[I am JT]

My story begins on a sad note. After over 30 inches of torrential downpour courtesy of Hurricane Isaac plus the opening of floodgates of a dam on a river North of my home, I was on an island with water 40 ft from my house and rising. I have used my PlayBook for dozens of different tasks and have used one daily since launch. It was just logical to use the PlayBook take pictures so I could document the rise of the flood waters for insurance in case the water breached my house. I had some pictures already on the PlayBook of pre-flood conditions and to take pictures from the same vantage point required me to wade out a bit. I tripped in a soft spot that had developed in the ground and lost control of my PlayBook (in a convertible case). When I regained my balance my PlayBook was under 9 inches of water!

I grabbed it as quickly as possible to try to shut it down. By the time I pulled it out of the water and shed the convertible case the screen was dark and the buttons unresponsive. (I tried a quick screen shot to see if the unit was still working behind the dark screen.) I took the unit inside, dried every bit that I could and then stuck it in a bag of rice where it has sat for the last 5 days. This afternoon when I got home I plugged in the charger and after a second, red light, the slow flashing green showing that it was charging and finally solid green showing a full charge, I pressed the power button and it booted. I could see water spots under the touchscreen but the PlayBook completed its boot up and amazingly all functions (including the touchscreen) appear to be working. I have shut it off for now and will try to reboot it in the morning. I want to take it slowly and be sure all if the moisture is out of the unit.

So RIM will get an earful from me thanking them not only for making such an excellent tablet OS but also for their excellent workmanship in building the tablet. I was wondering how long I was going to be without my favorite computing tool but it looks like it won't be very long at all. Thanks RIM!

[JayR2010]

Are you john terry?

[FF22]

Hope your other damage was minimal. I'd leave it in the rice a bit longer - fresh rice.

[Canuck671]

Salt and those small dessicant pouches works wonders. If you have any puches, seal them in a ziplock with your playbook and every couple of days, put the pouches in an oven to regenerate then repeat. Good luck.

[dbmalloy]

Its a crap shoot with water damage.... but great to hear yours appears to have come out OK..... Say what you want about software.... RIM makes solid and reliabel hardware....

[mikeo007]

Glad your tablet was able to recover. I wouldn't thank RIMs craftsmanship though, it was your quick thinking and a bit of luck.

[I am JT]

Are you john terry?

Nope, sorry.

[I am JT]

Glad your tablet was able to recover. I wouldn't thank RIMs craftsmanship though, it was your quick thinking and a bit of luck.

Don't agree. It could have leaked like sieve and destroyed the unit completely since it was powered up in the water. I'm sure the convertible case helped but if it had become waterlogged I wouldn't have had a happy story to tell. The PlayBook hardware and craftmanship is the best I have seen in any tablet and I have handled and played with most of what's on the market today.

Also thanks to all for the advice.

[mikeo007]

The Playbook was never crafted or designed to withstand water damage. You were lucky. Thinking otherwise is just foolish.

[I am JT]

The Playbook was never crafted or designed to withstand water damage. You were lucky. Thinking otherwise is just foolish.

You wound me...now run along and play.

[amrovi2014]

Jt,

Good work in retrieving your PlayBook. The PlayBook is a solid tablet and I believe your account of what transpired.

[rkennedy01]

JT,

Where were you located during Isaac? Outside my house in Wellington, FL, we got 18 inches in just over two days. Several homes flooded and the streets were all but un-navigable. From your story it sounds like you were somewhere out in the Acreage, am I right?

RCK

Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2

[Richdog-]

I imagine rims reply will be 'cool story bro.'

[bldshd]

The Playbook was never crafted or designed to withstand water damage. You were lucky. Thinking otherwise is just foolish.

It was just plain ol crafted & designed to withstand the bumps & grinds of everyday life & then some.. Id like to see a ipad sit under water & work again

[I am JT]

JT,

Where were you located during Isaac? ...

I'm in SE Mississippi.

[I am JT]

I imagine rims reply will be 'cool story bro.'

The point of the letter will be to express my appreciation. Really haven't given any thought to their reply. Whether I get a reply or not will depend on the person who receives it I suppose. I'm just happy that there is a excellent chance I won't have to shell out the money for a new tablet.

[bb624]

Thanks for sharing a nice story. Hope any damage is minimal and your PB continues to work! Rim should appreciate your thoughtfulnes!

[sidekickkdx]

So does your Playbook now look like an Ipad2 with the water droplets under the screen? (I never understood why apple did that-would make me freak out a little at first glance). I hope your Playbook makes a full recovery!

[I am JT]

Here's a screenshot of my PlayBook. Hope the water spots fade over time but all functions are working fine.

[narci]

5 days in rice must have been agonising.

I would be so tempted to turn it on just to see if it works.

[Ned_Flanders]

It was just plain ol crafted & designed to withstand the bumps & grinds of everyday life & then some.. Id like to see a ipad sit under water & work again

I know someone who dropped an iPod in the toilet and successfully dried it out and got it working again. I really think it comes down to how clean the water is and how fast you get the moisture out.

[skyrocket9]

it may work now, over time water will cause metalic parts to oxidize on the motherboard and corrode.

Enjoy it while you can.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[Vector-SS]

IF your device starts messing up after some time, and there is no fixing it, then as a final solution I would suggest opening it up and with a q-tip filled with rubbing alcohol, dab and clean the entire internals - it literally does wonders.

I've fixed my phone like this after it got dumped into a bucket of melted ice at a club, and my friends phone who got some moisture in it and started typing random letters.

Hopefully you won't need to do that though

[I am JT]

Just a quick update for those who may be interested. The water spots and discoloration on my screen have faded over the last week and now my PlayBook screen looks normal. Nearly 3 weeks after my PlayBook took a swim and it is working as well as the day I bought it. I would post a screen shot but I noticed the last one I posted didn't show the water spots. Not sure how the touch screen is constructed or how many layers it has but I guess that means the water didn't get deep enough to do any permanent damage. Just a great thing to still have my PlayBook after the mishap.

[Sith_Apprentice]

I am fairly certain the screenshot is a software thing, and wont show hardware damage.