Dropped iphone 5 in water. Help?

Thanks Linda - gives me hope.

IPhone has been in rice since last wednesday afternoon after a drop in the toilet.

waiting, waiting....

I also dropped my iPhone 5(s) in water, quickly pulled it straight out, but then it slipped and fell back in and i immediately pulled it out, towel dried it as I pulled of the case (belkin slip-on with no front cover) and continued to towel dry it as I turned it off--noticing that the screen had started to go haywire (static-like horizontal lines) I immediately took it outside and set it in the sun while I googled what to do and found this posting.

I immediately put it in a bag of rice (zip-lock snack-bag) and pulled the sim card out and continued to leave it in the sun for about 3-4 hours. the bag became clouded with moisture on the inside, i figured I could stuff it with more rice so I did. I read further that leaving it in the bag for a long time (36 hours or more) would be key to the success of evaporating all the water. it was hard to do without the phone for two whole days but I did. I left it in the bag (moved it inside after the initial 3-4 hours in the sun) for about 40 hours, woke up, pulled it out of the bag of rice (making sure to get tiny bits of rice out of the sim slot and other areas) and turned it on--works wonderfully!

thank you all for your posts, its hard to wait so long, and its difficult to know just how long you really need to leave it in the rice, but I'm glad I did wait as long as I did and found that I was able to survive without the phone for a couple of days. I also discovered that AT&T voicemail password reset will only work via text which is dumb as H-E-double hockey sticks!

You must not live it Texas because otherwise the sun would have killed your iPhone. If it ever happens again put it in a cool, dry place like a cupboard.

My iPhone 5c has been in rice for about 4 days. I plugged in the charger and the apple appears then disappears then appears again. Is it ruined?

Leave it on the charger for 30 minutes and then Reset it while it is still connected: Hold down the home and sleep buttons, wait for the Apple logo, let go of the buttons. If that fails you will probably need to do an out-of-warranty replacement.

Thanks, Deggie, I will give it a try. If I do need a new phone, can I return it to an Apple store or do I have to go through my phone carrier? Thanks!

"DO NOT check your phone to see if it works, unless you want circuits to short immediately and screw yourself with zero recourse available.

DO NOT throw it in a gross bag of rice.

You wiill need

As much silica as possible (raid your suitcases, wife's shoe boxes, ikea flat packs, electronics, etc.) keep this stuff when you find it. It's handy!

1 Tupperware or Ziplock bag.

Isopropyl Alcohol (optional, mostly).

Paper Towels.

Dish Towels.

1 salad spinner.

DO remove all accessories, and sim/memory cards. If your phone was dropped in sugary liquid (and ONLY if dropped in sugary liquid) completely submerge your phone in 100% rubbing alcohol (yes, I'm actually serious). You want to avoid the alcohol part if you just dropped it in water as you run the risk of dissolving adhesives inside the phone. If it was dropped in yesterday's glass of coke you'll be just as screwed if you don't do this step as your phone WILL ultimately stop functioning from the sugar residue, so the iso bath is worth the risk and SHOULD be done.

Lay your phone in a bed of paper towels or dish towels in a salad spinner if possible. If you don't have a salad spinner available it's not the end of the world, skip step if needed. Place phone on side against wall of spinner with screen facing the centre of the spinner, we want the liquid pulled away from the screen and towards the battery area. After a good amount of delicious centrifugal force has been applied (couple minutes, tops) in salad spinner, shake that phone like your life depended on it (keep a FIRM grip or it will end up as a decoration lodged in your drywall) until you're not getting spray out of it with each shake. Place in ziplock bag with screen facing UP with as much silica gel as possible for TWO DAYS without breaking the seal. If you have enough silica gel packets, pack the battery compartment with them and place around all sides of phone. Get as much coverage as possible. DO NOT CHECK ON IT FOR THE ENTIRE TWO DAYS. I'm anal about this, but silica is wicking moisture and we want this the entire 48 hours without interruption.

