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iPhone in toilet

W

wheeldawg2

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 1, 2011
3
0
My wife dropped her iPhone in the toilet and it no longer works. We cannot afford another at this time. Does anyone know of a cheap alternative to just have a phone until we can replace it? Someone told me the prepaid phones at Wal-mart for $20 will work with the AT&T SIM card. Is this true and/or are there other options>

Thanks
 
Thanks.

We can't swing that right now, main reason being as our contract was up in October and we are kind of waiting to get iPhone5 as Christmas presents and renew in December, so just need a functioning phone until then.
 
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Yes, you should be able to buy a cheap phone and use it until you can replace your iPhone. My wife did it when she was waiting for an upgrade and didn't want to pay the huge difference. You can go by AT&T and they can hook you up.

Also, don't trash the dead iPhone. Put it on eBay and describe exactly what happened. I killed my first iPhone 4 by dropping it in the toilet and it sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars. People buy them and fix them.
 
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^^ Yeah. You can grab a AT&T Go Phone for pretty cheap to hold you over until you get a new iPhone. You can even get really dirt cheap AT&T phones off eBay. I got a used Samsung Strive for $10 and even got AT&T to unlock it for me.
 
You should be able to pick up a cheap AT&T phone with no problem, as long as its using the same size SIM. We did that for my son after his 3G died and before we got him a 3GS. Worked fine.
 
My wife dropped her iPhone in the toilet and it no longer works. We cannot afford another at this time. Does anyone know of a cheap alternative to just have a phone until we can replace it? Someone told me the prepaid phones at Wal-mart for $20 will work with the AT&T SIM card. Is this true and/or are there other options>

Thanks
Click to expand...

You can get a different phone and should be able to get it working with that sim. That being said, if your contract is up, you can modify your plan to remove the data so you are not paying for it.
 
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Anytime you drop a phone into water, immediately remove the battery (or turn it off if it is not removable) and place it in a bag and cover it with a desiccant. If you dont have any, then use rice, it will work well to remove moisture. Then place it some place dry and warm. Sometimes electronic devices can be saved if they have not damaged any electronics before the power was removed.
If you have not done this yet, it wouldn't hurt to try it. Of course, the more recent it has been the better the chances of saving it.
 
Let the phone sit in rubbing alcohol (higher % the better) for at least 10-15 minutes then light it dry in a sealed container of (uncooked) rice (or desiccant as mentioned above), preferably under a light. If you're lucky the phone will work after the cleansing. My iPhone 3G took a plunge a few years ago and didn't work for 2 or 3 days after cleaning it. It has been functioning normally ever since. Hopefully all you need is a good cleaning.
 
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SDub90 said:
Let the phone sit in rubbing alcohol (higher % the better) for at least 10-15 minutes then light it dry in a sealed container of (uncooked) rice (or desiccant as mentioned above), preferably under a light. If you're lucky the phone will work after the cleansing. My iPhone 3G took a plunge a few years ago and didn't work for 2 or 3 days after cleaning it. It has been functioning normally ever since. Hopefully all you need is a good cleaning.
Click to expand...

Soaking it in alcohol and setting it on fire would certainly dry it out. Obviously, he meant "let", but I coudlnt resist. :)
 
wvphysics said:
Soaking it in alcohol and setting it on fire would certainly dry it out. Obviously, he meant "let", but I coudlnt resist. :)
Click to expand...

LOL....

Or, if you are handy with tools you could take it all apart and clean it up using circuit cleaner. If you do this I would let the display dry in desiccant for a few days to get all the moisture out. There are great walkthroughs on ifixit to pull it apart. I just swapped the battery on my 3G and it was pretty easy.
 
My friend dropped her iPhone 4 in water and it became unusable.

The genius replaced it for free, you should try your luck. It's worth a shot, Apple has been known to be extremely leanent with replacements, just explain your situation. Make sure you go to apple, not AT&T. Don't call over the phone either, just book an appointment at the apple store. It really is worth a shot.
 
wheeldawg2 said:
My wife dropped her iPhone in the toilet and it no longer works. We cannot afford another at this time. Does anyone know of a cheap alternative to just have a phone until we can replace it? Someone told me the prepaid phones at Wal-mart for $20 will work with the AT&T SIM card. Is this true and/or are there other options>

Thanks
Click to expand...

you can get a new att phone on ebay for like 20-25 and it will be pretty good
 
What was an iPhone doing near a toilet in the first place? :rolleyes:

But try the bag of rice trick, and if all else fails, explain the story to the Apple Genius and hope for a replacement. Otherwise, get those cheap $0 phones to tie you over until the iPhone 5.
 
You need to be more careful. People that don't take care of their belongings tend to lose them. Especially an iPhone, which I can see that it costed you good, unfortunately I can't help you, so maybe get a cheap prepaid phone and hold till December ;)
 
Wow. Thanks for all the replys folks. I did get an AT&T Go phone for $10 and it is working fine.

I did take it apart and place it in rice, and while that may have corrected the moisture issue, conector #3 is broken and I can't get it hooked back up to see. Although, after doing a little research, I understand, I should be able to connect just #1 and #2 and be able to see if the moisture isssue is resolved and if so, there is a guy named Hector in California that uses a micrscope to replace connector #3, so may send it to him to get it repaired. That is why I just needed a cheap interim phone. Also, I have a guy that gets broken phones from AT&T and fixes and sells them, so was hoping he might cut me a deal. There is no Apple store near here, so can't try that option.

Again thanks for all the replys!
 
JetBlack7 said:
You need to be more careful. People that don't take care of their belongings tend to lose them. Especially an iPhone, which I can see that it costed you good, unfortunately I can't help you, so maybe get a cheap prepaid phone and hold till December ;)
Click to expand...
So you just replied to preach at him? :confused:
 
Thankfully I never have had the need to try this on a phone but worked on a netbook I once had

I was almost done with a WISP install when a sudden storm rolled in and began pouring rain
I was on a roof with my netbook and managed to get some rain in it before I could get to shelter

Immediately took battery out
When at home I tore it as far apart as I could and set it in front of a fan for entire weekend
Monday morning - no love
Thru it all in a box and figured I would wait till city had another appliance/electronics drop off day

That day rolled around months later and I figured I would give it one last shot
It worked
Until I dropped it off a roof months later when faced with choice of saving my ass or my tool bag...
 
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