iPhone 3g water damage query

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JamesChristchurch

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#83038 9-May-2011 17:26

Hi all,
Very new to this to please bear with me.
My iPhone inadvertently took a swim with me on Saturday evening. I dried it out for 24 hours in a bag of rice and now when i plug it in to my USB cord, it displays a please plug in to iTunes message. When i do this the screen tells me that my phone is in recovery mode but when i try and restore it ( again on itunes ), it starts the process but then comes up with a message telling me that an unknown error has occured (46 ). It then proceeds to display the same connect to itunes recovery message. If anyone could shed some light on getting out of recovery mode or how I could go about trying to sort it out that would be so so helpful. I tried downloading a program that i saw on a youtube video called black rain but that didnt succeed in getting my phone out of recovery mode either.

Many thanks, James from New Zealand.

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19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#467206 9-May-2011 17:45

It's been in water get a new phone

oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek

#467221 9-May-2011 18:25

johnr: It's been in water get a new phone

+1
If you're lucky enough to get it usable, the only thing you can be sure of is that it will fail

tardtasticx

3075 posts

Uber Geek

#467222 9-May-2011 18:30

Some jailbreaking tools have an option to take it out of recovery mode. I know ziphone had it, but thats centuries old, and I havn't used one for quite some time. But try some of those. Have you called apple? Call them and mention that error code,and see what they say about it, dont tell them its water damaged though because they will just say its out of warranty and not help.

ekud

263 posts

Ultimate Geek

#467227 9-May-2011 18:34

Tiny Umbrella should kick it out of recovery mode :)

Sign here

JamesChristchurch

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#467245 9-May-2011 19:00

Thanks heaps for your replies =) It has since gone from a 45 error to a 1015 error. Will try calling Apple but i figured as you said , I wouldn't be getting too much sympathy from them if i mentioned the water issue. Cheers

Mizon

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#467309 9-May-2011 20:54

The iPhone has water damage sensors (bits that change colour when exposed to water). Take a look down the headphone socket or dock connecter, if you see something red in there then that means it's detected water in there. If you go to get it fixed that's the first thing they'll look for and immediately reject any claim if they see it too.

I've seen water damaged laptops and the corrosion can be very obvious. Normally the best thing to do when something gets wet is remove the battery (that will lessen the corrosion), but that's not really an option with the iPhone.

(tldr) - you're screwed, get a new phone.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#467313 9-May-2011 21:03

JamesChristchurch: Thanks heaps for your replies =) It has since gone from a 45 error to a 1015 error. Will try calling Apple but i figured as you said , I wouldn't be getting too much sympathy from them if i mentioned the water issue. Cheers

To be honest save your time and Apple,

Fresh water or salt (worse) will kill a phone if not straight away slowly

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

tardtasticx

3075 posts

Uber Geek

#467331 9-May-2011 21:49

johnr:
JamesChristchurch: Thanks heaps for your replies =) It has since gone from a 45 error to a 1015 error. Will try calling Apple but i figured as you said , I wouldn't be getting too much sympathy from them if i mentioned the water issue. Cheers

To be honest save your time and Apple,

Fresh water or salt (worse) will kill a phone if not straight away slowly

Not entirely true. I know quite a few people who've been swimming with phones, like in fresh streams, chlorinated swimming pools, and salt water beaches. Their phones survived perfectly fine. Each phone is different mind you, but so long as he's dried it completely before he turned it on it might have a better chance at survival.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#467334 9-May-2011 21:50

tardtasticx:
johnr:
JamesChristchurch: Thanks heaps for your replies =) It has since gone from a 45 error to a 1015 error. Will try calling Apple but i figured as you said , I wouldn't be getting too much sympathy from them if i mentioned the water issue. Cheers

To be honest save your time and Apple,

Fresh water or salt (worse) will kill a phone if not straight away slowly

Not entirely true. I know quite a few people who've been swimming with phones, like in fresh streams, chlorinated swimming pools, and salt water beaches. Their phones survived perfectly fine. Each phone is different mind you, but so long as he's dried it completely before he turned it on it might have a better chance at survival.?

it will still die a slow death

tardtasticx

3075 posts

Uber Geek

#467335 9-May-2011 21:54

johnr:
tardtasticx:
johnr:
JamesChristchurch: Thanks heaps for your replies =) It has since gone from a 45 error to a 1015 error. Will try calling Apple but i figured as you said , I wouldn't be getting too much sympathy from them if i mentioned the water issue. Cheers

To be honest save your time and Apple,

Fresh water or salt (worse) will kill a phone if not straight away slowly

Not entirely true. I know quite a few people who've been swimming with phones, like in fresh streams, chlorinated swimming pools, and salt water beaches. Their phones survived perfectly fine. Each phone is different mind you, but so long as he's dried it completely before he turned it on it might have a better chance at survival.?

it will still die a slow death

My kitten went number 1 on my phone like 6 years ago. Lol. its in my dresser somewhere, used it like twice, but its gross so i dont want to touch it, but it works! xDDDD

SteveON

1916 posts

Uber Geek

#467338 9-May-2011 22:08

oxnsox:
johnr: It's been in water get a new phone

+1
If you're lucky enough to get it usable, the only thing you can be sure of is that it will fail

SteveON

1916 posts

Uber Geek

#467340 9-May-2011 22:09

actually if you sink it in a bucket of iso alcohol to displace the water. The main reason the phone will die is because the contacts will rust, leave it in for 12 hours.

tardtasticx

3075 posts

Uber Geek

#467341 9-May-2011 22:10

SteveON: actually if you sink it in a bucket of iso alcohol you can preserve it. The main reason the phone will die is because the contacts will rust.

Doesn't electricity frying the components have something to do with it too? (thats what I was told anyways)

SteveON

1916 posts

Uber Geek

#467342 9-May-2011 22:13

tardtasticx:
SteveON: actually if you sink it in a bucket of iso alcohol you can preserve it. The main reason the phone will die is because the contacts will rust.

Doesn't electricity frying the components have something to do with it too? (thats what I was told anyways)

Kinda true, if you can take the battery out (iPhones are sick) but most of the time if you pop it in alcohol you can stop the reaction. Water is not a great conductor, but it is great at making rust.

TeWharau

35 posts

Geek

#467355 9-May-2011 22:56

I guess you approach it with the attitude that you may not get it to work again, then you've got nothing to lose.

A few things to try.

Press & Hold the power & home button at the same for 20 or so seconds or until the Apple startup icon comes on. This may jick it out of recovery mode. If it does't come on in that time, it won't.

Download & run Tiny Umbrella (not sure of non-Mac equivalent). If it shows up as recovery iPhone, try "exit recovery" button. If it doesn't show up, try "fix recovery" button, let it restart, then try "exit recovery" again.

If that fails, try & put into DFU mode (10 seconds power & home, then keep pressing home without power for another 10 seconds) then try to restore in iTunes.

If that fails, put it in a dry drawer for a few weeks & try it again.

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