if anyone can add any additional advice.

I work at a zoo and yesterday my boss jumped in the moat that runs through our park to save a ringtail lemur. He had the sense to remove his radio from his belt but not his iPhone 3GS. Somewhat lucky for him he has an Otterbox Defender case that kept it somewhat, but not totally dry. He took it to the AT&T store where they turned it off and ejected his SIM card (both of which I would have done if he had come to me first), and I told him to leave it off in a bag of rice overnight. Well, this morning he turned it back on and all is well except the backlight is totally dead. I restored settings and did a firmware restore (because I had read of success in that area) on other sites, but had no success. Has anyone else had any success with this problem that is cheaper/easier than Apples $199 out of warranty replacement?
 
A friends iPhone was dropped into a sink of dishwater for around 3 seconds. It went dead to all input. She dropped it off to me and I managed to get it going fully in less than an hour!

Here is what I did:

Used this video for reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZl5FeZXTwA

1. Opened up iPhone as shown in video. Used the suction cup on the lousy GPS holder my garmin came with to pull on the screen.

2. Disconnected the 3 leads as shown in video. Stop there.

3. Sprayed "Contact Cleaner" (electronics stores, maybe Radio Shack?) onto each end of the contacts I undid, plus in earphone hole and usb connecter port. Sprayed elsewhere in the interior as well. Contact cleaner is used in electronics to clean corrosion off electric contacts. It seems to dissolve the stuff.

4. Sprayed compressed air from a can of "Dust Buster" in all the spots that had the Contact Cleaner. It evaporates very quickly. Any water probably mixes with the cleaner and evaporates rapidly along with it.

5. For just in case, I then propped the two phone halves up and blew a hairdryer on them for about 10 minutes.

6. Reassembled the phone being very careful with the 3 leads being installed properly (First time I didn't have that flakey bottom back one in properly and the earphone didn't work). After doing it properly the second time, plugged in phone, it powered up and runs perfectly!

7. We'll watch the battery and see if it takes a proper charge.

8. The friend was ecstatic!
 
dropped iphone in the toilet

I can't believe I was so stupid and dropped my Iphone in the toilet.

I turned it off for about an hour and it turned back on fine, texting, web browsing, email, everything works except calling, when people call me there is no sound.

Anyone who has any advice it would be much appreciated!!
 
only one sensor is pink

I was a complete idiot and went in the sea with my iphone still in my pocket. its stopped working completely. Ive checked the external water damage sensors, and the one in the headphone jack has gone a little pink, however the one on the port at the bottom is still completely white. Do you think apple will replace it for me??>
 
HELP please

hello

my ipod got slightly wet with sweat while at the gym when i was listening to it. suddenly all i could hear was static and it wouldn't turn off so i just let it die. that was last week and now it won't turn on or connect to the computer. what can i do?!?!
 
jadey24 said:
hello

my ipod got slightly wet with sweat while at the gym when i was listening to it. suddenly all i could hear was static and it wouldn't turn off so i just let it die. that was last week and now it won't turn on or connect to the computer. what can i do?!?!
Click to expand...

Are you sure it got "sweat" damage? Are any sensors pink? You may just have to restore it in DFU mode (see my sig).
 
waterproof cases

Hi all!

I am all about the best protection for my iphone...I have an original 16gb iphone I purchased in March 2008.....I am very clumsy and have dropped phones in the toilet in the past. I have had my iphone in an otterbox defender case since the beginning and not a thing is wrong with it...this case is not completely waterproof, but it is water resistant and will protect it very well if dropped in water.

For complete waterproof protection though, I bought the Otterbox 2000 waterproof case for about $17. I use this case if I am going to be around any water situation...pool at summertime, boating, camping, fishing, etc....I even keep my iphone in this case in my purse for complete protection against any spills or drops! This case is also crushproof! (there are videos of people running over it with their cars! Reminds me of those toughbook laptop commercials...hahaha!!) Here is the link for the cases: http://www.otterbox.com/waterproof-cases/

I believe the otterbox 1000 case will also fit the iphone, although you may want to ask the guys at otterbox about that.

