iPods are not dunkable

How do I know this, you may ask? I had my 30Gb iPod (relatively new in the big scheme of things) in my back pocket when I went to the little boy's room at work today... plop. I reached in (yeah I know, gross) and grabbed it almost immediately, but it was too late. It dripped water from inside for a solid 30 seconds or more, and a few minutes later I could still get water out by tapping it on my leg. It doesn't turn on at all now.

So... if any of you were wondering... flashlights are dunkable, iPods aren't.:shakehead

You can take the back off of it, rinse it all with distilled water and then let it air dry. On top of a CRT TV or ina bowl of rice or other dessicant is a good place to let stuff dry out. It'll also need a full charge.

Do that, and I give it a 65% chance of resuscitation.

Yes, open it up with directions from http://www.ifixit.com. The more you take it apart, the better it can dry. I think the only thing that might be really water sensitive could be the hard drive, which is replaceable.

If water got inside the hard drive from the air hole you'll need a new drive. Otherwise, you stand a decent chance of reviving it with the aforementioned suggestions.
Do note that if it doesn't turn on at all a new drive won't do squat.

I was told that if a cellphone was dunked accidentally...take it apart and let it dry
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TURN IT ON
all bets are off if the user tries to turn it on and fails...you never know what water can short out once it gets between the PCB tracks:shrug:

It's kinda interesting. In REAL high end electronics (read things like the military) PWBs are normally "conformal coated" - for all intents, after they are done and tested, they spray a thick layer of a ureathane like plastic all over the board, say 3/64 thick or so. It does 2 things - help fix the components to the board, and for all intents make the board waterproof (you have to mask the front of pots, connectors, LEDs etc. I understand WHY consumer stuff doesn't have it done ($$$$) but man, I often wish I could buy the higher grade stuff. In a lot of electronics stuff, I buy commercial/Military surplus. It's usually larger, has less features, but man, the stuff is usually built to last in the nasty stuff

I know one guy who was on the team testing some COTS communications gear. You know what they did with the Handie Talkies to give them a real world test - they went down in the sewer system, dropped the HT in 6 inches of flowing sewage, picked them out and see if they still worked after being rinsed! (2 or 3 brands DID)

KC2IXE said:

It's kinda interesting. In REAL high end electronics (read things like the military) PWBs are normally "conformal coated" - for all intents, after they are done and tested, they spray a thick layer of a ureathane like plastic all over the board, say 3/64 thick or so.

Click to expand...

is that what that smell comes from when you turn on a new laptop and run it at full capacity? smelting urethane?

iPods ARE dunkable...but just once.

I dunked a Motorola cell phone once. It was dead when I tried turning it on. I took it apart (nothing to lose at this point) and poured Isopropyl alcohol onto the PCB. Let it sit, took an air compressor to it to blow it dry. Let it sit in the Arizona sun (it was mid June) for a few hours. Turned the sucker on and it worked. The alcohol helps dry stuff. It gets in with the water and helps evaporate it. It's a trick I learned from re-working circuits. On the other hand, if the hard drive got any liquid in it, it's probably toast.

Below are a couple of pics of what happens when an iPod gets stuff on it. The first is a 30GB iPod I got off ebay. It didn't work well - thought it was the battery. I took it apart, examined it with a loupe and discovered the corrosion. I used some contact cleaner and scrubbed off all the locations there was corrosion (there were lots). I managed to ressurect it - works fine now.

iPod 30GB corrosion/contaminant example - capacitor below large chip (probably washed - got off ebay). I managed to clean this off (and a bunch more). It woks OK now.


My son recently decided to have his 8GB 3rd gen Nano washed. I cleaned off the corrosion but it no longer works. I may take another look at this one.

iPod 3rd gen Nano 8GB (note grains of table salt for concept of component size - your bare eyeball may not suffice for detecting corrosion/contamination)

My mom recently washed a pair of jeans I have and my 30gb Video was in it. Have'nt taken it in yet but when I put it on the charger it will turn on. It clicks and a dead smiley face appears and it tells me to go to apple.c0m/ support. Now it won't turn on at all. I guess Ill just have to get the new classic(thanks Mom!!). I did have 2500+ songs though and like 4 movies and dozens of south park episodes. It's just a hassle more than anything.

-Evan

Illum_the_nation said:

is that what that smell comes from when you turn on a new laptop and run it at full capacity? smelting urethane?

Click to expand...

Never seen a laptop that was conformal coated

theres always a "new electronics smell" to every laptop, DVD player, inverter, power tool there is....

always smell like burnt plastic on its first few cycles but after that it'll run for years to its retirement having never having the smell again

I had a single spark on an idea but I guess its not

Hey guys, thanks for all the replies. I opened up the thing not expecting much, I cleaned off some cruddy-looking surface-mount components with alcohol and a q-tip, and put it back together. Low and behold, I put it back on the charging cradle and it works! WOOHOO! I don't why it works, but it does! I just wanted to let you know how things turned out... thanks a lot! :twothumbs:thumbsup:

Lol thats awesome news! I'm glad you didn't kill it with your first power-on attempt.

Arkayne said:

Lol thats awesome news! I'm glad you didn't kill it with your first power-on attempt.

Click to expand...

The water must have shorted the battery to ground safely so thst it was dead when Daekar tried to start it.


But Congrats! Glad we could help you save some money!:twothumbs:rock: