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iPhone 4: Removing water condensation from the camera
34 Comments · Posted by Darian in Devices and Platforms
Last night was a bit wild. I remember getting home sometime in the early hours and stumbling from the car (wife was driving) to the shower to soak away the drinking. By the time I realised that I was still fully clothed and had my wallet and week old iPhone 4 in my pockets, they were dripping wet. I dried off the phone the best I could with a towel and crashed on the bed. I would deal with all that when I was in a clearer frame of mind.
I woke this morning and checked my phone. I found water condensation on the inside of the camera lens and flash! I flipped the phone over and even the front facing camera was foggy. The water from the shower must have gotten in through the headphone jack or something. 
I tried to take a photo but it was very blurry… well, at least the camera still functions!
I googled for solutions and found two suggestions:
- Remove the screws on the bottom and take the back off of the iPhone.
- Absorb the moisture with a desiccant, without taking anything apart.
Opening the phone is a last resort, so I opted for the dehydration method.
A common desiccant is dry rice, so I zip-locked my iPhone with a handfull of rice and let it sit in a warm place for a few hours. I placed on top of my PC tower near the back where the PSU kept it warm to speed up the drying process.
After a few hours I took the iPhone out and tapped some rice grains out of the data slot and checked the headphone jack wasn’t blocked with rice. Looks fine, and the cameras are crystal clear again. 
Sillica-gel packets, like the type found in shoe boxes, should also do the trick.
kali · 8 December 2010 at 7:38 am
Something similar with condensation has happened today to my iPhone 4′s camera, so I’m using the rice-in-a-bag method. Thanks for posting your before and after pictures. I’m glad it worked for you! I hope it works for me too!
Remove Water From Your Camera Or Phone With Rice | Lifehacker Australia · 24 December 2010 at 7:31 am
[...] iPhone 4: Removing water condensation from the camera [Darian Cabot] Tagged:aucamerasclever usesdryingmobile phones [...]
anum · 15 February 2013 at 1:51 am
exactly in the same mannner my iphon got water drops in front camera and the pic i snap is foggy ..i put it in the rice bag ..i wish it works
Remove Water From Your Camera Or Phone With Rice | External Brain · 27 December 2010 at 12:10 pm
[...] problem: your beloved smart phone gets wet, and suddenly it’s not functioning so well. Blogger Darian Cabot tried an oft-quoted trick — putting the phone in dry rice to let it absorb the moisture — and [...]
Stacey · 25 June 2011 at 3:40 pm
Something very similar happened to my iPhone, except 2 days after sitting in a rice bag, the camera from the outside looked clear. But the camera on the screen had tiny water drops that I could not see from the outside. I do not know what to do with these tiny drops?
Romolo · 14 July 2011 at 5:18 pm
Great suggestion! thanks a lot!
Chrystee · 25 September 2011 at 7:01 am
PHEW! Iphone 4 was in kids’ soccer bag with an OPEN water bottle this a.m. Came home and found this blog. Had 3 silica bags from vitamin bottles so I put phone in plastic bag with them and about an hour later some of the condensation on lens was gone. Took phone out and took blow dryer on medium heat to the area…ALL GONE in a few seconds
)))
Afraaz · 6 February 2012 at 6:19 pm
try using a blow dryer…works
katie · 26 February 2012 at 12:06 pm
this helped so much thank you
Jeremy · 28 February 2012 at 3:28 am
I just used a hair blow drier on the lens…fixed it in 10 secs
Lexie · 17 September 2012 at 1:10 pm
How did you use the blow dryer I tried it on the headphone jack and it just made it worse after I stopped now I have it in my front!
Jenn · 25 March 2012 at 8:31 am
You would think I’d learned my lesson the first time I dropped a smart phone in water (in this case my blackberry took a dip in the dog’s water bowl) but no, I thought I’d let it happen again by giving my iphone to my 14 month old so he’d be quiet, after all, I’d done the responsible thing and purchased an Otter Box no less than 8 days ago and I have phone insurance but alas, my phone wanted to take a bath in the toilet. The first time (with the blackberry) I shut it down, took out the battery and put it in a container submerged in rice then let it sit on top of the DVR box for four days-worked perfectly. This time, because the damage wasn’t as bad (phone still functions but the camera has condensation on it) I’m very hopeful the good old rice trick will work again. Fingers crossed! Thanks for your post, it helped me feel a little less frustrated.
cera · 30 March 2012 at 10:14 am
My phone was not exsposed to any such of water that i know of. ive had my iphone on me for this whole week and it wont turn on and the lences have foggd and the flash light is still on ? when i plug it into the charger the voice control comes on and say everything i do but my screen is still blak ? should i still refer to the rice method?
Mark morrison · 16 April 2012 at 4:12 am
Somehow water got under neath my front facing camera? Should do rice or hair dryer
Rebecca Herrick · 9 July 2012 at 4:15 am
Well I just bought a lifeproof phone case (which was 85$) and i was so excited, and i went in the water yesterday and it was fine, i was a little nervous but it was ok. Today i went in the pool and apparently it wasnt in correctly, and water went up my charging port, but it was fine for the most part, after putting it in rice for about 20 minutes it was ok. Now all of the sudden theres condensation in my camera and im praying this works, ive had this phone for 3 weeks.
Abigail DiMatteo · 5 January 2013 at 1:34 pm
I JUST got an iPhone 4S for Christmas and I got the lifeproof right away because I’m a swimmer and thought it’d be useful to take some underwater video to use to correct my stroke. I went down just 2 feet today with my friend at practice, and water leaked in. Thankfully, the phone is fine but there is water inside the lens and I’m hoping this works!
Another Iphone user · 15 July 2012 at 3:28 pm
Rice trick really works. My iPhone 4 was dropped in water and stopped working completely. No display, both lenses and the flash had droplets of water inside. I kept it in a small packet of raw rice overnight on top of a stabilizer (which is a warm place) and in the morning….. clear as brand new! From dead to alive and kicking!!!!!
Terz · 23 July 2012 at 1:25 am
Ha, I did the same thing as the blogger. I drank my as off on a hot and muggy summer noght bow my camera is foggy. Ooohhhhh drinking.
Sharon · 25 August 2012 at 5:50 pm
Thanks for this great advice!! It realy works! You can put rice in a small plastic breadbag and put a lamp on it for a few minutes so that its warm, than leave the phone in te bag with the rice for a few hours!
Clie · 30 August 2012 at 3:10 am
Thx a mill!!!! I thought my camerafunction was reduced to null and void after spilling water in my bag and seeing the condensation on the lens. I used the blow dryer and it was gone in no time!!! Very happy
tflavs.12 · 6 September 2012 at 9:00 pm
i tried the blow drier and it worked, but then fogged up as soon as i stopped blow drying it.
Im so screwed, HOW DO I FIX IT PLEASE?
Francesca · 30 September 2012 at 5:42 pm
For me ti wireless with a minute of hairdryer !
Francesca · 30 September 2012 at 5:43 pm
I meant “it worked ” !!
Zahra · 17 December 2012 at 1:25 am
hey, i dropped my iphone 4s in the toilet and i tried the blow dryer the camera and the flash if steamed up, ive left it under the radioheater with some rice on it, hopefully it work!!! IA
Zahra · 17 December 2012 at 2:42 am
steam hasnt come out still
Aly · 6 January 2013 at 12:51 pm
Dropped in pool did rice phone works great I dropped it in an 8ft deep in but camera is foggy how do I fix that my camera has. Water
Aly · 6 January 2013 at 12:51 pm
Droplets
anum · 15 February 2013 at 1:52 am
exactly in the same manner my iphon got water drops in it ,i put it in rice bag ..i hope it works. ..m really worried
anum · 15 February 2013 at 1:53 am
i got water drops exactly in the same manner as shown in pic ,,,i put it in the rice bag ..i hope it works ..m really worried
Christina · 3 March 2013 at 3:20 am
Ahhh! went running at 5 am put phone in bra and shoot, the screen went white noticed water drops in camera, so i put it in bag of rice . we will see!
Charlie · 3 April 2013 at 6:12 am
I’ve got the same problem with my front camera, i’ve had it in rice for about 1-2 hours, should i put it in again (and than longer?), am i too late now or should i use a blower? I have read that a blower isnt good for the phone though.. Any experiences?
Hershel · 3 May 2013 at 6:05 am
Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out much. I hope to give something back and help others like you aided me.
Jessica · 13 May 2013 at 8:39 am
I dropped my phone in a lake and it hit a rock and the screen cracked! I got home about 4 hours later and put it in a bag of rice the camera has water droplets in it and hopefully they’ll go away
Terri · 25 May 2013 at 11:56 am
Just using a blow dryer on high heat for about 5 minutes works perfectly for condensed water on the front camera of an iphone, thank you to every ones suggestions they were so helpful! never have I ever been more grateful for my hair dryer!