Disclaimer: I don't work for otterbox...I am a musician...hehe. I am just a really happy customer with a dry iphone!:D
 
Fool...

After your iPhone is immersed in water, you should put it on a windowsill and LEAVE IT ALONE! Let it dry out, for Pete's sake! After a day of drying, it should be okay, unless something was damaged.

My little brother dropped my iPhone into a river, it was on the bottom of the river covered in mud for a minute or two before I fished it out. After a few hours of drying, it turned on fine. It was extremely stupid of you to turn it on right afterwards...
 
plz helllp :{

scottybubatty said:
first of all, the tragic story of how my phone got wet starts here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEZb02MLpF4

After fully submerging my phone in a pond, I immediately tried to turn it off. I knew that if I could turn it off before it short-circuited I might be OK, but every time I turned it off it would reboot. This was driving me crazy.

When we got back to the house my gf went at it with a hairdryer. At some point, it turned off on its own. I took this to mean that it had finally died. I suspected that the air blowing into the phone had pushed it into some circuitry.

Then I buried it in a big air tight jar of rice. I waited 24 hours. I turned it on. It responded by telling me that the battery was dead. I plugged it in and it works! Everything is working perfectly.

So if you are in distress right now, because I was, you should know that there is hope! Your iphone may live again!
Click to expand...

:( well, i went to the beach.. and i did the stupid-est thing ever.. which was to bring my iphone into the water.. the high wave hit me and i quickly ran out of the water.. and checked my iphone.. it flicked and died out. i did another stupid thing which was try to turn the power on a lot of times and plugged it into the power cable :( im trying the hair drying and the rice method at the moment but its been a day and a half.. and it still doesnt work.. is it b/c it short-circuited when i plugged it into he power cable? will it work again does anyone know? could you plz help me ?:)
 
iPhone won't charge

Hey all,

My iPhone 3G got a little wet when I accidentally spilled a little water left in a cup of water while I was waking up (my phone is my alarm clock). I didn't realize it was wet until it woke me buzzing the way it does when you plug the phone in to charge. I picked it up, noticed it was wet, dried it off and it appeared to be fine so I simply went along with the rest of my day. That night when I went to charge it again ... it wouldn't charge. I noticed that the connectors on the phone and cable turned a slight shade of blue. I tried a friends iphone charging cable and it still didn't charge ... so something is up with my iphone. I've taken compressed air to the connectors all to no avail. I'll try the rice idea and maybe opening it up and cleaning the connectors that was mentioned in previous posts ... but I don't know if that'll help it recognize the charging cable. Has anyone else had issues with their phone not recognizing the charging cable? That is the only thing that appears to be wrong with my iphone and I really don't want to pay $200 or more for a new one when in April I can get the discount for the 3GS. Any suggestions????

Thanks!

Todd
 
... LUCKY ! ! !

irishsuperhero said:
I am not a techie. Rather... just a guy who was lucky enough to come across some helpful advice and patch it together to bring his iPhone back to life.

The gist...

I dropped my iPhone into Lake Arrowhead.
It sat submerged for, say... 1/2 hour.
9 feet down.
At the bottom.
Ugh.
I managed to fish it out.

I shook out the water. Set it aside for the drive home.
Plugged it into my car charger for all of ten-twenty seconds (curiosity killed the cat. But thankfully... not my iPhone.)
Nothing happened.
Instinct told me... maybe smarter to unplug it.

The next day I drove to Home Depot.
In the plumbing section, they had a product called DAMP RID.
http://www.damprid.com/

I bought the refill bag only.
(Think it cost me, maybe... 5 clams?)

Got home. Poured a layer in a small tupperware container?
Set my iPhone in it.
Sealed the tupperware.
And then let it sit overnight.

Next morning?
Went to plug it in?
Nada. (Ugh).
Went to workout.
Came back a couple hours later.
Was literally about to head out to AT&T to buy a new phone.
Announced to my wife, "I'm going to give it one last shot."
Plugged it in.
And... shock of all shocks... the "lightening bolt and red sliver of battery"-screen came on.

