Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Urgent Help Needed - Iphone 3G dropped in toilet :(

S

sdmfer

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 16, 2009
82
0
....submerged in my 3 year old sons Pi$$, I quickly reached down and rescued phone from the water. Tried to power off to no avail, shook it out, and took apart to let it dry for 27hrs on a paper towel.

I put it all back together and nothing....dead. Took it to a iphone repair guy last night who managed to get it to power on again and be recognized by my computer and car stereo etc when plugged in. HOWEVER, there is no display! Just a total white/greyish screen. The touch functions of the screen still work, cause when I swipe where the slider is to unlock, I can her the phone button tones when randomly pressing where the dialer would be. Also the phone still functions fine through my car stereo with bluetooth (dialing from car stereo interface), reads my tunes off the thing as well.

So, wondering what my next steps should be. The independant repair guy said he tried connecting another lcd screen but same issue. He suspects its a problem with the motherboard. He had no other recommendations though (and didnt charge me anything which was nice).

At this point I really want to get the following stuff off the phone, then worry about whatever the next steps would be.

- Need all my notepad notes! I have important stuff there
- Need all photos and cycorder vids
- Also need all my phone contacts

Thats all i think that is important for now. So what do you guys think? Anyone experience the same symptoms before after getting it wet?

Note - the phone is JB'd so I dont want to try a restore or backup through itunes yet....unless its recommended to do so...

Thanks guys.
 
I have heard that you may get some luck if you put it partially disassembled into an airtight canister containing uncooked rice. They say to leave it in there for at least a day or two. This technique supposedly creates a super dry environment that sucks all the moisture from inside of the phone. I have my doubts, but I have seen this mentioned more then once so give it a try.

PS - you don't jam it into the rice, you can lay it on top. I believe the rice in the container just absorbs all of the moisture from the air.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10115292-233.html
 
Im 99.9% sure the phone and internals are completely dry. I think something shorted out during the drowning experience causing a problem with the mobo...:(
 
AHA! Just found a wicked program to copy the things I need from the phone. I do have the ability to winscp into the phone and get most of what I want, but this program "TouchCopy09" is a good way to see all your notes, contacts etc on the phone and allows for options to copy to pc etc.

now just need "pay" for it to work ;)
 
Problem is, the phone has shielding over the logic section of the board and the RF section. Therefore, if water (or whatever) gets in there, it is hard to dry out. I reckon take whole phone apart plus take the shield covers off (not easy unless you have done it before. That is a last resort but strong possibility that the board's integrated circuits are damaged.
 
Yah I think thats what Im gonna have to do...Im now one of those "people" who feel completely lost without my phone.

I was looking around at the prices of new motherboards etc...YIKES, around 200bucks +

I called my provider (rogers) and they cant do anything for me, and Im not eligible for an upgrade until Nov 2010. Its a shame, considering I've technically been a customer since 1985 with the same number. Bullsheit!
 
how do I go about doing that? Im up in Ontario Canada, not sure of the steps/cost of doing so?
 
Thanks very much for the advice. Checking the site out now....much appreciated.
 
I must be losing it....can you point me to the link where I can find Out of Warranty replcaements...etc

Searched the apple.ca site and cant find squat...:(



correction - finally found it
 
Welp, quickly stopped by the apple store near work. Looks like I can give them my phone (after I un-jailbreak and remove personal stuff), and get a brand spankin new 3G 16GB for 229+tax totalling 258.77. Unfortunately they will only replace with the 3G and not the 3GS...

Is the 3GS a significant upgrade over the 3g? Or at this point just do it with the 3g, call it a bad day and be done with it?
 
I could've told you they'd only replace with a 3G.

The 3GS offers speed, voice recog, video, and "supposedly" a better battery. It's really up to you. 6 months from now there will be an even better model.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back