Probably Not Recommended by Canon

[Chris Hansen]

Last week while photographing my friends fishing I dropped my lens cap into the water. Duh! To further complicate the error I lunged for the lens cap with my 50D hanging on the camera strap around my neck. Hearing a plunking sound I realized that my camera was half submerged in the water. I immediately stood back up and turned the camera off. As I was doing so a blue light glowed and then went dead. OOps! I have never seen a blue light before.
The camera was dead.

I took the camera to shore and pulled the batteries out and took the lens off. When I got home 6 hours later I everything in the oven on low (130 F) for four hours. Then I let it sit overnight. The camera came back to life with the exception of having to clean the lens to camera contacts. That's not to say that corrosion won't kill the camera later. At least it wasn't salt water.

So don't bend over into the water when you have your camera around your neck.

God's blessings to all,

chris

[Van Hilliard]

You mean you don't regularly wash your gear?

[Harold Davis]

i'm glad it worked out for you. i think the proper thing to have done would be go to the freezer. same theory. maybe someone else will chime in and confirm this.

[David Pugsley]

You mean you don't regularly wash your gear?

:)
Call me the next time you're washing the MkIV and 800 - I want proof. :)

[Declan Troy]

Harold, what is your reasoning about freezing. Water expands when frozen so it would seem the the problem of introducing structural damage to connections and tight specifications would compound any "mere" wetness issues.

[William Malacarne]

I am not saying anyone should try this but I used to work for a company that built lots of electronic instruments for the Gov't. Most were coated with a polyurathane type substance to help water proof them. Some of the environmental testing we would do would include dunking in water, fresh and/or salt, or apply a mist spray to them. After this was done they were cleaned in distilled water to get any contaminants off of them and then they were dried in an oven at about 130 deg for several hours. If the design and work were done correctly the instrument would still work. Again I am not saying to try this with a camera ....due mostly to it having moving parts. I would think the best thing to do is shut it down as quick as you can and remove all batteries, even the little button battery that keeps the time etc. Then send it to repair as soon as you can.

Bill

[Harold Davis]

Harold, what is your reasoning about freezing. Water expands when frozen so it would seem the the problem of introducing structural damage to connections and tight specifications would compound any "mere" wetness issues.

declan, i want to say that is what i was told by an authorized canon service person. my memory is foggy, that's why i was hoping someone else would chime in.

[Alfred Forns]

Harold ... are you saying you have a foggy memory :D

Glad it worked Chris !!!

[Danny J Brown]

Hey Chris: You just gave it a drink, like I used to do my fishing reels.

DB

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Water is a threat to any electronic item. A few months back a person was on a boat in muddy water. His Nokia phone fell down. He retrived it and removed the battery and dried it for two days. After that the phone worked but the key pad needed to be cleaned as mud had entered into it. Another friend had a phone spinning in his washing machine and the result was a part of the circuit was damaged due to the water entering into it.

So the best thing is to dry it with some hygroscopic material. Rice is excellent for absorbing water ( not cooked rice :D ). Once it is completely dried after two days, you can place the battery back and check.

Would love to see images of 800mm being washed. ;)

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Jerry Clement]

A friend of mine had his laptop sitting on the console between the front seats of his GMC suburban with the laptop open and turned on. He and a friend were in the line-up at a drive-thru outlet. Handing a milkshake over to the passenger did not go well, as the lid came off and the contents of the milkshake ended up on the keyboard of the laptop. At that point he headed over to his dads place, where his dad Phil who works for a telecommunications company, promptly placed the laptop in the kitchen sink and flushed out the milkshake. The laptop was then disassembled and washed out further, then the components were allowed to dry out completely. The laptop worked fine upon reassembly and continues to do so.

[Jeroen Wijnands]

Common theme here. Remove all batteries that you can right away. If there's been a significant amount of liquid involved you might as well rinse away anything dirty. Then dry. The oven method sounds good but you'd have to be sure of your oven temp. The rice method is also well know, works better in a sealed container.

Of course the best way to handle all this is to prevent it or to buy gear that can take abuse. I've had several Sonim cellphones for just that reason (Several because they kept replacing it under warranty) and switched to a nokia 3720c as soon as that came out.

I also carry a large binbag in my photobag that can be out and protecting my gear in a matter of seconds.

[Van Hilliard]

I was out with Captain James one time and we were wading beside his boat. He warned me that I was allowing my 600mm lens to act as a scoop. It was drooping into the water (saltwater, at that). To save face, I had to pretend that I meant to do it. The lens suffered no ill effects but I did. My heart still hasn't returned to normal and it has been a couple of years.

[John T. Watson]

Some of you may remember the days before they put computers into camera's (or even exposure meters). If you got salt water in your camera, you were suppose to put the camera into running fresh water for several minutes and then use a hair dryer on low to dry it out. Try that now! :)

John

[Chris Hansen]

I must say that I enjoyed the comments posted in response to my thread. Informative as well as funny.There are some very creative people here. Keep up the excellent work on BPN ladies and gents.

God bless,

chris

[Chris Hansen]

The 50D didn't make it. I took 150 portraits with it at my daughters 8th grade graduation dance and the following day it up and died. The viewing screen on the back of the camera failed. So it is now on its way to visit the Canon Factory Service Center in Irvine,California. It will either be a very expensive paper weight or I will buy a 7D as that is probably the most reasonable (read cheapest)weather resistant camera that I can purchase.

God's light and love to all,

chris