Wet iPhone4: HELP!

Wet phone · Feb 14, 2013

So I went fishing with my phone...and you know how this story ends.

One moisture indicator is red and another is very pale pinky/white.
I have tried 4 days of rice and silica gel treatment.
As a result my phone will turn on when plugged into the charger and show the Apple symbol for about 5 minutes.
Then it locks (yay it remembers my pass code) and displays my screen saver (yay again).
It says "activation required" and prompts me to connect to iTunes via the cable.
At this point I unplug the power and before I can attach it my computer it DIES.
It seems it will only operate when connected to power.

Any thoughts?
Should I dig a shallow grave? Or can you help?

And to add insult to injury- NO! I did not even catch a fish.

Pinkpoison · Feb 14, 2013

i'm sorry but it does sound like you have done all you can,maybe someone will suggest something but i think it sounds like it's done for.

Funkyg · Feb 14, 2013

That sounds exactly like my daughters iPod touch.
She got it wet, and after drying it out it would only work while plugged in. As soon as I unplugged it if went off.
I just replaced the battery in it and it worked perfectly afterwards.

willerz2 · Feb 14, 2013

If you can, take it apart and see if there's corrosion anywhere. You'll definitely need a battery replacement and maybe some other parts as well if there's massive corrosion

Wet phone · Feb 16, 2013

Thanks for the suggestions. I have ordered a replacement battery and will keep going with the rice and silica treatment while I wait for the battery to arrive?

What other parts could I easily replace if needed?
A website for spare parts would be handy as well.

Thanks everyone
Hold off on the "Deepest Sympathy" cards for now

willerz2 · Feb 16, 2013

iFixIt is a great site for hardware instructions. Very detailed and full of colorful pictures. You'll need the proper tools to do it however

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 

Wet phone · Mar 28, 2013

Okay. I waited about 6 weeks for Tmart to send a replacement battery. I had my phone in a container of rice and dry sachets for the whole time. I replaced the battery with a flat screwdriver and hey presto... I am back in the land of Apple. Everything works and I did not not lose any data. I am so happy!

So to recap, when your phone gets really wet:
Open it up.
Vacuum it to blow/evaporate the moisture away.
Use rice and moisture sachets. You can not do this too much.
Replace the battery for $5.50.

Thanks to those who contributed ideas
Wet phone
(typed from my resurrected phone)