My Digital Rebel XT fell into water yesterday. I immediately took out the battery ,turned the camera off and dried off with a towel. I did take out the lens and water had not gotten inside the mount. The camera was barely in water for 3-4 seconds, it was not completely immersed though. I just kept it to dry but now the camera wont start if I turn it on. Guess its toasted. Does anyone have better ideas for drying ? Is it safe to open the camera and use a hair dryer or something like that ? I read through Marc's 5D disaster and one of the suggestions was to use a hair dryer. Appreciate all your help.
Major bummer! I'm sure that you googled this and found many suggestions.
I had a similar experience over Christmas. I dropped my 10D with the 70-200 2.8 attached. It landed hard on the mud. It came on but it couldn't meter or take a picture. I discovered that if I didn't click the lens in, I could take a picture. So armed with this knowledge, I headed out to take some waterfall pictures. I setup with my 17-40 and starting turning to focus. Suddenly, kerplunk, the lens fell right into the drink. Doh! I scooped it up and shook out the water. I was dumb enough to try to take some more pictures and I got some cool effects with moody fog from the condensation in the lens. Luckily, we were headed back to AZ and as soon as I got home I put the lens in the sun. It seemed to take all the moisture out, but left some spots.
I ended up sending both into Canon service. They seem fine now. Each was about a $200 repair.
You might try purging the water by putting it a 100-120 degree F oven for a time.. From what I have seen and experienced, if it is a Canon, it's toast...... Lost my 1V that way...
I saved a digital camera once by opening it up and hair drying it. I had to do it a couple of times. You could also open it up and put it in a 120 degree oven. Good luck!
Rick - you forgot - 'set the dryer to full heat whites/colors cycle'
Drying in the sun seems to be helping, I'll try drying tomorrow again and see what happens. The polarizer has jammed on my lens thread so getting it out is a major issue - hopefully I can take it out without causing much harm to the lens.
If you have access to either a dehumidifier, try placing it in a small enclosed area really close to the dehumidifier. I've saved other electronic devices this way. Cameras might be a different story, but it don't hurt to help. Certainly wouldn't do any more damage than placing it in an oven.
Several years ago I worked in the labs at our university. We had a roof leak and a number of computers got hit with water. At that time, drying with a hair dryer was a bad idea, primarily because you can't control the location/amount/duration of the heat very well and most consumer electronic parts don't like life above about 85-100deg C for too long. My current experience suggests this is likely still the case - but again no expertise claimed. For my problem the best solution was to let things air dry for a good long time (i.e. several days in humid MN summer). Taking things apart too far may allow moisture to get where it wasn't already and 'may' allow connector surfaces to oxidize a bit more.
That is the extent of my experience on this one, and thankfully I haven't had to test the theory on anything since then, but all those workstations came back to life.
In an unrelated situation I have also used a nitrogen bag to draw moisture out of printed circuit board materials. I have heard from some friends that scuba divers use this technique for something though I have zero idea how helpful it may be for your scenario. But it is one more thought.
If it were me and air drying didn't cut it, I'd be on the phone to Canon. On second thought, I'd really like to upgrade my Drebel to a 30D, so I'd probably tell my wife it couldn't be fixed.
Thanks everyone for all the inputs. I did dry the camera in the sun for 2 days and it has helped - what a stroke of luck. I should learn to be more careful with my equipment. If the camera had not worked after drying I'd have upgraded, but for now it serves my purpose. Thanks again.
Discussion
10 repliesthanks,
pradeep
I had a similar experience over Christmas. I dropped my 10D with the 70-200 2.8 attached. It landed hard on the mud. It came on but it couldn't meter or take a picture. I discovered that if I didn't click the lens in, I could take a picture. So armed with this knowledge, I headed out to take some waterfall pictures. I setup with my 17-40 and starting turning to focus. Suddenly, kerplunk, the lens fell right into the drink. Doh! I scooped it up and shook out the water. I was dumb enough to try to take some more pictures and I got some cool effects with moody fog from the condensation in the lens. Luckily, we were headed back to AZ and as soon as I got home I put the lens in the sun. It seemed to take all the moisture out, but left some spots.
I ended up sending both into Canon service. They seem fine now. Each was about a $200 repair.
Good luck!
JT
Drying in the sun seems to be helping, I'll try drying tomorrow again and see what happens. The polarizer has jammed on my lens thread so getting it out is a major issue - hopefully I can take it out without causing much harm to the lens.
Several years ago I worked in the labs at our university. We had a roof leak and a number of computers got hit with water. At that time, drying with a hair dryer was a bad idea, primarily because you can't control the location/amount/duration of the heat very well and most consumer electronic parts don't like life above about 85-100deg C for too long. My current experience suggests this is likely still the case - but again no expertise claimed. For my problem the best solution was to let things air dry for a good long time (i.e. several days in humid MN summer). Taking things apart too far may allow moisture to get where it wasn't already and 'may' allow connector surfaces to oxidize a bit more.
That is the extent of my experience on this one, and thankfully I haven't had to test the theory on anything since then, but all those workstations came back to life.
In an unrelated situation I have also used a nitrogen bag to draw moisture out of printed circuit board materials. I have heard from some friends that scuba divers use this technique for something though I have zero idea how helpful it may be for your scenario. But it is one more thought.
If it were me and air drying didn't cut it, I'd be on the phone to Canon. On second thought, I'd really like to upgrade my Drebel to a 30D, so I'd probably tell my wife it couldn't be fixed.
Best regards,
-Brett