why on earth would you have your phone in the bathroom in the first place??? I sure would not want to have a convo with anyone on the potty ewweeeee.
New habit for New Years do NOT TAKE anything to the bathroom with you!

not even going to ask how his glasses ended up there!!

In answer NO I have never flushed anything but what should be flushed LOL I do have a magazine rack in there but none have ever been flushed.

Put it in rice for 48 hours. That certainly works for regular cell phones. The rice will absorb the moisture.

Ideally this should be done before the phone is even turned on, but it's worth a shot anyway.

I worked with someone who dropped her phone into a pot of minestrone soup. Don't cook and talk on the phone.

Why the heck did he have his phone in the bathroom?

I'm guessing it was in his pocket, and fell out when he stood up.

What jasdip says about rice can help (dry, uncooked rice) and make sure you take the battery out and dry everything off first.

This happens more often than you'd think:

Here is a link that might be useful: NPR article on the subject

Ya, he had it in his pocket and was hitting the head before he left the house. I think as he leaned forward to flush it slid out of the pocket and into the bowl. It was actually on so couldn't dry it out before he turned it on. He had it in some rice for a little while but definitely not 48 hours. The guy could not live without the phone for that long. He's now on his way to the Apple store to see if there's any hope for it. Unfortunately you can't take a battery out of an iPhone - they're sealed in.

The glasses - I think they were the inexpensive reading glasses and he had them on top of his head and when he leaned forward to flush they flipped off into the bowl.

This guy is not somebody who thinks about what could go wrong and takes steps to avoid catastrophies. That's more where I come in ;-)

The rice trick works on water but 'dirty' water. assuming this was the case since he was flushing, is a whole other story. Of course it happens often, especially with smart phones, they are used for much more than talking. In the 5 years I have worked for him I've replaced at least a half dozen blackberries for my boss.

Well, I feel better now since I didn't lose my iPhone down the toilet this week. But a plumber still needs to be called because Tue morning, right after I flushed, I reached for something on the shelf right about the toilet and my DH full size deodorant did a swan dive, never even bounced off the sides, it was a perfect hit and I just stood there watching it be sucked into the abyss. Surely something that big won't make it far. Have not seen it since, and cannot feel it when I reach in (ewww).

We're using the guest bath until we can get a plumber to take a look. Fortunately one lives right across the street from us.

Jodi-

Yep, DS dropped his in the potty. Rice did not help, but a new one did.

I think it's a very common problem. I always have my phone in my pocket, especially when I'm on call. I can see easily how it happened. Poor guy! But he's not alone in the world on this one.

Here's a good one. DS was sleeping with his phone in his hand. Passed out, more likely. He had a glass of water on the floor, hand hanging over, dropped the phone into the glass of water. The rice trick worked for him, as when the phone plopped into the glass it woke him up and he retrieved it quickly.

Once my phone was sitting on the top shelf of my nightstand (which was about half the size of the bottom shelf). I had it on vibrate because I was sleeping. One morning I woke up to it buzzing and I looked over just as it vibrated itself right off the top shelf into the glass of water I had sitting on the bottom shelf. PLOP!LOL

It dried out in rice, but it wasn't a fancy phone. It was an old flip type phone.

Used to flush our dead goldfish down the potty.

I don't have an iphone or ipad!

I take mine in with me all the time...game playing ya know...

But I'm very careful where I set it.

I have a wicker shelf that sits on the floor. I usually put it there when it's not in my hand.

I'm adicted to that bubble popping game the Iphone 4s has.

patti

You could also try those crystals used for drying flowers. My neighbor dropped phone in a mud puddle and I loaned her some of my desiccant. It worked.

I heard of someone who dropped her phone in the toilet and they replaced it for free, even though it was her fault.

I am a BIG believer in putting the lid down, as soon as I am done.

Guess, it's a good thing?

LOL

Moni

I LOVE YOU PATTI! I use my phone in the bathroom all the time...poo poo on the naysayers! LOL!!

DD dropped her iTouch in the toilet - Apple replaced it for free (under warranty) and she even told them what she did! I was amazed!

