Dropped my 10D into seawater

[andysaint]

Recently I accdentally dropped my 10D onto the beach and some water went in thru the battery compartment. The round flash under the 10D words keep flashing until the battery is removed. I dried it and put in the battery after a few days but now all the focus point just lit but fail to respond.

I sent the camera to Canon but they say it cant be repaired as it has short circuit. Any solutions?? Thanks.

[phidong]

Try taking it to a repair shop somewhere. If that doesn't work, sell it AS-IS on eBay telling them it doesn't function.. u'll get like 200$ then buy a new 10D =|

That really sucks. :/

[Phil Hall]

I did the same with a Pentax many years ago. I'm afraid it is toast.

[HeatherJL]

Hopefully you had insurance, in which case you can just call your agent.

[Webster]

Before tossing the camera, try soaking the whole thing (minus any batteries and lens) in distilled water. It's definately a desperation move, but occasionally this will bring back an electronic device from the dead. Since it will be as likely to kill the camera even more as to fix it, you'd only want to try it as an absolute last resort, so you don't feel like an idiot when you end up tossing the camera anyhow.

[harpoon]

Yeah, I agree with Webster on the last resort. De-ionized water is better if you have access to it.

After the soaking, you need to dry it completely. It's not going to be an easy task because the camera has such complicated structures and who knows how many gaps and pores it has that can hold some water. I would suggest to find a big jar, fill it up with desiccants, leave the camera in there for may be a month or so to let the desiccant do its work slowly.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Zoiks,. it could work :( but the possibilty of corrosion on the electronics after prolonged exposure to moisture has me worried. ..and if the deionized water isn't actually flushing the salt water contaminanats off,. will soaking it really clean anything.

One last thought (I have never tried any of this myself) but 90% Isopropyl alchohol is a good cleaner and it evaporates VERY quicky compared to water. Would this damage the camera? I use it all the time to clean electronic parts,. but never something so complex as a camera.

[shafiq]

From what I remember from school, Electronics and Water just don't mix. It's like saying dip your television in a bath tub and maybe it will still work!!!!!!!!

[justme_dc]

" From what I remember from school, Electronics and Water just don't mix. It's like saying dip your television in a bath tub and maybe it will still work!!!!!!!! "
If you take the electricity out of the picture there is actually very little harm water can do to PCBs or wiring. It is the combo of water and voltage that usually does the damage.
The bucket of water trick works flawlessly with film bodies, I have personally been on hand to watch various EOS models brought back to life after a brief dip in the ocean. I don't however have much hope for it working with a digital. I think there are far too many variables when dealing with the CMOS and DIGIC processor. But good luck to you if you try to do the soaking trick.

[gs121002]

I had a friend who was in a similar situation several years ago. His solution was to leave the camera on the front seat of his car with the windows down. When the camera turn up missing, he filed a police report then contacted his insurance company.

I told him I was wondering why my insurance premiums were going up......

[shafiq]

justme_dc wrote:
" From what I remember from school, Electronics and Water just don't mix. It's like saying dip your television in a bath tub and maybe it will still work!!!!!!!! "
If you take the electricity out of the picture there is actually very little harm water can do to PCBs or wiring. It is the combo of water and voltage that usually does the damage.
The bucket of water trick works flawlessly with film bodies, I have personally been on hand to watch various EOS models brought back to life after a brief dip in the ocean. I don't however have much hope for it working with a digital. I think there are far too many variables when dealing with the CMOS and DIGIC processor. But good luck to you if you try to do the soaking trick.

justme_dc,
this is all new to me. I appreciate you clarifying the concept of water and PCB's etc :)

[lightandlife]

gs121002 wrote:
I had a friend who was in a similar situation several years ago. His solution was to leave the camera on the front seat of his car with the windows down. When the camera turn up missing, he filed a police report then contacted his insurance company.



This sounds like a story in the Arabian Night, in which various people were trying to pass a dead Chinese to somebody else.

It is unethical. You probably were joking.

