repair/warranty jobs (iphone + water)

[taxico]

my sister spilled milk over (i know i know) her 4 month-old iphone 4 and tried bringing it in for some warranty work... but was told rather politely to f-off because there's no entry for "carelessness" in their repair dictionary.

a day ago, i was talking to someone who told me that something similar happened to him - he dropped his cell phone in the toilet...

so this extremely ballsy eastern european man, who felt that because he paid a grand for his iphone that costs only a fraction of the price to make, went on a hunt for a china guy to help him out.

china guy changed some sort of part within and redirected him back to apple for warranty work.

as a result, my patient got a brand new replacement iphone. the china guy was paid less than $100.

now, before i go waving china guy's name card in front of my sister, i wonder if anyone's heard of such repairs before... because i always assumed water damage will be evident all over within the phone and it's not as simple as switching some humidity indicator sticker.

[x9200]

I would not be surprised if they do the diagnostic just hooking up the phone to a terminal so this would be indeed a humidity sensor alert of some sort. Having said that I would not count on them being that blind to any obvious damage so this simply would depend if this is apparent or not. With milk I would not have to much hope. If the above mentioned guy immediately removed the phone from water, drained out what possible and left it all to dry in a warm and dry place (like a dry cabinet in Singapore) there is a good chance nothing was detectable with an unarmed eye.

[LilAlthia]

Did it work out in the end? I dropped my iphone recently and although nothing visible broke- my camera isn't working anymore. The on-screen "shutter" doesn't open when I open ANY camera apps. My warranty has ended so it'll probably cost quite a bit if I bring it to Apple too. Does anyone know where/who I can bring it to?

[ecureilx]

Did it work out in the end? I dropped my iphone recently and although nothing visible broke- my camera isn't working anymore. The on-screen "shutter" doesn't open when I open ANY camera apps. My warranty has ended so it'll probably cost quite a bit if I bring it to Apple too. Does anyone know where/who I can bring it to?

when I supported Motorola Secure coms, the walkies had a little 'moisture' pad inside .. so if it gets into contact with water, it turns a wee bit red .. and a normal person who doesn't know the trick will think that drying the walkie will do the trick ..

Maybe apple has a variant of the same.

You can check the phone shops in malls. A lot have 'third party repair' service .. if you are out of warranty anyway ..

[gasbyset]

You may want to try the hairdryer procedure to fix water damaged iPhone as such:
1. get a hairdryer and have your phone turned on if possible, even though no response
2. Blow dry the phone alternately on and off for 10 sec on 2 sec off to limit the heat rise
3. Continue until you see, if it works, on the screen that the temperature is too hot, then stop
4. Shut the iPhone off, allow to cool, then restart.

This procedure costs you nothing if you have a hair dryer available.
If your are lucky, it may restart to usable condition.

[x9200]

Same goes with praying (10 min on, 2 min off) but the risk of damaging it further is lower.

[Strong Eagle]

You may want to try the hairdryer procedure to fix water damaged iPhone as such:
1. get a hairdryer and have your phone turned on if possible, even though no response
2. Blow dry the phone alternately on and off for 10 sec on 2 sec off to limit the heat rise
3. Continue until you see, if it works, on the screen that the temperature is too hot, then stop
4. Shut the iPhone off, allow to cool, then restart.


This procedure costs you nothing if you have a hair dryer available.
If your are lucky, it may restart to usable condition.

The best way to fix a phone that has become wet is to put it in an airtight jar of rice (uncooked, obviously) for at least three days. My daughter put her hubby's iPhone 5 through a complete wash cycle. After five days in the rice, it worked fine.

[x9200]

The best would be probably to put it for a few days into a dry cabinet but rice is definitely more available and a good idea too.

[nakatago]

How about a dry cabinet that uses silica gel with uncooked rice on a bowl with the phone in the rice in an air-conditioned room?

Low humidity + dessicant/hygroscopic substance!

But seriously, not everyone has a dry cabinet and rice is so common anyway...

[x9200]

I would avoid silica-gel. It's hard, brittle and generates some abrasive dust.

[nakatago]

I would avoid silica-gel. It's hard, brittle and generates some abrasive dust.

The phone doesn't have to be in it; just in the same airtight container, e.g. a desiccator.

I put silica gel in porous bags which I put in a zip-lock bag where I put my camera lenses (because I don't have space to put an electric dry box).

[x9200]

I would avoid silica-gel. It's hard, brittle and generates some abrasive dust.

The phone doesn't have to be in it; just in the same airtight container, e.g. a desiccator.

I put silica gel in porous bags which I put in a zip-lock bag where I put my camera lenses (because I don't have space to put an electric dry box).

IMHO It would take more time to dry it comparing to the dry rice scenario.