Help with water damaged iPhone!

Hi all,

So I got caught in a storm today when out jogging and even though my iPhone 5C was in an arm band, it still managed to get wet. Now it's stuck in boot up mode where the Apple logo appears, then turns off, then reappears, over and over...

I was able to get it into restore mode and via iTunes I started the restore process. The phone verifies the software ok, but then when it needs to restart, it's back to getting stuck on boot up.

It seems like the hardware is damaged, but please tell me..what are my options? I've submerged it in rice already but hate that I'd have to wait 2-3 days for that to work if it even works at all. Is it encouraging that it can get into restore and verify the software? Should I just keep trying that?

I also hear that I should turn off my phone completely, but I can't figure out how. I can only get it into restore mode, and then it gets stuck again.

Please help! Thank you so much...

The longer you use this phone (especially with the cable plugged in) without properly getting all the moisture out, the sooner it will completely die and stay dead. So put the thing in rice or other moisture sucking thing and let it sit for a while. Once it's been there long enough, take it out and see if it behaves. If it does, great, if not, it's possible some parts of fried and the phone will need to be replaced..

I also hear that I should turn off my phone completely, but I can't figure out how

Click to expand...

Sadly, that's the easy part.

Hold down the power button until the screen goes black and a slider appears at the top of the screen with "Slide to Power Off".

Ian

Get the battery and sim card out straightaway (that will switch it off)...then return phone, with them, to the rice bowl. What's a few days against a (slim) chance of rescuing the phone? I revived a camera with this method but a phone's electronics are so much more exposed and vulnerable.

I don't know why everyone thinks that rice is the answer to drying out a wet electronic device. Actually, Silica Jel would be best, but either way it will take days or weeks before it had any effect. By that time corrosion has done its job. It would be better to take the phone apart and let it dry normally. And like Sue stated above, remove the sim card and battery.

An iPhone 5c is made of plastic and is very easily saturated with moisture within. You're probably looking at getting a new phone.

That's because most of us have a bag of rice in the house!

Here's a question for folks.

If you bury your possible liquid damaged iPhone in a bag of rice. After a week of the iPhone sitting in the rice & you remove it. Do you still eat the rice??

- Nick

Bleurgh, no!

Raz0rEdge said:

The longer you use this phone (especially with the cable plugged in) without properly getting all the moisture out, the sooner it will completely die and stay dead. So put the thing in rice or other moisture sucking thing and let it sit for a while. Once it's been there long enough, take it out and see if it behaves. If it does, great, if not, it's possible some parts of fried and the phone will need to be replaced..

Click to expand...

Hi again,

So now I got the phone to start up and welcome screen to come on, but the touch screen doesn't seem to work. Any thoughts on how to fix this problem? Thanks again!

@berlingoodman

It's really too soon to have started up the iPhone, in my view anyway.

If it were me, I'd have removed the battery to avoid short circuits and the SIM card too. And kept the iPhone in a drying-out state for much longer - 4 or 5 days at least; maybe even a week. Twenty-four hours isn't enough.

However, it's your phone, not mine, and you must do as you think best.

Ian

berlingoodman said:

So now I got the phone to start up and welcome screen to come on, but the touch screen doesn't seem to work. Any thoughts on how to fix this problem?

Click to expand...

You're not following the advice provided earlier in the thread. It was advised to NOT turn on the phone until all moisture was removed!

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

You're not following the advice provided earlier in the thread. It was advised to NOT turn on the phone until all moisture was removed!

- Nick

Click to expand...

I didn't realize the phone was wet until much later, after I had come in for the rain, showered, dried off and then later looked for my phone. Also, when I tried to hard shut it down, it would just keep trying to reboot.

Clearly, it's trashed. Gonna get a new one. Thanks all for your help!

Sorry to hear that.

Maybe the positive thing is...if you've been thinking of upgrading from your 5c. This is the perfect time!

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Sorry to hear that.

Maybe the positive thing is...if you've been thinking of upgrading from your 5c. This is the perfect time!

- Nick

Click to expand...

Exactly! Contract was almost up anyway.

Now I'm trying to score an iPhoneSE 64GB, but I hear they don't make them anymore. Hopefully I can order one somewhere.

berlingoodman said:

Now I'm trying to score an iPhoneSE 64GB, but I hear they don't make them anymore. Hopefully I can order one somewhere.

Click to expand...

Yes that seems to be the case. I just took a look on eBay-Germany. If you REALLY want an iPhone SE 64gig...there seems to be a bunch to choose from there (if that works for you).

- Nick

Because I know basically iPhone do not create any problem after fall in the water.

Click to expand...

You've got to be kidding! No problem after your iPhone falls in the water? Try it with yours to see what happens. ;D