Heartbroken

[James MacMillan]

Don't totally give up yet. With today’s modern printed circuit boards, you may well be able to just dry it out and it may (just may!) still work.

I saw an article in one of my paper magazines where they did some vigorous testing ending with total immersion. Anyway – they tested several cell phones and MP-3 players and some were dried out and still worked.

I would try figuring out a low heat source, maybe a hair dryer or something to suck the moisture out. The batteries are trashed, but everything else might work.

The other thing to do would be to swab it out with alcohol and then again a hair dryer….

Heck – what have you got to lose?

[Tattoo Bradley]

Don't totally give up yet. With today’s modern printed circuit boards, you may well be able to just dry it out and it may (just may!) still work.

I saw an article in one of my paper magazines where they did some vigorous testing ending with total immersion. Anyway – they tested several cell phones and MP-3 players and some were dried out and still worked.

I would try figuring out a low heat source, maybe a hair dryer or something to suck the moisture out. The batteries are trashed, but everything else might work.

The other thing to do would be to swab it out with alcohol and then again a hair dryer….

Heck – what have you got to lose?

I've heard of a fellow who left his Blackberry in a jar of rice for a couple of days after he immersed it in the doo-doo seat. BUt, he reported it to work after the rice treatment. Yeah, not much to lose, I've been kicking ideas around all morning...

[auld argonian]

...and if all else fails, try these guys:

http://www.refurbdepot.com/index.cfm

They do have ipod touches (sp?) gently used and factory refurbed at a reduced price...better than nothing...there's a factory refurb section on the Apple website as well.

Best

AA

[Tattoo Bradley]

...and if all else fails, try these guys:

http://www.refurbdepot.com/index.cfm

They do have ipod touches (sp?) gently used and factory refurbed at a reduced price...better than nothing...there's a factory refurb section on the Apple website as well.

Best

AA

Thanks for the link. But, those guys are out of their minds! You do save a little, but only about $20. Their "list price" is a complete falsification. Their list the 8g Touch as being $599 list price when it's actually $299. I'll have to check out the Apple refurbs...

[Yaish]

Even better than the rice is silica desiccant. Go to Michaels craft store and look in their flower arrangement section. Get help if you must, but ask them for the stuff used to dry out flowers for preservation.

You should be able to buy a 1lb bag for around $2.00. It's fine little balls of silica, probably too big to get in any cracks but you might want to put the ipod in some cheesecloth or something.

If you can open it of course, that's probably best but usually you can't. Make sure to remove the batteries at least, you don't want them leaking and ruining it for sure.

[Bugbear]

Bummer. Good luck.

[auld argonian]

Yaish's suggestion is interesting. We have some of that stuff and it comes in a sort of tall cardboard can...not unlike the ones used for whisky.

The batteries are lithium ion rechargeables, though, so taking them out would be tough.

I remember camera stores in Japan having these toaster oven size plexi and metal cabinets that were for low humidity camera storage...they had a heating element (sometimes just a low wattage light bulb) and a hygrometer inside. Perhaps rigging something like that up might dry it slowly enough.

Another advantage that those units have over "conventional" ipods is that their memory is flash memory and not a miniature hard drive...the hard drive would fer sure be trashed but I'm not sure how the flash memory would respond to the water.

Obviously you have a whole lot of us hoping that you luck out and the thing will start up after it dries out.

Best

AA

[Tattoo Bradley]

IT'S ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

I came home and tried to turn it on, and unsurprisingly it just gave me the now familiar blank stare. So, I figured "what the heck" and plugged it into the computer. Kicked it on and VOILA on it came. Now, it's not a perfectly happy ending. Though everything it's functioning I think it's going to have permanent battle scars. There are some water spots behind the screen, though they're not impossible to deal with when looking directly at it (which is what I do anyway.) At least I have the iPod back and everything works (including the WiFi and web browser.) I've buried it in a bowl of medium grain rice... 0.69 it's worth a shot to see if it will help any with the screen. Also, it's probably a good idea to see if I can at least ensure no residual water is hiding in a corner waiting to attack it like a virus. Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll try the flower preservation stuff if I can make it over to Hobby Lobby before the flock of giftless husbands make their way this weekend.

[Livingston]

About a year ago, my wife washed my cell phone......while it was on. After thumping through the dryer she found out what was making the noise. I removed the battery and set it by the heat register for a couple days and put the battery back in. Worked fine.

[Coemgen]

My iPod nano got washed a few months ago. I Noticed when I took my clean shorts out of the dryer and found it in one of the pockets. I turned it on and it worked fine. The only problem is it will no longer tell me what the status is of the battery; nothing I can't deal with, though.