While your phone is doing it's drying thing, clean contacts of the sim/memory card with alcohol wipe or isopropyl and paper towel/whatever.

This works. I have saved MANY, MANY phones using this technique. You want to start this process as quickly as possible, get that thing powered OFF. Circuits start blowing pretty much immediately.

While this process works well, a lot of the time previously wet phones are still ticking time bombs, especially if exposed to moisture while turned on (which is almost always) and left on for two long after exposure. You may notice buttons start to go, camera gets wonky, etc. That being said, I have many people who have no problems in the future at all. It's a good process and I swear by it.

And remember make this process AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.

I've been in the telecoms industry for years, this is what I do.

Good luck!"

From Reddit - this actually works. http://goo.gl/eV6OhF

Just to clarify, both raw rice and NEW silica gel packets are desiccants and either will work. Ones from luggage, shoe boxes, etc. are usually no longer "charged" for lack of a better term. The phone will still dry just as fast without the used silica gel packets.

You should not submerge the iPhone in isopropyl alcohol, it contains too much water and will damage certain parts of the phone. If it has been in a corrosive liquid if one has the inclination you can take it apart and cleanse it using distilled water. But if the iPhone has been exposed to corrosive liquids you really are wasting your time, don't do anything with it except make an appointment at your nearest Apple Store and do an out-of-warranty replacement.

Look at this! Try it! It works 95% of the time... better than rice 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R0w0-W5-pU

Thanks everyone for all your help. I wound up going to the Apple Store and having to get a new phone for $269. Where do you get the do-hickies needed to take out the sim card and the battery? I couldn't get the battery out because I didn't have a screw driver small enough.

Bend a paper clip.

Unfortunately, none of this worked for me.

I dropped my iPhone 5s down the toilet, took it out within a few seconds, shook it until no more water was coming out, wiped it dry with toilet paper, then immediately buried it in large amounts of rice in a small plastic food container.

The next day I got silica bags and "padded" the iPhone with them, still leaving it completely submerged in rice.

72 hours passed, just tried turning it on, no luck. Put it on charge and left it charging for 30 minutes, nothing. The iPhone did get hot from charging, but won't go on or give any other signs of life.

Looks like I'm gonna have to have it replaced.

Sigh.

This is especially unfair since my flatmate's iPhone has been down the same toilet, and she just left it for a few days - didn't even bother with silica or the rice - and it worked fine afterwards. My colleague's iPhone has been down the work toilet, she took it out, but it was slippery, so she dropped it in there AGAIN, and had to fish for a while to get it out - AND IT STILL WORKS. And a friend's iPhone fell into boiling hot tea and stayed there until she got to a sink to pour the hot water out. She also did nothing, just left it to dry for 24 hours. AND IT STILL WORKS.

I guess it's just my karma.

I Dropped my iphone5 ( bought only 2 months ago and with no insurance) into the toilet. Tried to ring somebody just to check if it's working . No sound. Then my daughter in law gave me this advice.

Switch off the phone first. Don't try to use it .

Don't use any hair dryer , or keeping in the sun to warm it.

GEt a bag of rice. Put your phone in it and cover it with rice. ( rice is supposed to be absorbing the moisture.).

seal the bag well and leave it for 48 hr.

i Pulled my phone out of the bag after 48 hr and praise the Lord, it's working beautifully. Only thing, check for grains of rice sticking to the phone. Shake it well to get rid of the dust.

P.M.

I dropped my phone in the toilet, and immediately retrieved it. I wiped it off, powered it down, and put it under the hand dryer for 5 minutes. (I didn't realize that the heat is more damaging than helpful- so don't do that!) 45 minutes later, I had it in a bag of instant rice with some silica gel packs. I left it for 48 hours in total, and when I turned it on it worked perfectly fine. Maybe I was just lucky, but if you're patient and hopeful then miracles can happen!

You were lucky. Odds are in the future you'll have problems with the device. If that happens, just get Apple to service it. Any non-authorized service voids your support options from Apple.