Oh, I play games on the pot all the time! I don't think it's gross. I don't wipe with it. ;)

I passed along jasdip's recommendation for 48 hours in the rice so he put it back in the rice. Voila - after a few more hours in the rice the phone is now working!! We cancelled the genius bar appointment for tonight as he thinks it is now fully recovered.

Thanks for that info!!

I guess Apple can be quite fair! DS tossed his iPhone onto his bed, forgetting that his new iPad was on there, and the screen cracked. He took it to the Apple store and told them what he'd done. They told him it wasn't covered under the warranty, and he said he knew that.. he just wanted to see if it could be fixed or if he needed to replace it. They went in the back and came out with a replacement for him and told him he could have it at no cost! He was very grateful :)

Keep those silica packs that come in almost everything, that is what they are for, to dry out moisture. I was told years ago to keep one in my camera case and with batteries.

I too have dropped my phone in water. Mine was in my pocket of my shirt and I bent over to start to mop and it slid right out and into the bucket. Now I carry my phone in a pouch that has a long strap and I wear it across my shoulder. It snaps shut so it can't fall out. Yes, I do have my cell phone in my bathroom with me. It goes everywhere I go. It may not always be turned on, but it is with me. We also have a home phone in there. At any age one never knows if you might fall or get sick and need help. No one else is with me all day usually. Well, Izzi is, but she hasn't learned how to dial out yet. Glad your phone is now working.

Sue

A couple of years ago my husband went out to check on the koi pond, we totally enclosed it with garage doors each winter so we could not see into the pond unless we went inside the structure. He was walking on the wall to straighten some plastic when he lost his footing and went straight into the pond. Did I mention that this was in February? We live in the mountains of PA (zone 5), anyway, his phone was in his pocket. We used rice to try to dry it out but it didn't work this time. I think this was the 2nd time he had soaked the phone.

I dropped mine in the toilet as well. Had it in the jacket pocket, and it flipped out when adjusting clothing. What a shock!

They say not to try to start it (I did).

Put it in a container surrounded by rice for a period of time. Then DS took some part out (not the battery). I set the phone on the counter and turned on my hair dryer about 6' from the phone and let it run about 20 minutes. Then I put it on the TV cable box which is warm for 1-2 days. The phone worked after all that. Then I took the phone to Apple so they could look inside. Apple guy said he saw corrosion in it but I should continue to use it as long as it works. It never did stop working and would probably still be working but I replaced it with a newer model.

The above practices to dry a phone are not recommended by the manufacturers (except maybe rice).

Well the phone had some new malfunctions today - namely the home button quit working - big problem. So we took it in to switch him over to my old phone. Couldn't get his SIM card out so had to go get a new one. Finally got my phone reset and reinstalled with all his stuff so I guess he is back in business now. We also spent an hour or so cleaning up all his messed up duplicate contacts and got one nice clean list in gmail. Whew - a busy day of tech support - good thing I had the day off.

Hi gibby3000,

Was his face, by any chance, flushed, as well?

o j

OJ - Could have been but I didn't notice - I was too busy watching the phone twirling around in the toilet.

gibby-
For future reference, here is a simple trick to get a stubborn SIM card out:

1) take a short piece of transparent tape and put half of it down on the top side of the card

2) pull gently on the free end of the tape and the card will slide right out

As a retired plumber I could tell some tall tails about what I have retrieved from the loo over the years,

On the other hand, as I walk about amongst ppl and have the unfortunate opportunity to overhear their end of the conversation I have come to the conclusion that most of them are just talking shi* to begin with, maybe that is where their phones ought to be.......LOL

kudzu - thanks for that tip but I don't think that would have worked in this case. The Apple guy actually had a tool to pull it out with and even that didn't work. DH had problems with it when he last switch phones as well so I think it must have been kind of corroded or something and maybe the water was the final straw. It was easy enough to get a replacement - and free.

lazypup - A LOT of truth in what you say.

Lazypup is as straightforward as they come.

Plain-spoken, too, usually. But that "tail" is of the kind that sticks straight up, or wags, or whatever, on a dog - there are other tales that people come up with!

o j