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What to do if your iPhone gets wet
Whether the culprit is a sink, toilet or rainstorm, getting your iPhone soaked in water or any other liquid is bad news. If the unthinkable happens, and you don't have insurance, your best bet is to make sure the iPhone is off, swap it down with a dry cloth, then do one of the following immediately:
- Put your iPhone in a tub or bag of uncooked rice and let it sit for several hours (up to 2 days).
- Place your iPhone in a plastic bag with a few silica packets.
- Put your iPhone in a hearing aid dryer for several hours.
The point with all of these methods is to draw all moisture out of the phone as quickly as possible. Just air-drying the unit is an option, but won't act as quickly as the aforementioned methods.
If none of these tactics prove effective, and your iPhone loses significant or all functionality, an Apple FAQ states that if you own an iPhone and it requires service for any reason other than the battery (which costs $86 total to replace), Apple will repair your iPhone for the service fee listed below, plus $6.95 for shipping and handling:
- 4GB: $199
- 8GB: $249
Presumably this includes liquid damage, though Apple states ?Service may not be available if your iPhone has been damaged due to accident or abuse.?
We've received reports from some readers who had success having their liquid-damaged iPhones replaced free of charge by geniuses at the Apple Store, but don't count on it. This type of replacement is likely only if it can be proven that the device was damaged during routine use.
Feedback? info@iphoneatlas.com.
If you put the phone in cooked rice, it will only get more damaged - and spoil perfectly good rice
At the genius bar that i had to wait 45mins for, i was finally speaking to a so called mac "genius", after 3 trips to the office he finally came out and said my phone had water damage and they could do nothing. This is where i got very upset and had to try very hard not to make a scene! My phone had not been near any water or excessive moisture to my knowledge. After a long discussion, and being told that my only choice was to buy a new phone, i had to be taken out of the store by my friend before i beat the "genius" out of the guy for being so unhelpful!
Determined that no water had touched my phone, apple tech support was next. 2 months later (only being able to use my ?260 phone and ?45 per month contract, through a bluetooth headset) and more arguments with various apple techs and managers, i finally have a new phone!!
I know alot of people must try and con Apple into a new phone, this is not what i was after. All i wanted was what i paid alot for, to work.
I have always used Apple and will always buy their products but i think the after sales service was terrible.
When we got back to the hotel I searched in the Internet and found iphoneatlas.com. I followed one of the suggestions that I found. I inserted the I-Phone in a plastic bag with a couple of silica bags from the nearest shoe store and waited for 24 hours. The next day we got back home and connected the I-Phone to the electricity, he was fully charged and it is working perfectly.
I saved my wife's I-Phone thanks to iphoneatlas.com suggestions.
Tonight, the iPhone is fine and working. I'm amazed!
I am going to get some of these Silica Packet things to keep just in case from now on!
Thanks a ton iPhone Atlas, I owe you one now!
I remember my grannies put unripe fruits inside rice box's to let it ripe without rotting..
Same knowledge applies to my iPhone.. it did not rot :-)
i spilled a cup filled with water on my iphone last night as i was fumbling in the dark looking for my lamp switch. after assessing the damage; couldn't make calls, couldn't play songs through speaker, i submerged it in a tupperware filled with uncooked white rice overnight, then hoped and prayed for the best. it is now the morning after, and my iphone is back with no apparent ill effects. i feel as though i've just witnessed a miracle! i'm going to leave it in it's rice regeneration chamber a while longer just to be safe. thanks again!
It took a little more than just drying.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=416062563&blogID=435512784
I knew enough to try to dry it out but was on the road and so just put in on the motel AC vent to get air moving over it. After a day it came back to life but wouldn't charge and was very flaky. A second day sitting in a container of raw rice had it pretty much back to working but the screen had the mottled look of water in the LCD and as soon as I got home I went to the Apple store where they peered into the headphone jack and saw the corrosion at the plug and sent me packing. I was worried that the screen wouldn't dry out or was permanently damaged but I found a few Silica Gel packets and put it in a zip lock and saw a small improvement. I took the phone home and vacuum sealed it with 4 packets of the Silica Gel desiccant and then placed the phone on the center of my gas range over the pilot light so it would stay very warm (maybe 90-100?F) and left it overnight. This worked. In 8 hours the whole screen had dried out and the phone is functioning as good as new. I think the vacuum (home food saver type) accelerated the process but the Silica Gel desiccant worked much better than the rice.
So there you have it - back from completely dead. Hope this helps someone.
So there is hope it might take longer to dry out the wetter you get it but it will come back. Mine did I am a happy camper tonite. I have it charging up now and Im so glad I didnt ruin it.
Thought I would share
Anyway, I followed the "bury the phone in rice" advice. I was skeptical, but it worked! I did allow about 32 hours, longer than recommended.
I'm a believer! Since then, I've returned to iPhoneatlas.com for other advice, and it has been right on. Thanks, iPhoneatlas.
i put my iphone in the washer & i need hopee!
- by stranger_2p February 15, 2009 1:17 PM PST
- My iphone 3g fell in the toilet one day ago (for about 3sec), it turned off then i did the thing that i probably shouldnt have done so tell me please if it was a huge mistake and can the consequences be fatal-i came home and charged it for 5 hours...and i heard that the worst thing u can do is connect ur phone to electricity when there is water left in it. i stopped charging it in 5 hours, tried to turn it on, it did. Everything worked perfectly-i could make calls, headphones worked, i could play music...then it turned off couple of times during the day but would turn on immediately again. But in the evening it turned off again and now i can not turn it on anymore. Then i was being stupid again and again connected it to computer to charge it but then i read this thing on the internet saying ur not supposed to do that and of course unplugged it immediately, put it in the bowl of rice and left under the bulb...
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- by Siegertskill July 17, 2009 11:56 PM PDT
- OMG I feel like I owe you my life ha!
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Showing 1 of 4 pages (98 Comments)but my question is-how much harm have i done by charging it for these 5 hours? is it possible that it wud come back to life after that?
and for how long should i keep it in this bawl? some people say 1 overnight, some people say a week
please help me, im desperate:(
:(
I got my new Iphone 3GS 32gb white!!!! - thats not relevant but it is to me as its only two weeks old and was a birthday present... also its pay as you go and not insured! Its been my baby since I had it :) The love of my life LOL
So... I spilt Rose wine on it last night - wiped it dry only to find the headphone speaker didn't work! It rang fine but no sound for txt or key tapping or ipod music and i couldn't take calls unless i put the speaker on! Also my headphones worked, so it was just the headphone speaker that was obviously wet! I was crying :'(
(Interesting though as the Iphone must have two different speakers - one for the music, text, key sounds and calls and another for speaker phone and ringtone!)
I found this site and as crazy as it sounded put my Iphone in a bag of brown dried rice approx at 1AM - i've just woken up switched it on 7AM so my phone was only in the bag for 6 hours!! & its working FINE :) Fingers crossed all back to normal!!
I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!! although I probably would have been able to take it back to the shop and get an exchange with my receipt as its only two weeks old I really didn't want to have all the hassle of actually doing it and explaining to the person who bought me it :)
Sorry to sound so dramatic but if you're reading this and your Iphone had just got wet please do not panic - go grab some rice asap and be patient :)
Thanks again CNET :) x