Salt water on iPhone 5

My iPhone 5 got splashed with salt water. Still works, but a message about compatible device keeps displaying, which sounds like salt water got on the dock connector.

I powered it down. Any suggestions on what to do next? Someone suggested wiping the inside dock connector with rubbing alcohol. Would that work? I'm not very hopeful, given what I've read about salt water. Thanks!

You can try the rice method (see here) but I foresee two difficulties with using that method: first, you've been using the phone and the more you do, the smaller the chance that'll work; second, the rice method may remove any moisture (if there's any left) but that may just leave the salt which, on its own, might be just as bad (it might be better or worse but either way, you're still leaving salt to rest which is not good).

What have you done thus far?

Thanks so much for getting back for quickly.

I powered the iPhone down within 30 min of getting the message, and immediately put it in a zip lock bag of rice. It's been in the bag since then, about 18 hours.

Those instructions recommend a good 24 hours at a minimum, 48-72 being the best option. Give it a day or two and hope for the best.

Once it dries out, you'll need to do some disassembly to clean the places where the salt water got onto. It's best to clean them with something like de-natured alcohol in order to remove any traces of salt residue. You can find disassembly instructions at www.ifixit.com.

Thanks vansmith and chscag. Those are very helpful. Next time I'll leave the phone in a water proof case where it should have been in the first place.