Well, it finally happened. I dropped my old iPhone 3GS in the toilet bowl.
This design icon’s gorgeous and immaculate smoothness can truly be a curse sometimes; a little surface texture might have made the difference in keeping it from flying out my hand as I reached into my pocket to pull it out. But it slipped through my fingers and I accidentally flung it to exactly where I wouldn’t want it to land.Let it smack against the tile floor for all I care, a little crack on the screen is better than…what happened. Losing not a moment, I immediately plunged my hand deep into the bowl. Luckily, I had already flushed, but still: ew.
And now my phone wasn’t working. I wanted to cry. What was I to do? Well, I wish I had looked it up. I’m sharing these tips here in hopes that I can save someone else a lot of trouble.
1. Do not Immediately try to turn your iPhone Back on.
This seems like the logical thing to do: check and see if everything still works, right? Wrong. Turning your phone back on while it’s still wet and mess up the electronic systems worse than they would be otherwise. Leaving it off is much safer.
2. Dry it Out.
Using a hairdryer is not recommended. Your phone’s been through enough. Don’t subject it to intense heat as well as water! You want to wipe the phone as dry as possible, and maybe shake it a little to see if any more drops come out that way. Then, you want to seal it in a container with either those little packets of silica gel desiccants (you know, the ones that say “Do Not Eat”).
This design icon’s gorgeous and immaculate smoothness can truly be a curse sometimes; a little surface texture might have made the difference in keeping it from flying out my hand as I reached into my pocket to pull it out. But it slipped through my fingers and I accidentally flung it to exactly where I wouldn’t want it to land.Let it smack against the tile floor for all I care, a little crack on the screen is better than…what happened. Losing not a moment, I immediately plunged my hand deep into the bowl. Luckily, I had already flushed, but still: ew.
And now my phone wasn’t working. I wanted to cry. What was I to do? Well, I wish I had looked it up. I’m sharing these tips here in hopes that I can save someone else a lot of trouble.
1. Do not Immediately try to turn your iPhone Back on.
This seems like the logical thing to do: check and see if everything still works, right? Wrong. Turning your phone back on while it’s still wet and mess up the electronic systems worse than they would be otherwise. Leaving it off is much safer.
2. Dry it Out.
Using a hairdryer is not recommended. Your phone’s been through enough. Don’t subject it to intense heat as well as water! You want to wipe the phone as dry as possible, and maybe shake it a little to see if any more drops come out that way. Then, you want to seal it in a container with either those little packets of silica gel desiccants (you know, the ones that say “Do Not Eat”).
Assuming that, like most people, you always throw those away rather than saving them for emergencies like this, your other option is: rice. Yes, uncooked rice. White rice will work fine; I don’t think there’s any particular advantage to using long-grain, brown, basmati, or whatever variety you have around. You want to leave the phone in rice for 24-48 hours, and the dry grains will draw the moisture out of the phone.
3. Start it Up and Cross your Fingers.
It’s probably a good idea to plug your phone in at this point; 48 hours in a bag of rice can leave one feeling depleted. Turn it on and see what happens. In my case, the screen was flickery and dark after 24 hours, but finally did come back to full brightness after 48. There was some visible moisture in two of the corners of the screen, as well as in the camera lens. The touchscreen did not work. Most importantly of all, the software appeared to have been fried. This was a severe problem for me as I had bought my phone not with an AT&T contract, but custom-hacked from eBay to be jailbroken and unlocked so that it would work on the rival T-Mobile network. In other words, this is not a problem I could take to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store.
It’s probably a good idea to plug your phone in at this point; 48 hours in a bag of rice can leave one feeling depleted. Turn it on and see what happens. In my case, the screen was flickery and dark after 24 hours, but finally did come back to full brightness after 48. There was some visible moisture in two of the corners of the screen, as well as in the camera lens. The touchscreen did not work. Most importantly of all, the software appeared to have been fried. This was a severe problem for me as I had bought my phone not with an AT&T contract, but custom-hacked from eBay to be jailbroken and unlocked so that it would work on the rival T-Mobile network. In other words, this is not a problem I could take to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store.
Unfortunately, I’ll probably have to buy a new phone. And this time I think I will go ahead and pay full price to get the official contract, since I’d like to try one of the newer models. When I do have my new phone, I hope I have the presence of mind to never use it within five feet of a toilet! For sanitary reasons, it’s probably best to avoid using it in a bathroom at all, but sometimes one gets impatient. I learned my lesson the hard way, so hopefully you won’t have to!
About the Guest Author: Karen Smith is a freelance writer and business blogger whose primary goal is to inform her readers about pursuing a business degree online. She also enjoys writing about small business trends, Internet marketing, personal development, and sustainable living. Karen welcomes your comments below!.You can also contribute to our site by “Write for US”.
nice tips thanks but I am a very careful person so it won't happen to me.
I never take my phone to toilet, but that are helpful tips.