iPhone and washing machine - a bad mix?

[SteveD CB500K0]

Last Monday it snowed and I came home from work early as I didn't fancy the Marlow bypass at 6pm in darkness and in snow.

When I got home I looked at the sorry state of my bike jacket and decided it needed reproofing (and washing) so carefully removed all the armour and gave it the whole Nikwax treatment in the washing machine.

Unfortunately my 2 year old iPhone 4 was in the inside pocket...

So a complete 90 minute wash, rinse, spin cycle before I could get it out and drain the water out of it. My wife's iPhone died when she spilt tea over the little end connector so I was expecting another trip to the Apple Store and £119 for a refurbed replacement.

I took the phone to bits and laid all the parts out in the airing cupboard for a week.

Just put it back together and IT WORKS !

As a (1980's) electronic design engineer, I've always subscribed to the view that devices should be able to survive getting wet as long as they are dried properly. But my phone was switched on when it went into the washing machine...

 

[Seamus]

Obviously the Nikwax did its job and waterproofed the phone....

you are a lucky man Steve

[UK Pete]

yes very lucky mine died when it fell in a bucket of water

[ST1100]

I took the phone to bits and laid all the parts out in the airing cupboard for a week.
Just put it back together and IT WORKS !

LOL! Lucky that the battery didn't short.

Allmost the same with my GF's Nokia...
Walked by the bathroom and wondered why there is a strange light shining out the operating washing machine's porthole... 
Jumped in and ID-ed this as her fully submerged phone bouncing in there.... WAHH! 
I carefully recovered the bugger, took it apart (it was still ON but the power button didn't work anymore), placed all bits into a bowl and poured a pack of unboiled rice over it.
The next day I placed it in the sun on the balcony table, put it back together in the afternoon... worked.
 

[Green1]

Very lucky I have lost many phones in cans of paint and even a couple in porta loos
My dad has even gone as far as using it after he had a blue stain on the side of his head for most af the day
 

[Bob Wessner]

I've been lucky so far, but I have read elsewhere of folks who have dropped cameras, light meters, etc. into streams, even oceans. They would, oddly enough, but it sort of makes sense, keep the item in the water in which it was dropped until they got home. Then they would rinse it in "distilled water" after which they would dry it as best they could then put it in a container with either white rice or some other drying agent. More often than not, the item worked after this treatment.

[ST1100]

They would, oddly enough, but it sort of makes sense, keep the item in the water in which it was dropped until they got home.

This prevents the salt from crystallization...
Same on a dive cruise: freshwater is limited, so you keep your UW cameras, lamps, regulators in a barrel filled with sea water... over the entire journey.

[stuartni]

dropped mine into the mop bucket with bleach/water in it about 10" deep while on turned it off left it dry and it turned back on everything worked fine until i phoned someone so had to use loud speaker then one day it just started work again and has done for the last year