Water Damage

[nathan_blagdon]

I managed to dump my canon 20D and 17-35mm in a river. I've rigged up a drying

aparatus with a dehumidifyer. Is there any reason to be hopeful that either

the body or lens will be useable again? I tried turning the camera on and

there was life but the menu screen was jumping all over the place. Can I test

the lens on a healthy body or could this damage the electronics of the body?

Can I test the body with a healthy lens or could this damage the electronics

of the lens?

[yves_jalbert]

<p>Oh boy do I feel your pain. I would be crying like a baby if I ever dropped my 30D and a lense in water. I was about to tell you <u>not</u> to turn it on before it was completely dry in and out (at least 5 days) but I read further and saw that you did. It's very risky to do so as you really increase chances of creating a short circuit that way (still wet inside).

</p>

 

<p>

The dehumidifyer is really good. A hair blower's heat will just stress the camera body more and possibly push water further inside it. Try to have some closed area (like a big box) so you can take as most humidity out of that area as you can. Even with such a setup it will take days for humidity to completely get out of there (especially the lense).</p>

 

<p>

Before testing any of the two with other equipment, my recommendation would be that you get your equipment to a repair shop. Talk to a technician that really knows his stuff so you can get a good evaluation of your situation.

</p>

 

<p>

An old 35mm SLR I would have said, sure, you are probably ok. Cameras with circuitry completely submerged in water... I highly doubt it. Good luck and let us know if you find any way to save it.

</p>

[klix]

Dumping it in the drink was bad enough, but you might have made it worse by turning it on.

 

Remove the lens, take out the batteries and let it dry out for a good 10 days. Then see what happens.

[dave_powell2]

I used to work for a major international electronics company, and their repair people once told me something very interesting that may also apply to camera equipment. It was that if the customer drops their cell phone, or CB radio, or whatever into water (any water... but especially salt water) the best thing to do is immediately transfer it, lock, stock, and barrel, into a container of fresh water...and take (or deliver) it (QUICKLY...in the fresh-water bath) to the repair shop.

 

That way, the internal electronics and metal parts don't short or corrode any more than they have already...and the repair people have a fighting chance of drying out the unit in the best possible way.

 

Fortunately, I've never had to test this advice...and don't actually know from experience how valid it is, but I also feel your pain. But I'm now curiouos whether anyone else has heard and followed this watery suggestion with positive results?

 

Sincerely,

 

Dave

[nathan_blagdon]

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm having a military optics technician have a look at the lens tomorrow (for free!). And the body will continue to dry in my contained dehumidifying apparatus. In the meantime, I'm applying for a student line of credit to help cover the likely costs. haha I'll definately find a way to get insurance this time around.

[terry_dent1]

I was told once, when I dropped a camera in the water, the only reason to reach in the water and get the camera was to throw it farther out!

[jimstrutz]

I've saved a few film cameras that had been dropped in fresh water. Two Canon Rebels among them. You need to get the battery out right away and do not try to power it up until you know it's completely dry. Clean water will not hurt the electronics if left unpowered, but can do things to the shutter, and mechanical switches, etc. I have no idea if water can get between the AA filter and the sensor, or what it might do if it does.

 

Try to remove as many body parts as possible so that the air can get everywhere. If it stays damp very long parts can start to corrode. If after a couple weeks of drying, you power it up and it still doesn't work, chances are it never will, and Canon will not be able to repair it economically.

 

The lens is probably worth repair. One likely issue will be water spots on the glass which just need to be cleaned off, but dissassembled to get to. Hopefully the water won't do damage to the USM, or cause internal corrosion before it drys.

[klaus.sailer]

When I dropped my Fuji S2 in the river, it was gone for good. It now serves as replacement body parts.

 

However, I restored the lens, a Sigma 400 APO, to full working condition. Opened it up and dried the aperture leaves, removing some fine grained dirt afterwards. The glass couldn't be fully removed or disassembled, but I managed to clean it from the inside with a "speck grabber" (these long sticks with rubber tip to clean sensors).

Works as new!

The electronics pieces had to be polished a little and I put some grease at the moving parts of the focus mechanics.

 

The repair shop told me the lens was beyond repair...

[dave_powell2]

Your mention of the "spec grabber" reminded me that Radio Shack sells a special kind of marker pen that contains an anti-corrosion fluid. When I worked there, they used it to remove corrosion from electrical contacts whre batteries leaked. Worked very well...as long as you wipe off the fluid. --Dave

[carroll_muffett]

I had a similar experience with a Canon body and lens a few years ago (note to self: kayaking and photography don't mix). The lens wasn't salvageable but remarkably, after a couple weeks of drying out, the body started working again and managed to hold on for nearly a year before the corrosion finally killed it--as it ultimately will yours, I suspect. Still, with a little TLC you may get a few more miles out of it before it goes.

[ben_neubauer]

I know this is an old forum, but just the other day my canon 20D also decided it would take a swim along with my wide angle lens. It was in my hand the entire time so the body and lens only spent less than a second in water and I don't believe it was fully submerged. None-the-less, it ceases to work.

 

As you might want to hit me for doing, I was unbelievably anxious as to weather it might work or not and after drying off the batteries, cards and components as best i could, I turned it on to see if it would work not knowing this was a bad idea. The red light flashed a few times, and nothing more. When I turned the camera off, the shutter began to kind of spaz out and just sound like it was taking pictures one after another until the battery was removed. I don't beleive there's much I can do with it now, but I might as well try.

 

Does anyone know if it would be safe to put the camera in a vaccuum? I work in a facility that does environmental testing and I might be able to get them to let me throw the body in there to try and dry it out. Would this be safe to do? How much psi do you think it would take it dry it out? Would a vaccuum even dry our water or no?

 

Any reccomendations would be appreciated.

[jimstrutz]

Water doesn't evaporate in a vacuum.

 

Take as many body panels and parts off as you feel comfortable in doing, and then take a few more off. Set the camera aside without either battery in it (get the small back up battery out too) for a couple weeks with a fan blowing on it. Then try it again. Don't try it for at least two weeks.

 

It's probably toast. If it wasn't when it went into the water, it probably became that way when you turned it on. But who knows? it might work when dry. Surprises do happen.

[ben_neubauer]

I'm not exactly sure what kind of machine it is, but they use negative pressure to suck water out of units we test. I found out I can't use it anyway, but I can put it in the ovens we use at work that are dehumidified, so I'm going to try that while there still might be water inside, then let it sit for a few weeks. Hopefully I'll get some sign of life after that.

[jimstrutz]

At this point there is no reason not to try. Just about any good repair shop will tell you they wont not touch it, primarily because they don't want to guaranty a water repair. In the old mechanical days a lot of water soaked cameras were repaired, but much of the corrosion damage can't be seen as easily with electronics. That said, generally water really doesn't do anything harmful to the electronic components themselves if they can dry off in a reasonable time.

 

BTW, if this happened to be salt water you dropped it in, forgetaboutit.

[aegir_hallmundur]

"Water doesn't evaporate in a vacuum."

 

Oh it does. Quite violently too, if you expose it to vacuum suddenly.