Comments on: How I fixed an iPhone with a Q-Tip

By: Michael Crumpton

Michael Crumpton — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 01:04:00 +0000

Perhaps if you keep at it with the Que tips you will be able to get it play something better than Lana Del Rey.

By: Baldhead

Baldhead — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:49:00 +0000

I find Q- Tip always makes my music devices sound better.

By: ian_b

ian_b — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 17:43:00 +0000

What are you suggesting? That the phone be covered in screws and bay doors with user-accessible internals? What, exactly, do you imagine this dystopian monstrosity would look like and weigh?

By: ian_b

ian_b — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 17:39:00 +0000

Pocket lint is another common culprit. A toothpick or bobby pin will wrangle it out.

By: Mark Creasy

Mark Creasy — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:28:00 +0000

Above posters are correct; while the Q-tip thing is cool for the short term, sit down with your favorite beverage and the required screwdrivers and follow the appropriate iFixit guide to disassemble the device and clean out the remaining goo (with more Q-tips!) or there will probably be more issues down the line.

By: KibblesAhoy

KibblesAhoy — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:42:00 +0000

I’ve been doing this fix on client Macs for years. The old “red light coming out of the headphone jack” issue…

By: acerplatanoides

acerplatanoides — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:34:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01gm0onZiKM

By: Narmitaj

Narmitaj — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:06:00 +0000

I once fixed a Renault 4 French ex-postal van with a handkerchief (tied round one of the coolant tubes that had split).

By: James Kimbell

James Kimbell — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 14:57:00 +0000

ITT: People going out of their way to make sure you know they don’t like Lana del Rey.

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 14:36:00 +0000

Based on everyone else’s comments, I checked out this Lana Del Rey. Holy moley. I will never complain about my kids’ tastes in music again.

By: royaltrux

royaltrux — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 14:23:00 +0000

Viola!

By: Raneru

Raneru — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:20:00 +0000

“After the fifth or sixth Q-tip, Lana Del Rey started singing through the phone.” You have my deepest sympathy.

By: HulloHulot

HulloHulot — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:07:00 +0000

« Voilà ! »

By: Stooge

Stooge — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 10:53:00 +0000

« Voilà! »

By: acerplatanoides

acerplatanoides — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 08:01:00 +0000

are you mad because Apple doesn’t want to be tech support for hobbyists? All you risk is your warranty. Bodge on.

By: KaleoK

KaleoK — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 07:05:00 +0000

“Lana Del Rey started singing through the phone.”

Should have left the iPhone silenced!

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 06:20:00 +0000

“Voilà”

By: echolocate chocolate

echolocate chocolate — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 05:39:00 +0000

“Voila”.

By: Vincent Maldia

Vincent Maldia — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 05:28:00 +0000

vinegar is acidic. acids or even plain water can cause delicate electronics to corrode. The power button on my 5 year old HTC p3400i is on the upper left corner. Its failing. A cellphone technician opened it up and cleaned some corrosion. It still works 99% of the time but I’m gonna get a mid end android to replace it. Its served me well. Maybe some water dripped in due to it being on top, I don’t know

so if there is some vinegar left inside the phone, expect future problems

By: sam1148

sam1148 — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 05:24:00 +0000

I’d be interested in knowing what Q-Tip can fit in a standard headphone jack.

EDIT: I posted too soon…I see you pull off the cotton, leaving just a bit of it on the QTIP to insert it.

By: Dave Pease

Dave Pease — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 05:09:00 +0000

you also doubled the Citroen 2CV’s value in the process

By: Dave X

Dave X — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 04:08:00 +0000

Yeah, but the salad dressing had a beat you could dance to!

By: spocko

spocko — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 03:42:00 +0000

We’ve had the headphone jack at the bottom of the Ipod Touch for YEARS. We win! In your face iPhone 1-4 users!

But seriously. I really like my iPod Touch 4g. I’m around wireless hot spots most of the time and I use Skype and a SIP phone or Google phone for calls depending on the connection and who I’m calling.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 02:46:00 +0000

Yeah, I was gonna say… All this is good news except that the daughter is listening to Lana del Ray.

By: BarBarSeven

BarBarSeven — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 02:45:00 +0000

Yes, salad dressing is debris.

By: SarahLovesFabric

SarahLovesFabric — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 02:44:00 +0000

So… You heard Lana del Rey singing and that was evidence that the iPhone was FIXED…?

By: butmyrisk

butmyrisk — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 02:03:00 +0000

Too bad apple tries to limit your “intrusion” into THEIR phone. Opening devices and cleaning them is often a common maintenance task that requires very little expertise other than know that you want to get rid of foreign materials that could be conductors.

By: Matthew Petty

Matthew Petty — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 01:55:00 +0000

Sounds like the time I fixed a Citroen 2CV with a Band-Aid.

By: Michael Smith

Michael Smith — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 01:46:00 +0000

Okay so it sounds like the contact which switches the audio from speaker to earphone was shorted or displaced by debris.

By: pborenstein

pborenstein — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 01:44:00 +0000

If it’s just water, you can use a hair dryer to dry the moisture.

Now that I think about it, the decision to put the headphone jack of the bottom of the iPhone 5 is brilliant.