iPhone/iPod touch water damage - Remedy
Post by: bond
A Lesson Learned the Hard Way
I was returning from office and it was raining heavily. Since my iPhone 4s was in my bag i thought its safe and reached home completely drenched in rain. When i took my phone out of my wet bag i was shocked to see my iPhone was so wet. I could also see the water inside the camera. I immediately wiped it with a towel and later noticed that the touch screen wasnt responding. Siri keeps popping up even i didnt press home button. I was like oh my.. thats it gone :(
But dont worry, i just followed the rice trick. I turned off my iPhone by simultaneously pressing the home button and power button for 7 seconds(i.e until the screen goes black) and immediately release the buttons. Then i placed the phone inside a box containing uncooked white dry rice. It sounds silly but it worked for me. I kept it for whole night and in the morning i took my iPhone out and amazed to see its working.
Follow the detail steps as mentioned below:
Don’t Turn Your Device On
This may sound like an obvious piece of advice, but trust me, it’s not. In fact, when as I climbed out of the pool having already handed my iPod to my friend, I found that this is exactly what he did. He quickly dried off the outside of the device with his shirt and then naturally wanted to see if everything still worked and tried to use it.
This is a fantastic way to fry your device permanently. Granted, it’s likely already on standby and not truly off, but you’re still only going to heighten the risk of permanent damage if you try to increase the electronic activity.
Fortunately, in the end, this action didn’t spell disaster for my iPod Touch, but you might not be so lucky.
Drying Out the Device
As soon as you recover your device from its watery grave, the first step is to get all of the water out that you can. This goes beyond wiping the device off to even gently shaking it to try to free any trapped water inside.
Be Wary of Heat
From here one of the most common ideas is to grab a hair dryer. The problem with this method is that you can do as much damage as you repair. We know that water and electronics don’t mix, but it turns out heat and electronics have a similar relationship.
I’ve talked to and read about people that have successfully saved their iOS devices with a hairdryer, so it can in fact work. However, I don’t recommend it. If you’re convinced that this is the way to go, just be sure to use a low heat setting and take frequent breaks to allow the sensitive components in the phone to cool down.
Silica Packets: Do Not Eat!
You know those packets that come in everything from shirt pockets to guitar cases? These handy little guys are always equipped with a life-saving warning: “Do not eat!” This message doesn’t really help us in this situation but the packets are actually quite useful. As you know, they’re designed to absorb moisture, which means they offer a great method for sucking the water out of your wet device.
Silica packets are awesome for saving wet electronics
What you want to do is fill a plastic bag or tupperware container with silica packets like in the image above and then toss in your iPhone. Next, seal the container and let it sit for a lot longer that you want it to. At the very least, let it go over night. If you’re cautious, 24-48 hours is a safer bet.
During this time, resist the urge to take your phone out and turn it on to see what happens. There will still be some condensation hanging around inside and you therefore have the same circuit frying risk as before. Patience is the key!
Rice: A More Practical Solution
In theory, a bag full of silica packets is awesome, but who really has twenty of those things lying around? If I tear my house completely apart I might be able to find two if I’m having a really lucky day.
When my iPod Touch went for a dip, I was too busy being angry at myself to fix the thing. Luckily, my wife jumped in and took over the situation. Being the resourceful woman that she is, she put my iPhone in a bag and filled it with rice. I was born with an overactive sense of skepticism so I saw my wife’s actions as pure nonsense and started planning my trip to the Apple Store for a replacement.
Rice is a great substitute for silica packets
It turns out though that my wife’s black magic is actually a fairly common practice with wet electronics. The rice acts exactly like the silica packets and absorbs the moisture. In fact, this trick worked like a charm and in 24 hours I threw my iPod on a charger and it came to life. That was well over a year ago and the device still works!
The reason that rice is a less ideal solution than the packets is that it’s much messier. Rice might take the water out of your device, but it can fill it with dust. Still, unless you’re a strange hoarder who happens to have mounds of silica, rice can be a very effective solution.
