Beer damaged ixus 860 IS

A month or so ago my ixus 860 IS was in my bag at a party (in its case) and ended up getting soaked in beer. Thankfully it works pretty much fine still, apart from the zoom "toggle" (not sure what the right name for that is! So going with toggle.)

It still zooms in and out but reeaaaaally slowly, and sometimes sticks and jams. Sad times. I've tried wiggling it back and forth to stop it sticking so badly but haven't tried cleaning the camera as, frankly, I don't know what I'm doing and don't want to damage it.

Would I be best to get to get it cleaned/repaired professionally or is there anything i can try myself?

Thanks in advance for any help!

I doubt that any camera repair service will be willing to clean a camera that's gotten wet. Even ifthey get the obvious grunge off, there's probably going to be some corrosion they wouldn't be able to get rid of that would cause the camera to die sooner rather than later. You might be able to send it to Canon and get a refurbished camera from the Canon Loyalty Program though.

It it still works...might as well leave well enough alone at this point. It may operate better with more use. If you fully disclose the reason for the malfunction...no repair shop will touch it as Jon said. However if you feel ambitious ...remove the battery and card .. run it under tap water. Let it open air dry for a week.

I would NOT risk compounding the damage with a tap-water rinse (or any kind of water rinse, for that matter). You're more likely to wash salts, etc. that may be on the outside or in the cover joints into the electronics or onto the optics, leaving you with (at the very least) spots on the lens and/or sensor you'd have to live with and at worst triggering corrosion that would turn it into a complete brick.

Thanks very much. I don't think it got too bad a soaking and as it was in it's case I think that saved any real damage. The more I use it and wiggle the button the less it seems to be sticking. So, fingers crossed it'll be ok, for a while, anyway.

Cheers