How to fix a wet iPod or iPhone

iPhone or iPod get wet? Drop it in the hot tub like I did? Don't throw it away just yet.... it might not be as hopeless as it sounds!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 gallon size zip-loc bag
• 1 bag of uncooked rice
• two to four days of patience

1. Hopefully you saved your i-device as soon as you saw it was getting wet. The longer it sits in water the less chance you have of saving it. So, probably it already is "off". When my iPod fell in the hot tub I pulled it out within a couple of seconds and it was still playing, but went dead just as the words "I'll be darned" were leaving my lips. I set it on an air vent to dry while I went to the store to buy a bag of baggies and a bag of rice. I was traveling out of state and obviously baggies and rice aren't your normal travel items to pack.

2. Ok... so you have the rice and the zip-loc baggie ready to go. Its easy. Put an inch or so of rice in the bag, set your device on top of the rice, and then bury the device in more rice. You want to completely bury the device in rice. Set it aside and plan on waiting a few days.

3. After one day I turned on my iPod and was surprised to see it come to life. It wouldn't function very well, however, so I put it back in the rice. Since i was about to start my 3 day drive back home, I just left the bag with the rice and iPod sit in my suitcase till I got home. The following morning when I unpacked and turned on the iPod (this is four days after dropping it into the hot tub) it worked like a charm, showing zero signs of damage.

Tips & Warnings

• Very important!! Every iPod and iPhone has small water damage indicators in them. These will now and forever show that your device has been water damaged, so if something else goes wrong totally unrelated to the water damage (say, the screen becomes loose or a button falls off) even if it is "under warranty", Apple will not honor their warranty.
• Those "water damage indicators" are very sensitive. I bought an iPhone and within a month had trouble and Apple swears it showed water damage. I know for a fact it had never been exposed to water, with the possible exception of walking on a foggy day, or running from my car to my front door in a rain while the iPhone was in my short pocket. It took a lot of haggling with Apple before they agreed to replace the Iphone, but I suspect I was one of the lucky ones. Be wary of the openings that have those water damage indicators!

[anagrama]

on 12/1/2009 I tried this on an Ipod Touch that spend 3 days wet on my backpack. Not underwater, but pretty wet. It wouldn't even turn on.
After a week (award wining patience) on a zip rice bag it turns on.
I'm really happy. But the screen is barely visible so it's going back into the baggie.

Thanks for the info and wish me luck!