I am sorry to hear about the disaster. But there are a few things in life that cannot be undone. This is one of them. However, it is not as bad as other irreversible mistakes.

Actually, it does not even come close to any major irreverisible mistakes one can make.

[Erin]

sad story. Just one of life's expensive little lessons on good reasons to always keep the camera strap around your neck.

It is probably too late to immerse the camera in fresh water and immeadiately dry it ( couple of fan heaters and get the body hot enough that it is very warm to the touch, but still hand holdable. Leave it at this temperature long enough for all internal water to evaporate. (hours) You may need to do it twice.

This really needs to be done within the shortest possible time after the intial dunking (hours) to stop corrosion from becoming established.

Could still try this as your camera is stuffed, but do it now!

[Mark Kemp]

FYI:-

1) Pure distilled (especially deionized) water is a pretty good insulator - but rain water, sea water and tap water have salts in them which conduct.

2) If an electronic device (i.e 10D) gets soaked in a conducting solution, with the power switched on, a number of short circuit paths are likely to be generated between places on the circuit that should not be connected. This in itself may damage some of the circuit components permanently, or may just prevent the device from working until the short circuit is removed. There is no way to tell - unless you are Canon and dismantle the camera.

3) If the power was not on there may still be short circuits but component damage is far less likely as no current will flow in them.

4)Once dried out the short circuits may have gone and if no other damage occurred the device may function again.

5)If it was dried out but some salt was left behind there may still be short circuits, with the same possible effects. Switching it on may still cause component damage.

6) Washing with the distilled or deionized water may remove the salts and once dried again, if undamaged, the device may work again.

7) There is also the possibility of permanent chemical damage by the salt on the more delicate and less well sealed components, like the CMOS sensor.

So - its probably dead because at some point it was powered with shorts in it and some components got fried, but (if your insurers are happy) you may as well wash it in distilled water, dry it thoroughly and try it! But its a long shot.

IPA (Iso Propyl Alcohol) is a good degreaser and remover for residual flux from solder etc., but it is less likely than water to dissolve salts that got in the camera as a result of immersion in salt water in the first place.

By the way - In case you wonder whether to believe me - I have a degree in electronics and twenty odd years experience designing circuits for aircraft systems.

[RichardtheSane]

Andysaint, very unlucky drop and I am sure you were very upset when you saw it fall. Did you have any insurance?

I had my 10D + 100-400L for a month before taking out insurance that covered me for accidental damage. I was finding that I was too nervous about dropping £2500 worth of kit and missing shots because of this. Having insurance is really worthwhile, it doesn't help you now, but please do consider it in the future.

Mark, Good info there - everything you said makes logical sense to me before you mentioned your job.. :)

[Webster]

Many years ago I was working at a place when one of the wet pipe fire supression pipes broke in the machine room pouring dirty, rusty water into one of the computers (Series 1, if I recall correctly). It shut itself off immediately. IBM techs came in with many, many gallon bottles of water and spent about an hour pouring them into the top of the computer. They then brought in some huge fans and left them blowing into the box for a day. They turned that sucker on, and it was still working flawlessly when I left a few years later.

[Dave I]

I think the key fact is that Canon said it can't be repaired. If a service tech for the manufacturer says it can't be fixed at all, it probably can't.

The service department has spare parts and diagnostic equipment. They'd have a better chance of fixing it than anyone.

Sorry.

That said, if it's junk it can't hurt to try the repair suggestions in the thread so far. I just wouldn't hold any real hope for success.

[andysaint]

Thanks guys... I have a friend who dropped his camera while shooting at a river.. He sent the camera to Canon and it was declared dead. He bought a new camera and left his camera in his car boot (with the daily hot sun). Few days later, he took it out from his car and tried swiching it on. Surprisingly, it works...

I'm thinking about giving heat a go first before the distilled water... Well, there nothing to lose and Canon is nice enough to offer me a great deal for another new camera...

[martcol]

Bad Luck Andysaint:

Seaside Blues

Woke up this Maawnin' and my woman's just left a note.
My child's just sittin' bawling like a castrated goat.

