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View Full Version : Oil "cooled" iphone !!



Beowulf
12th-December-2008, 12:26 PM
I really shouldn't laugh.. really I shouldn't. But my services have been called apon for a most unfortunate colleague here in the office.

Guy came up to me with a very sorry look on his face. he got himself the top of the range 3g Iphones (what's that the 32gb version? 16gb?? i forget which one is tops!) anyway it's only a few days old and he loves it. However he was frying something in his kitchen the other day, took his iphone out of his pocket and put it on the shelf.. .. above the deep fat fryer.

he didn't count on the vibrate function of a missed call shaking the phone off the shelf.. and into a hot oil bath!!

now MAX KUDOS for the iphone design despite being fried (I had to laugh when he said he'd fried his iphone.. "what did you do to it?" "I literally fried it.. in oil") it still works (apparently the oil wasn't fully up to heat.

we spent about 15 - 20 mins yesterday in the IT / electronics build room with the phone apart. we got most of the oil out but it had no sound and a "shadow" on the LCD screen. Oil's seeped into everything so we stripped it apart and used a mild cleaning solution for electronic equipment and carefully cleaned every component inside. (nicely laid out too,, more Kudos for design considerations!)

The "speakers" were gummed up put a few blasts with an air duster seems to have cleared out things enough for him to hear his ring tones et al again. As far as we can see there is no oil anywhere (at least not that we can get to) we cleaned the screen between the LCD and the outside world.but there's still this "shadow" (for want of a better word) on the screen. it's functional but unsightly.

he's gutted and doesn't have the warranty (for some reason.. I didn't ask)

I suggested he buys a replacement lcd screen (about £56 on-line after a very quick search.) he seems to concur but if anyone has any suggestions that might remedy this without needing a new screen would be most appreciated by my colleague.

See pics attached !

drathzel
12th-December-2008, 01:05 PM
poor phone!!!

Filthy Monkey
12th-December-2008, 02:19 PM
If it's only a few days old, he could still take a warranty out on it. I think has about 14 days to make up his mind. Obviously he wouldn't make a retrospective claim for an incident that happened before he took out the warranty :whistle:, but it might be useful to have, just in case it happens again... :rolleyes:

David Bailey
12th-December-2008, 02:33 PM
However he was frying something in his kitchen the other day, took his iphone out of his pocket and put it on the shelf.. .. above the deep fat fryer.
...
if anyone has any suggestions that might remedy this without needing a new screen would be most appreciated by my colleague.

Does he still have the packaging...? :whistle:

Lee Bartholomew
12th-December-2008, 03:08 PM
He could always throw it in the bin and get a HTC device :na:.

straycat
12th-December-2008, 03:14 PM
He could always throw it in the bin and get a HTC device :na:.

Hmmm. I wonder what would happen if you deep-fried one of those...

Astro
12th-December-2008, 03:22 PM
I spilt coffee on my home phone, it took a few days to dry out, but was ok.

If you leave it plugged in though, when wet, it will upset the whole phone line and other extensions which would work ok if you unplugged the wet phone.

...well I didn't know :doh:

ducasi
12th-December-2008, 03:22 PM
Good work on the recovery! :respect:

I guess the fact that oil is a poor conductor saved it from greater harm.

I think the replacement LCD is the best way to go...

The standard warranty wouldn't cover accidental damage.

Astro
12th-December-2008, 03:26 PM
The standard warranty wouldn't cover accidental damage.

But couldn't it be classed as a design fault, if it vibrated so hard it bounced off a shelf?

Not fit for it's purpose.

Suppose he likes his chips, and cooks them 3 times a day. :na:


Anyone got any advice for me. I don't know my PUK number and one of my mobiles won't let me in.

Also can't find the booklet that came with it.

Beowulf
12th-December-2008, 05:35 PM
He could always throw it in the bin and get a HTC device :na:.


Hmmm. I wonder what would happen if you deep-fried one of those...

I dread to think ! far too many nooks and cranny's for the oil to seep into. Besides I've already invalidated my warranty by taking the thing apart .. generally poking around and installing a series of "cooked" roms.


Good work on the recovery! :respect:

Had to fight the urge to put the thing out of it's misery ;)


I guess the fact that oil is a poor conductor saved it from greater harm.

not veg oil.. but then it's hardly high voltage in there so probably had some insulating effect.. no if you want to oil cool you need MINERAL oil (often used as horse laxative ;) (http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php) )

LemonCake
12th-December-2008, 05:41 PM
He ought to contact iphone with the story so they can use it as 'look how resilient and idiot-proof our phones are' advertising!

One shouldn't laugh but it's hard not to - it's the kind of thing that would look contrived if it appeared in a sitcom...

David Bailey
12th-December-2008, 05:48 PM
He ought to contact iphone with the story so they can use it as 'look how resilient and idiot-proof our phones are' advertising!

One shouldn't laugh but it's hard not to - it's the kind of thing that would look contrived if it appeared in a sitcom...

Yeah - I mean, I normally have some sympathy, and God knows I've done some stupid things in my time. But really, it does seem an extremely dumb thing to do.

Gojive
12th-December-2008, 06:49 PM
poor phone!!!

Or Friphone? (they're made in Greece btw :wink:) :waycool:

'Slick' work though Beo :D

Jan in Notts
12th-December-2008, 07:36 PM
Why doesn't the chap have a look to see whether he might be covered under his home contents insurance?

Lynn
13th-December-2008, 01:51 PM
Why doesn't the chap have a look to see whether he might be covered under his home contents insurance?He may be if he has additional Accidental Damage cover - but that would cover cost of repair and as most household policies have £50 or even £100 excess he might not get that much eg if the part and labour comes to around £100 ish. And it adds a claim to his policy, if he's had other other smallish claims the company could put the excess up.