Water Damaged iPod - Almost Working...But Not Quite

[me10]

Approx. 3 Weeks ago I was walking to someone's house from school and it was tipping it down with rain. I had my iPod in my bag, and I thought it would be OK. When I got to it it wasa really quite wet and was dead to the world. Naturally I tried turning it on and plugging it into the comp but to no avail.

I left it in my back room for 2 weeks or so and then voila! It turns on and everything, plays everything and is fine. A little slow loading album art etc. and occassionally the menu freezes for a short while but its better than a broken iPod.

The only problem now is connecting the iPod to the computer. Although it shows the CONNECTED message on the screen (new iPod Classic 80GB here) I cannot get it to work with iTunes. Infact, I cannot load iTunes when the iPod is connected, it simply shows me the eggtimer and then ceases to load.

Occassionally it appears as an icon on my my computer, drive G. When i double click it telles me the disk is not formatted and not I should format it. I click NO to this.

What can I do about this? I really need to add new music to my iPod etc. I have lots of new music to put on since it has broken.. .Is there anyway I can format the iPod and start a fresh, I didn't think windows's solution of formatting the iPod was a very attractive one, I thought that would break it.

So yes any suggestions about how I can get my seemingly fairly functional iPod to connect with my PC so I can add new tuness?

Thanks a lot for any input
me10.

 

[DoubleHelix]

It's physically damaged. It likely won't format, and that wouldn't help anything. It's already been three weeks, and the mistake was turning it on before it completely dried out.

 

[me10]

even though it still plays all the existing music fine?

 

[DoubleHelix]

You're making an assumption that if one function of a device works then they all must work. It may play music fine, but obviously it doesn't connect to a computer fine. The water likely got everywhere and probably shorted out at least some of the circuitry. There isn't a way to "force" a device to work. It either does or doesn't.

 

[me10]

I'm sorry I made such an assumption.
It's just that it has many signs of life and connecting and so its not that "obvious" that it would never work in all fairness.
I'm sorry to have bothered you

 

[goodwin24]

me10, I wouldn't worry too much.
I'm sure that one day, it might work, it's quite possible that it's not short circuited anything, and that it's merely that part of the circuitry is still dampened.
Perhaps just leaving it for a while before trying to connect might fix it, like you did when it didn't play music.
It's possible that in this case patience is a virtue, whilst ignorance to certain people would be bliss.
Hope this might help you,
goodwin24

 

[PCcruncher]

I have heard that isopropyl alcohol works good at driving out excess water.
Here is a link:http://www.donutey.com/water.php

An alternative option at this point is to simply rinse your phone in a cup of 100% isopropyl alcohol, the alchohol is hydrophobic and nonconductive which may help remove any contaminants and water left in the phone. However, opening up and swabbing the phone may give you a better chance of recovery.

Swish it around a little and then let it dry on a towel in a warn place so the alcohol can evaporate.
Good Luck!

 

[JohnWill]

While the damage may already be done, the best chance for recovery is to take as much of the outside case off as possible, then use canned air and alcohol to try to flush the remaining water. Finally, my RX for wet laptops is to remove covers and usually the keyboard, then place them in a 125F oven (but NEVER more than 150F) for a few hours to bake the moisture out. This has worked many times, but it's obviously not 100%.

 

[new tech guy]

While the damage may already be done, the best chance for recovery is to take as much of the outside case off as possible, then use canned air and alcohol to try to flush the remaining water. Finally, my RX for wet laptops is to remove covers and usually the keyboard, then place them in a 125F oven (but NEVER more than 150F) for a few hours to bake the moisture out. This has worked many times, but it's obviously not 100%.

Wouldn't that melt like the sides and such or is the entire body stripped of all paneling? Also wouldnt that heat fry the lcd?

 

[JohnWill]

No, those temperatures won't melt anything on the unit. 150F is 65C, which is within the storage temperature of most electronics. Note that your car can sometimes make it to these kinds of temperatures in the sun.

 

[new tech guy]

Oh good point. . So if i had a water logged electronic device, i could just use the oven in my kitchen to help dry out the electronic device? Just figure id learn somthing new which could help with some of the other users in my house.

 

[JohnWill]

You just have to make sure you don't mistakenly go to broil in that oven before you take your iPod out!

 

[new tech guy]

I can see that dialouge now... . Sis, uhhhh your ipod kinda got burned in the oven... . I have to remember that trick as I just finished recovering her laptop a couple weeks ago from water being spilled on it. Luckily, the only thing that fried was the disc drive on it and nothing else. Had to get a tech at a local shop as well to re-solder the power port on the back of the thing then i reinstalled it with xp (vista just ran too slow on it). Thanks for the tip .

 

[me10]

The iPod is now connecting succesfully to the computer, allowing me to transfer music to it and everything.
Unfortunately, however, there is the issue that the unit is permanently ON HOLD, even when the iPod is not in the LOCKED position, meaning I can not use it.

Any advice on how I can unlock it?

 

[new tech guy]

Did you try rebooting the device by holding down the middle button and menu button (on menu) until it reboots?