Camera got wet :(

rocketshipready

So, I by accidentally dropped my camera (Canon Powershot SD800IS) in a stream. It was fully submerged for about 5 seconds. It was off at the time. I immediately took the battery and SD card out. That was Friday.

Flash forward to today, when I decide I should try and turn it on. The lens comes out like normal, and I can view pictures in preview mode fine and dandy, but the camera isn't actually "seeing" anything. If I try and take a picture, it'll just be a black frame. I shut it off and took the battery out again, but did I completely ruin it? Anything I can do to salvage it?

TychoCelchuuu

There's not much you can do aside from waiting much longer. 2-3 days is the minimum I would wait for hardware to dry out. If you want to speed it up you can put it in a bag with rice. You may have shorted something when you turned it on but you can't know until you've let it dry more and tried again.

Tox

I've heard a good way to help get water and moisture out of electronic devices is to put the device in a ziplock bag with a small handful of instant rice grains. The rice will absorb the moisture out of the air, and the air will absorb the moisture out of the device.

...or something. Maybe. I do know it's always better to let stuff air dry when/if you disassemble it.

Quid

Pretty much what others have said. If it doesn't work after that you basically have a broken camera.

Tox

Yeah it may be that since you've tried to use it, you shorted something. Generally, if an electronic device gets wet, get the power source out of it immediately (you did that, good job), and do not try to use it again until you are completely certain it's dry. Generally this involves disassembly and letting it sit and air dry (again, the rice trick supposedly works).

Using it when there's moisture in there greatly increases the chances of doing permanent damage. Good luck.

rocketshipready

Well, I threw it in some rice, and I guess I'll hope for the best. It's an older camera, so it won't be a total loss, I guess. Thanks for the help

mts

so canon has a loyalty program where you can turn in an old camera for a sweet deal on a new refurb. doesn't even have to be working

lapinoken

Another thing you could do if you're a bit handy is taking the camera apart and checking out if the cirquits got oxidated. (white-ish powder on your cirquits) If that's the case you could try cleaning it with an old toothbrush and distilled water. keep it open until it's dry. Screw the parts back together and hope for the best.

QuantumTurk

Something that worked for a roomies submerged iphone: (Note, we had written it off as dead already, or we would not have tried this)
We immersed it in pure methanol (we both work in labs, and so this was not hard to find, pure acetone would also probably work and might be easier to find?) the idea being to displace the water with a non conducting solvent that evaporates much more quickly. Immerse, and then to a bag of rice for a couple days, (do not eat this rice.)
Though if you have already shorted the camera, this wont work, but hey, if it's already dead, no harm in trying.