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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 due to an error.
Turn the camera off and on again or re-install 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.

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    \$\begingroup\$ 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. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jan 8, 2013 at 16:53
  • \$\begingroup\$ can't say I didn't think of that :) is there a decent guide that you know of for doing this to DSLRs? \$\endgroup\$
    – kishu27
    Commented Jan 8, 2013 at 16:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ 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. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jan 8, 2013 at 17:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ 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 \$\endgroup\$
    – kishu27
    Commented Jan 8, 2013 at 17:09
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    \$\begingroup\$ @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. \$\endgroup\$
    – DetlevCM
    Commented Jan 9, 2013 at 12:40

3 Answers 3

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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.

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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.

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just take it to a canon repair centre and get it repaired . Or wash it with deionized water and let it to dry after that take a lens brush and brush all over the components of the camera (even the battery area)

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