My headache's hot an' rising as the whisky's taste wears thin.
But none of that's surprising with all the trouble I'm in!

I took a stroll down to the sea just to clear my head
My 10D came right with me, and now she's good an' dead.

Should I soak it in the bath tub or Iso Propyl Alcohol?
Will this resurrect my True Love or will I stay right here in Hell?

Call the fire department race with those Blues n' Twos
I'm howlin' out this lament: got the 10D Seaside Blues!

(sort of sung to Hoochie Coochie Man)

A broken 10D, beyond repair? Now that's what I call The Blues! 8)

[lightandlife]

A beautiful lyric!

Andysaint:The true love is cheap. Buy another.

[lziering]

If nothing you do will make the camera work you can do the "as-is" sale on ebay with a full description, you can put it on the shelf as a show-and-tell aid for telling the story of the dropped camera, or you can leave it in the car with the window open. Don't file an insurance claim as that would be fraud but it would be kind of sweet to think of the thief who stole it trying to make it work.

[defordphoto]

I doubt you'll ever get this to work. Seawater is horribly corrosive to delicate electronic parts. I'd take it apart as much as you could and wash off the parts with distilled water and then keep it for extra parts. Heck, even advertise that you have extra parts and you might eventually get most, if not all your money back just selling the parts.

[msvirick]

Best advice, call this as a total loss and sell the 10D for parts.
I do hope you have a insurance.

[Belmondo]

lziering wrote:
If nothing you do will make the camera work you can do the "as-is" sale on ebay with a full description, you can put it on the shelf as a show-and-tell aid for telling the story of the dropped camera, or you can leave it in the car with the window open. Don't file an insurance claim as that would be fraud but it would be kind of sweet to think of the thief who stole it trying to make it work.

Having just returned from Las Vegas where I prowl the the pawn shops looking for old Pentaxes, I can tell you that the far greater likelihood is that 5 minutes after the camea is stolen, it will be sold for drug money, or booze, or something else. The crook will probably just pass the problem along to some other unsuspecting soul.

[bfaust]

check out your homeowners insurance

[defordphoto]

bfaust wrote:
check out your homeowners insurance

Homeowners will cover theft, fire, stuff like that, but usually not an accident like that unless you carry a separate rider. The riders are super cheap. I highly suggest it.

[DVWarrior]

If Canon cant fix it I would say its a gonner, remember of all the tips above dunking it in water etc. they forget one small problem, short circuit...if only 1 part of the circuit is damaged it wont work properly till that part is fixed but most of todays surface mount electronics are not fixable, Canon would need to identify the part and replace that board. ribbon etc. I would agree with the insurance route but more sobering...unless you are insured please dont take expensive cameras near salt water !

[The Photo Tuell]

Thought I had clipped and locked my Digital Rebel and 70-200 F/4L onto my tripod, went to cross the street and it drops off. Lens hits first, and it's damaged. Focus isn't moving very well, sometimes it doesn't focus at all, especially at short range. I called Canon and have to send it to California for repair. No more warranty, it's going to cost money to get it fixed. :(

At least the camera was OK, just a scrape on the corner. Took some pictures with the 70-200 and autofocus worked until I tried to focus on something close. Hopefully it can be fixed easy.

Bummer you dropped your 10D. I keep replaying in my mind what happened and how many ways I could have prevented it, heh. Hope you aren't too devasted by your loss, I know I feel bad enough.

Whew.

[puttick]

Having flooded a Nikonos V once, which is "meant" to be immersed in salt water, I can assure you the electronics are dead and irreparable. There is a T-shirt which says "How do you recognise REAL underwater photographers? They laugh when emptying water out of their cameras".

However the Nik V has a modular construction and to swap the internals cost a few hundred. Lens (15mm) and camera together worth more than a 10D, so it had to be done....

[codeglue]

Ouch.

1. Make an insurance claim only after you talk to your agent. In my experience, you make a claim, any claim, your rates go up for a number of years. Do the math.