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Dropped my backpack containing MB battery and PSP battery and ipod into swimming pool

farqueue

farqueue

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 18, 2006
456
32
Hello there, i dropped one of my bags into the swimming pool that contained a spare Macbook battery and a PSP battery and a 2gb ipod :(

The bag did sink down halfway into the pool so most of the stuff was wet
(i cant see any water inside the ipod screen, thank god)

I was so scared i took it out dried it with towels, went straight to the bathroom and used those hand drying things to dry it....

Its been about 3 days since this happened.. i dont dare to use the batteries or press anything on the ipod incase of any water internally that might seep in deeper.

is my ipod and batteries screwed? or will it work normally once its dried????


Thanks a lot. :(
 
As far as the batteries go... let them dry COMPLETELY, triple chekc if necessary, your batteries should be fine as logn as they dry out completely, as for your iPod, the same, don't turn it on, let the water dry completely and pray that the water did not damage any internals.

Usually water is not dangerous to electronics as long as they not functioning at the time, so just let them dry real well.
 
Chone said:
As far as the batteries go... let them dry COMPLETELY, triple chekc if necessary, your batteries should be fine as logn as they dry out completely, as for your iPod, the same, don't turn it on, let the water dry completely and pray that the water did not damage any internals.

Usually water is not dangerous to electronics as long as they not functioning at the time, so just let them dry real well.
Click to expand...


thats good to hear... but any tips on how to make it dry quicker? and how long do i have to wait til it is safe to use them?
 
farqueue said:
thats good to hear... but any tips on how to make it dry quicker? and how long do i have to wait til it is safe to use them?
Click to expand...

3 days. I think that is as dry as they are going to get. That is smart of you waiting!
 
Don't worry about speeding up the process. Just make sure you give them plenty of time before you use them. I have successfully dropped my phone [switched off] into the pool and recovered it. It was always a peice of crap but it still works. I gave it three days and laid it out in direct sunlight, sans battery, because that can't be too good for 'em.

Anyway, a hairdryer or even a can of compressed air is the only thing you can do to try and remove some of the excess water aside from taking the device apart [which isn't much of an option with an iPod or a battery]. Possibly even leaving them under a fan [not a ceiling fan] would help out over night.

Your best bet is time. Wait a week at least if you can make it that long just to be safe.
 
You might want to lock up your battery and ipod in a small room with a dehumidifier for a day or so.
 
I think your stuff will be fine if you let it completely dry. I remember i left my cell phone in my pocket once and i put it through my washer. I left the phone to dry for like a week and it worked perfectly afterwards.
 
Absolutely let it dry. I suggest you place all wet items next to a window for a few more days.

As far as the iPod goes, it might be salvageable or working once you feel it's dry enough. But the battery is questionable because if some of the water doesn't get out and use it, you might also damage your notebook which would make things even worse. The batteries enclose chemicals that are reactive, so I wouldn't use it anymore. Just get a new one.
 
Chone said:
Usually water is not dangerous to electronics as long as they not functioning at the time, so just let them dry real well.
Click to expand...

This is true for pure water, but unfortunately in this case, it was a swimming pool. Pools are usually heavily chlorinated, and chlorine is very corrosive, so some damage may have been done.
 
pooky said:
This is true for pure water, but unfortunately in this case, it was a swimming pool. Pools are usually heavily chlorinated, and chlorine is very corrosive, so some damage may have been done.
Click to expand...

it wasn' tlike he left the batterys in there for hours i'm sure he quickly pulled it out, and i don't think the water would stay trapped into any thing , even the ipod
 
i'd wait a bit longer,

and the bad news is, pool water is very dirty with a lot of chlorine, and kid's pee, so imagine your ipod having that still there even when the water's dried up.
 
if you do use a hairdryer, make suer you don't melt it. My sister split a glass of water over our Apple keyboard, and my dad got my bro to dry it with a hairdryer! he managed to melt about half the keys!
 
:confused:
MacBook'06 said:
if you do use a hairdryer, make suer you don't melt it. My sister split a glass of water over our Apple keyboard, and my dad got my bro to dry it with a hairdryer! he managed to melt about half the keys!
Click to expand...


LOL....
Will keep you guys informed.

What are the chances of my macbook battery damaging my macbook?:confused: or my psp?
 
My Apple Remote accidentally stayed in my pocket, and went through the washer. I took out the battery, and let it fry for 2 days. Worked perfectly. I'd recommend 3 days for your stuff dt dry though.;)
 
farqueue said:
:confused:


LOL....
Will keep you guys informed.

What are the chances of my macbook battery damaging my macbook?:confused: or my psp?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't try to use the battery just to be safe, especially since it was dropped in cholorinated water. I dropped my iPod in water (regular water) and it was fine. I just banged it against the counter to shake some water out, blew in it a little, left it for a day and it was fine. It did die a few months later, whether or not that was related to the water incident, I don't know.
 
For your iPod: Take it apart. Look to see if there is any remaining spec of water in there. Suck it out and be on your way :p Now taking apart an iPod is a difficult challenge, but it's possible. Ive done it once just out of curiosity. OWC's little video tutorial helped a ton.

Your battery: I don't know what to say.

PSP: Dry it with a hair dryer.
 
Moisture destroys Lithium-Ion batteries. I dropped my cellphone into a pool a couple years ago, and the battery went from having 3 days of standby time to about 5 minutes on a full charge, after being in the water for only a second or two. Took it to the Verizon store pretending like I didn't know what happened (how naïve of me :rolleyes: ) and it didn't take the tech 5 seconds to diagnose it. (And if a Verizon 'tech' can figure it out, it must be obvious..)
 
There is very little chance of the battery harming your MacBook. In all likelihood, if the battery is too damaged, it just won't work.

I'd say a one week wait should be fine. I've dropped my iPod into a sink, and a cell phone into a toilet (thankfully, BEFORE I had used it, although it was still gross,) and that same cell phone into a creek. Both times, the phone worked just fine. (Although that same phone later got dropped into a puddle, and the LCD backlight went out.) Odd, but that one cell phone is the only one I have ever dropped into water, among the 10 cell phones I've owned, and it wasn't even the phone I owned the longest!
 
FullmetalZ26 said:
Took it to the Verizon store pretending like I didn't know what happened (how naïve of me :rolleyes: ) and it didn't take the tech 5 seconds to diagnose it. (And if a Verizon 'tech' can figure it out, it must be obvious..)
Click to expand...

There are indicator's that change color permenantly, I believe on the battery itself, when exposed to water, sometimes, even just really high humidity will do it!
 
The only thing that makes me doubtful about the iPod is that it is never really "off" - it draws power all the time, so the circuits will have current flowing through. Still, well worth letting it dry out, because I suppose the same is true for cellphones.
 
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