Advice on a WET camera

royale1

I am so angry with myself - I was out yesterday in Louisburgh taking some landscapes when my tripod failed me and broke resulting in my camera falling off the quick release straight into a river. It was like slow motion - it was in the water what seemed like an age (but it was probably only 5-10secs) - long enough to cause a panic and damage.
To make it worse - I got home very upset to find my camera insurance has run out - and I never added the camera to my home insurance. Can anyone advise what I can do - other than trying to drying it out close to the fire - oh also my lens is damaged too.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help?

ThOnda

Removing battery is the first thing to do. Next would be contacting official service.
I rather won't post any advice overheard here to prevent more damage caused by my advise, but wrapping it into few layers of cloth (towels) and placing into place with solid higher temperature (30 degrees, not much more) to allow it to dry out slowly, but quite quickly. And then giving it for full service.
But as in my signature, I am not giving you any advice, I am only saying what I think and cannot insure that my suggestion is valid, right and won't cause any damage.

rahtkennades

OP, I think Th0nda's suggestion would be a good place to start. Only thing I would suggest is def not to try using it/switching it on until a professional has serviced it.

Bad luck though.

njburke

Hi,
Batteries (there may also be a backup ) out and binned as soon as possible, its the battery that does much of the damage with flooded electronics. The electronic boards inside have actually been washed at manufacture.

Avoid the temptation to power it up or test it without cleaning it and drying it first.

You'll need to remove the outer housing to visually inspect and determine where the water ingress has been. IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) is will clean off most residue from saltwater etc, an ultrasonic bath (li/al/di had the for 20 euros recently ) would be very useful.

My most recent experience was a GPS receiver in my drysuit thigh pocket when I waded in to recover a boat, it was immersed for 5 minutes and I managed to clean it up and get it working. A DSLR is far more complex, but the outcome will depend on the level of ingress.

Is the mirror/ccd stained on your camera ?

Incidentally, my day job is designing underwater electronics, the device I'm designing at the moment has and array of leak detectors purpose of which is to kill the upstream power to minimize the cost of repair.

NJ

gman2k

njburke wrote: »

Hi,

You'll need to remove the outer housing to visually inspect and determine where the water ingress has been. IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) is will clean off most residue from saltwater etc, an ultrasonic bath (li/al/di had the for 20 euros recently ) would be very useful.


NJ

What's the best solution to clean electronics in an ultrasonic bath? (Not that I'm going to pop my 7d in there or anything)

Calina

My advice is to let it dry out at room temperature and do not wrap it in anything. Sit it on a towel if you have to. I would never, ever, put the camera into a hot press for example.

Secondly, do not under any circumstances power it on at all. If you have done this already, you can probably say good buy to it. I'd be with those who recommend taking out the batteries.

If there is any internal evidence of water, there's a good chance that your service agent, when they look at it, will say that there is evidence of water damage and that the camera cannot be economically repaired. I am speaking from experience here. If there is any chance that the camera did anything at all while it was wet/under water, such as the shutter being released, I think you might be on to a loser. I had internal corrosion linked to water ingress on a 40D about 12 months ago. I wound up replacing it.

royale1

For all who have posted replies today a big thank you.

I have taken the advice and glad to say its not in the hot press, its sitting lovely on a dry towel away from the kids and the cats. The lens isnt doing too well, but the camera appears to be making a recovery. I'll keep you posted.
But thanks a million - as im not that confident in the cleaning of the camera I think i'll stay clear from that aspect of it. I'd be afraid i'd make it worse.

njburke

Gman2k> Best depends on what what contaminant you're cleaning.
IPA and and a DI water solution is commonly used cleaning solvent for electronics. A high concentration solution initially followed by progressively weaker solutions in the final rinse. Leave the Heater off as it boils off the IPA, water and IPA solution have a lower evaporation water, so its sometimes used to accelerate the drying process.


NJ

Chorcai

I think we all learned something here.

Sorry to hear, best not to take it apart and bring/send it to some canon repair centre.