Water Damaged Apple Watch Series 3

Went for a dip the other day and found that my Apple Watch had died during the swim. It was in salt water, but in a protected inlet with no waves and I didn’t dive deep or do anything unusual.

Got it home, put it on the charger. 10 mins later it had a weird snake like icon on the screen and it was freaking super hot. Then it died again. A day later on a different charger it comes back to life. But with a flickering screen and less responsive touch screen. I booked it into the apple store for them to take a look at.

I was expecting them to just replace it, perhaps I was naive, but JB Hi-Fi refunded me when my series 2 had issues.

I was somewhat shocked to hear that they have to send it away for two to three weeks and that if there is water/corrosion inside that they would charge me to repair it, if it could be repaired.

I said if there is water inside then there is a faulty seal or something that let the water in. Then he goes on about how its not water proof. I said I knew that. But I didn’t take it diving and I was told you could take it swimming no worries. He said anything lower than 1 metre and it wouldn’t be covered by warranty.

On the way out I spoke to the lady selling the apple watches. I said have you ever heard of them dying in water. She said only the series 1 ones. I said what about the series 3 ones. She said no. I said can you swim with them, she said yes, down to 50m.

So that a huge difference, repair/warranty dude says 1M, salesperson, 50M.

Has anyone ever had a series 2 or 3 watch die in the water? Were you deep? More importantly, has anyone been able to get a warranty claim on a water damaged series 2 or 3?

Cheers
Len

My Series 2 goes through the shower most every day, and has been snorkeling and swimming in Bali and the Galapagos Islands with no ill effects. That’s why I upgraded from S0 in the first place. I thought S3 was meant to be the same. IMHO, that’s a hardware fault and should have been covered.

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I showered with a Series 0 for 2 years. Spent the afternoon yesterday in the pool with my Series 1. :thinking:

Sounds like yours is faulty.

Sounds faulty to me, I’d be insisting on it being replaced if it was me.

Apple says the below in the fine print on the website. Given the marketing and the promotion of the watch I highly doubt they be able to scoot around this very easily in australia anyway.

If they don’t want to play ball with you I would be hitting them with Australian Consumer Law.

Apple Watch Series 3 has a water resistance rating of 50 meters under ISO standard 22810:2010. This means that it may be used for shallow-water activities like swimming in a pool or ocean. However, Apple Watch Series 3 should not be used for scuba diving, waterskiing, or other activities involving high-velocity water or submersion below shallow depth.

I shall be relying on that statement and the others made to me at the time of purchase. I eagerly await their decision on the warranty claim. If they deny I will be fighting this hard

Update - Apple contacted me and gave me a new Apple Watch Series 3.

only issue is that i bought another one while it was being assessed.

Now I have a brand new Series 3 that I guess is for sale.

Anyone know what you think it would be worth to sell? The watch I just got back is brand new but the charger and band have been used for two weeks.

Did you buy the replacement form JB where they gave you misleading info? Take it back and demand a refund I say! :expressionless:

Apple 2nd hand gear keeps its value. You’ll probably make more on the 2nd hand market than what you paid for it. :wink:

Did you buy it at the Apple Store? They have a two week return policy…

My Apple 3 series watch stopped working after I went into a kiddie pool with my grandson. I called Apple and they told me it would be $300.00 just to start. It is suppose to be under warranty but they were not willing to help me at all. I wanted to find someone to complain to but there is no one out there in customer service… I did not even pay $300.00 for the watch. I will never buy another Apple product.

Hi @scottkeith
Sounds pretty terrible that a dip in the kiddie pool killed your watch!
How did you get hold of one for under $300? Was it second hand at purchase?
Perhaps the previous owner did something that damaged its water-not-quite-proofing.
If it was under warranty (check on Apple’s website using the watch’s serial number), you could certainly threaten them with the ACCC and see if that changes their mind, though if they did detect physical damage, that probably wont help.

I showered with my Series 0, 1 & 2 watches every single day I owned them, swam in a pool with an S1 and regularly give my son a bath with my S4 on. If I ever had an issue with my watch and water, I’d call AppleCare and tell them that Tim Cook said he showers with his watch ever day. Then they’d fix it for me for free. I’m almost certain of that. :man_shrugging:

Swim in the ocean (waves and sand) with my S3. Never had an issue.

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all apple watches are water-resistant only not waterproof…
you can use it while showering but avoid the contact of shampoo or other chemical products
because it can damage the sealing of the watch.
Talking about swimming, yes you can swim with the watch on normal water like a swimming pool,
but in high-velocity water, you can’t.
it is not built for scuba diving and strong waves
so we have to take care of it.
in your case, you charged it with water inside, I think it damaged the circuit