Apples

Apples

by Garik

submit your photo


Picture of the Week Themes
Suggest and vote on themes

Please participate in Meta
and help us grow.

Tell me more ×
Photography Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professional, enthusiast and amateur photographers. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

Well my 550D is bricked. I was near a wall and on the other side was the sea. A huge wave came. Wall was 6ft high but a big splash of water jumped over it and fell on me and the camera directly.

After this, the camera stuck to ON even if i tried switching it off. I pulled out the battery as fast as I could, waited for a couple days and dried it. Then i plugged in the battery, camera was dead.

After a week it turned ON, but is giving me "Err #70. Shooting is not possible, please turn the camera off and on or remove the battery"

Has someone come across this problem with Canon 550D? if yes, what do you know about solving it? If you gave this to a service center, what components they changed and how much did it cost? I'm asking this because I'm not in the country where I made the purchase and want to see if I can solve it myself before going to service centers here.

Thanks

share|improve this question
2  
Your camera may well be completely dead. The best you can do for the moment is to allow the whole camera to dry completely. As a final plan after all else rest it in DISTILLED water for a short period, with the battery removed (don't wash battery), to try to remove all remaining salt, and then dry it completely in an area that is not humid. You might want to check up specifics of how to do this first. – damned truths Jan 8 at 16:53
can't say I didn't think of that :) is there a decent guide that you know of for doing this to DSLRs? – kishu27 Jan 8 at 16:56
I can't say I've done it with a DSLR, and the sensor and screens may not like it, but with some other electronics it is ok. As far as a guide goes, I haven't heard of, or seen any. – damned truths Jan 8 at 17:01
I hope this isn't the guide youtube.com/watch?v=Bma0EZRO1QY :D well i think I will take away a couple of screws and brush the circuitry, clean with methylated spirits. I agree about the screen, sensor and its cover not liking the water – kishu27 Jan 8 at 17:09
1  
@MattGrum pure water won't - but if you have salt in the camera in the first place you might just end up moving it about. Plus, even deionised water is ever so slightly conductive - depending on the component, residual moisture might cause an issue. – DetlevCM Jan 9 at 12:40
show 4 more comments

2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

Water and electronics are seldomly a good combination - make that salt water (which is conductive) and the result is often even worse...

The rebel/xx0D cameras are not weathersealed, nevertheless they tend to withstand some water/humidity, the question is therefore if water got inside and if yes, how much. The only person qualified to answer this would be someone who can open the camera at a repair centre or at Canon. If you are lucky it may be a replacable board in the camera, at worst it is completely dead.

Having said that - putting in the battery after a short time is generally not a good idea. Personally I would suggest you expect the worst and see what estimate Canon (ideally) comes up with.

share|improve this answer
up vote 2 down vote

Pure water does very little to damage electronics, even if they are powered on when immersed. Water with impurities is a totally different story as as the water evaporates it will leave deposits on the electrical components which may cause them to short out.

Canon will probably not be of much help as they wont want to guarantee any work done as it's hard for them to determine the extend of the damage. And if they go around replacing boards then the repair bill could be more than the camera is worth.

I accept no responsibility for any further damage caused..... but if it were me I would wash the camera body thoroughly in deionised water (the sort used for car batteries, you can buy it from garages / car supply shops). Then dry it for as long as you possibly can in a warm dry place, there are many cavities that may retain water which will take a long time to evaporate. I would dry it for a least a week, in the driest environment you can produce, moving/shaking it frequently to shift droplets. Then if it works, even for a time, then great. Otherwise write it off.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.