Wet iPhone and rice--fully submerge the phone?

[Dee*Jay]

So my technology got a little wet this weekend (don't ask... ) and I've read all the tips about putting a wet iphone in rice. My phone actually didn't fully submerge, it was on the side of a sink charging and got heavily splashed. It turns on and I can use it, but there is water under the screen. The water seems to be moving around a bit over time. I have the phone in a tupperware bowl right now, where the rice is under the phone and the phone is suspended about 1/2" above the rice due to the shape of the bowl. I've also got a space heater trained on the bowl. Is that good enough or does it have to be fully submerged? I would have to go through all this hassle to get the water out only to ruin it by getting rice in any of the holes...

 

[minousbijoux]

Wow, I had no idea any of this would work, but good luck to you

 

[Dee*Jay]

minousbijoux - They also say that putting it in a zip lock bag with silica packets will work, and one post even mentioned using silica kitty litter, but since my closest store option was CVS, rice was the best I could do. (Actually, I may have been able to get silica kitty litter there, but I didn't think of it until I was already back in my office.)

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

I have fully submerged my phone, let it sit in rice for 24 hours without touching it and it worked again. Good luck!

 

[amc80]

Yep, fully submerge. Good luck!

 

[ame]

So my technology got a little wet this weekend (don't ask... ) and I've read all the tips about putting a wet iphone in rice. My phone actually didn't fully submerge, it was on the side of a sink charging and got heavily splashed. It turns on and I can use it, but there is water under the screen. The water seems to be moving around a bit over time. I have the phone in a tupperware bowl right now, where the rice is under the phone and the phone is suspended about 1/2" above the rice due to the shape of the bowl. I've also got a space heater trained on the bowl. Is that good enough or does it have to be fully submerged? I would have to go through all this hassle to get the water out only to ruin it by getting rice in any of the holes...

Fully submerge it and don't heat it or the water will boil. Either way, this is a temporary bandaid because it won't function for too much longer once you rescusitate it, this will essentially buy you time to sync/back up your stuff before replacing it with insurance/apple care which I hope you have.

 

[Rockdiamond]

If Apple detects that the phone was submerged- or ruined due to water, it voids the warrantee- and we all know they've figured out ways of detecting this stuff

 

[ame]

If Apple detects that the phone was submerged- or ruined due to water, it voids the warrantee- and we all know they've figured out ways of detecting this stuff

Your warranty is definitely voided. There are 4 water sensors. Two are visible by you, two will be visible by them when they open it and they will know it's been wet. They check the outer two when you go in for service immediately. My mom knocked hers in the toilet, and just ended up using her upgrade to replace. Either way, you're going to be buying a new phone so I hope you have insurance/applecare+/upgrade available.

 

[that_someone_special]

I don't recommend this at ALL (rice)!!

Put it in the fridge for a few days. It will dry out the phone.

Rice particles can get trapped (and expand) in the device and make it worse. I've seen it happen.

Fridges have dehumidifiers in them. It works.

 

[radiantquest]

My stepdaughter dropped hers in the toilet. We fully submerged it in a bowl of rice and sat the bowl with the phone in it on top of our dehumidifier. I cant tell you exactly how long we left it. I think overnight.

The phone worked fine after that and she is still using it a year later and uses it without issue to this day.

 

[ponder]

one of my coworkers did the rice in a Ziploc bag trick last month. Kept it in the bag for at least 24 hours. No problems since.

 

[Dee*Jay]

I actually stopped at Home Depot and got some DampRid, which is several times more absorbant than rice. The phone is charging up right now. and once it's done I'm going to seall it in a tupperware container again for the night. Fortunately the phone is working, and has ever since the incident, although the reason I knew something was wrong was that it could hear a buzzing in the bathroom in the middle of the night and when I went in there an alarm indicating was showing on the screen and it was going off. Every time I turned the phone off though it came back on on its own...?

Anyway, my most immediate issue (and really, I can work around it) is that it looks like there are giant ameobae under my screen. Kind of an interesting contemporary art effect, but not one I would have chosen myself! Anyway, I'm pretty sure the phone will crap out on me at some point, but I am going to use this $3.79 worth of DampRid and see if it will extend the life a bit. I've also looked at waterproof cases on Amazon and I may be making a little internet purchase here tonight!

 

[minousbijoux]

I'm sending you lots of dust - but certainly NOT the kind that is small enough to get trapped in your phone

 

[Dee*Jay]

Whatever I'm doing is definitely working! I kept the phone suspended above the DampRid last light (is it a lot more powdery than rice, so I'm afraid to just stick it in there becuase stuff would certainly get in the holes) and this morning I could tell there is less water (although still some, and it's in more defined drops and before when it was a giant morphone ameoba). I have it sealed in the rubbermaid container again today with the small space heater focused on it, so I'm hoping within another few days it will be cured!

The waterproof cases BTW are HUGE. I had no sense of their real size until I pulled out a ruler. Hmmm... undecided on what what to do about ordering one or not...

