iPhone 4S + water

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So I was out taking pictures with my camera and my iPhone yesterday. In trying to navigate to a precarious spot where I could place my tripod I gave my attention to my precariously placed camera and neglected to remember my iPhone was in my pocket. Bent over a little and the phone slipped out into a very shallow puddle. Picked it up right away and dried it as best I could. I did turn it on not knowing any better at the time. It's worked all day yesterday since and it worked this morning too. Checked my email first thing. But it is now not charging. Anyone have any experience with water damage? It appears to be working, just not charging, like moisture has gotten to the connector but left the phone itself intact. I've got it turned off in a bag of rice now. What do I do if after a period of time it still won't power up when connected? Can that individual component be replaced without having to pay for an entire new phone?
 

Raz0rEdge

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Since the charging port is the open part of the phone, water hitting that part will definitely cause damage.

Can you plug the phone into your computer and see if it recognizes it, if that doesn't happen and you might be out of luck since you can't necessarily replace that one part only since it's all soldered together onto the logic board of the iPhone..

You might have to get a new iPhone..
 
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It's odd, because it's worked the whole time. And the battery symbol appears. It just doesn't make the chirp sound when it begins to connect and power up. It just shows the symbol but the battery animation doesn't move. It doesn't increase from empty red. When disconnected it shows the symbol that it needs to charge.
 
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You might have inadvertently made it worse by charging it up.

The thing to do would be to obtain some bags of silica gel (camera shops should do them) and seal them in an airtight container with the phone for several days.

Failing that dry uncooked rice instead of silica gel is another trick.
 

Raz0rEdge

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These devices are fairly well sealed and water might not have gotten into the real innards thus allowing it to function, but the charging port is exposed and thus probe to issues when exposed to water.

Depending on what pins might be shorted, the iPhone might be detecting the connection thus displaying the battery image, but the pins that actually carry the power for charging might not be working, thus no real charging happening..

Go through the drying techniques mentioned by pendlewitch and if that doesn't work, you're probably out of options..
 
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Well let's see what happens with the trusted professional photographers' technique before countenancing that.

I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. I was referencing Razor's statement that, if the silica/rice trick didn't work, then the OP was likely out of options.
 
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Let the iphone sit for a while so that it can completely dry out. My 3gs did the same thing when it fell in the water and it started to work a few days later. These things are very water resistant in my experiences my 4 was under water for about 15 seconds and it still works like new.
 
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You can check for a red dot/light in the earphone plug. Look directly into the hole. If it's there then the phone has registered water damage. If it's not there, you can try your luck with replacing it at Apple. If it's there, they will not replace. I've had friends replace various components for various generations of iphones at repair shops so all is not lost. Hope it all works out for u.
 
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Take it to the apple store and tell them your situation. Be very honest and do not lie to them about what happened. I have had some success with this when my iPad screen cracked.
 
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And after all that, think about investing in one of these: Life Proof Case

I have one and it is amazing. Throw it across the room you can use it in the shower it is amazing. I wish that I would have not gotten the otterbox and just gotten the life proof case.
 

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