What?! Was this really happening?
I set it down.

After five minutes? Nothing. Still same screen.
Finally... I depressed the power button and the small button at the bottom with the white square in it (Told you I'm not a techie) for five seconds. In some hope that I'd reset it.

Well... guess what... (drumroll)...

... the iPhone went black... shut off... I then hit the power button and...

(TA-DAH!!!)... the apple icon screen came back.

A minute or two more charging and...

... presto whammo!... Old Jed's a millionaire.

It worked! No glitches! No water damage! Nothing.

It immediately downloaded my incoming messages from that morning and...

... all's well that ends well.

So... in case you're wondering?
I'm here to say...

... don't despair!
It can work!

All the best,

mm
Click to expand...
 
I have a fairly new 3GS and accidentally drooped it in to a bath tub last. It was quickly rescued but tried many times by me to turn on to see if it works ... before I found this site and the repeated warnings to NOT TURN IT ON. Setting that aside, I shook all water and took out the Sim card. Thankfully it is the height of summer here, and Perth is in the midst of a heatwave of 42 degree days (108F) ... so no problem with getting warm air. The hairdryer went into it for prolonged periods on warm / high heat (then the Temperature prompt appears). The phone was left outside during the day to further dry out. Initially, the screen was very faint .... then voila, back to normal. Functionality is virtuality back ... the only problems I have found are with certain parts of the touch screen at certain times ... but I am hoping that further drying out will remedy that.

They are fairly resilient phones .... and the message has to be .... be very careful with them and don't get them near water.
 
Well, I'm part of the gang too.

I dropped mine in the toilet today. It was on and appeared to be still working then it turned off. I'm running my under a fan and will put it in rice when I get home from work.

From this article, only one of my water indicators is red. If it doesn't come back to life, I hope I'll be able to get it replaced since it's still under warranty and I have the Applecare Plan on it.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3302

Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Thought I'd ask:

Is it worth opening up the iPhone to dry it more thoroughly?

Is it easy to disassemble/reassemble?

Will a MAC genius easily tell if you've opened it up?
 
A little good news. I was able to power up my iPhone tonight. Everything is there and working but the home button. There's also a little swerve in the background but the touchscreen is working fine.

Plan to stick it back in the container with Damp Rid for a couple of more days.
 
Washing Machine

Hi all, I just wanted to say THANKS!!:apple:

To make a long story short, my iphone was in the washing machine for about 10 minutes before realizing that banging noise was my iphone. I freaked out and turned the phone off and started my research. I found this forum and immediately put the phone in a bag of rice. I left it in there until there was no condensation in the camera (about 2 days). When I turned it on, it kept saying the device does not work, would you like to put on airplane mode (like others experianced). The only other things that were messed up, the screen was totally f'ed - lines all over and very dark (seemed like there was 3 layers of differant damaged screens) and the top button to turn the screen off did not work.

After a week, there is no more error message, the screen is 100% better and the top button works. The water sensor is totally pink, but the phone works, I'm happy.

I did have an otterbox case, which I owe 500 bucks to. :D
 
solution to iphone that fall into water

my iphone fell into a toilet and was there for over 10 seconds, it went completely dead upon removal from the water but i immediately dried it using tissues. I next proceeded to shake it out on all sides vigorously to get water out through the openings-do this with care and avoid collisions as it is only to remove excess water. dry with tissue once more.
2) my drive home is half an hour so i propped it over my heating vent using the hooked in airfreshners as support with the face away from vent and with the transparent holster over the body for 7 mins at high and then turn the face to heat for 5 mins and each side for 3mins each, i then change heat to 24 degrees and blows at high through the upper and lower ends of iphone for the rest of my trip home.
I then turned on my phone enter settings turn off wifi and turned on bluetooth and my phone was back.
Everything is working on my phone like it never fell into water.
I hope this help anyother person that experiences this scare.
 
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