 

[amc80]

Whatever I'm doing is definitely working! I kept the phone suspended above the DampRid last light (is it a lot more powdery than rice, so I'm afraid to just stick it in there becuase stuff would certainly get in the holes) and this morning I could tell there is less water (although still some, and it's in more defined drops and before when it was a giant morphone ameoba). I have it sealed in the rubbermaid container again today with the small space heater focused on it, so I'm hoping within another few days it will be cured!

The waterproof cases BTW are HUGE. I had no sense of their real size until I pulled out a ruler. Hmmm... undecided on what what to do about ordering one or not...

My husband has the Lifeproof case. It was expensive ($80) but has already saved his phone more than once...Like when he dropped it in the cat's water bowl. It does make the phone a lot bigger. Plus there's a plastic sheet thing that goes over the screen, which is sort of annoying. But worth it if you are prone to phone accidents.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Lifeproof is supposed to be the best waterproof one, from what I have heard. I just saw one when I was car shopping and it didnt look so huge to me, but it was an iphone 5, I think.

I got the Otterbox Defender case for my daughter's 5, and it does add bulk but it is not an option for her to have an unprotected phone! I might get her a Lifeproof one, though, because the Otterbox is not waterproof.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Alright, I just gave in and ordered the Lifeproof one. I found it online for $35.99, which is about what I paid for the one at the Sprint store when I got my phone. I kind of wish I hand known about this then!

My phone is still cooking away over there in the bowl with the heater. I've had to explain my set up to a bunch of people who have come into my office today. C'mon folks--don't you have a plastic bowl filled with chemical pellets in front of a heat source on your desk to?!?

 

[labellavita81]

I love the life proof case - the customer service is great too. I have had two issues with my case since I got it.
They replaced it free of charge both times... I am currently awaiting replacement case number 2 as we speak!

 

[webdiva]

I knocked my old iphone into the dog bowl (only about 1/2 inch of water in it at the time) and did the rice in ziploc thing. Totally worked, no issues with the phone at all. Definitely recommend backing it up. The sound didn't work at first...but putting in my head phones and taking them out made it work again.

 

[tuffyluvr]

Alright, I just gave in and ordered the Lifeproof one. I found it online for $35.99, which is about what I paid for the one at the Sprint store when I got my phone. I kind of wish I hand known about this then!

My phone is still cooking away over there in the bowl with the heater. I've had to explain my set up to a bunch of people who have come into my office today. C'mon folks--don't you have a plastic bowl filled with chemical pellets in front of a heat source on your desk to?!?

I agree with everyone--the lifeproof is a great buy. It does make the phone bigger, but the new lifeproof cases are smaller than the original OtterBox, which I had on my first iPhone. You get used to the phone/case being bigger and its actually easier to find in your purse (+1!), though harder to get out of your pocket (-1)... I didn't mind the old OtterBox except that I had to take the whole case off to use my car charger (-5!).

DF has the LifeProof case and it's pretty awesome. He got it because a bunch of the guys he works with have it, and it has saved people's phones many times over. One of his friends at work has his phone fall about 10-15 feet onto a concrete floor and it was fine--that's practically a miracle!

I had a phone fall out of my pocket into a creek (fully submerged), and one of my friends dropped hers in the toilet (before she went, thank god!). We both had great results with the rice trick. Sounds like its working for you too... Dust!!!

edited for brainlessness...

 

[minousbijoux]

I wish I had known about this trick when I decided to wash my phone in the washing machine. See I figured, for lack of something better, since it had been in the washing machine the logical thing was to put it in the dryer. Not. Good. Idea.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Wow! I don't know whether it was the heat or the DampRid or both, but almost all of the water is gone! Like 90% gone! I'm going to keep doing this until it's all gone, and then for another few days longer just for good measure.

A question though... do you think any of this just has to do with TIME? Like, what if people didn't put their phones in rice or use DampRid or put them in the dryer (and thank you for the laugh!), but just WAITED? Maybe all this other stuff just makes us feel like we're doing somehting, but given a little time, perhaps the phones would just be alright anyway...?

 

[mrssalvo]

Girl, I'm a amazed at your patience. I'd have gone out and bought a new one My sister dropped hers in a glass of water and got it to dry, but, things stopped working right. Siri stopped working completely.. anyway, I hope it dries out and is good as new!!
how are you liking your new city btw?

 

[Dee*Jay]

Mrs. S., I would have replaced it in a New York minute if it didn't work, but it keeps on going! And now there are only a few drops, although they are bigger than the ones yesterday--maybe they are converging? I don't think the DampRid and heating pad did much of anything over night, but I've got it in front of the heater again today, which is where it seemed to make the most progress yesterday. I guess we'll see what happens!

As for Kansas City... this place is like a third world country with a few strip malls thrown in for good measure. But I'm making the most of it!

ETA: About Siri--sometimes she's a little b!tchy to me anyway, so I wouldn't be too sorry if she took a hike!

 

[webdiva]

Glad it's getting better! I think the point of the rice, etc is to keep the moisture from soaking in further.

BTW - I think Siri has frequency issues with women's voices - hubby's works better than mine. hehe

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Yay! Glad it is working. I have always heard cutting off the power ASAP and allowing it to dry out has a good outcome. I researched wet laptops awhile back and many people "saved" their macbooks!