A sad tale

[nigelp]

Hi - newbie here with a rather sad tale.

I am just back from my second visit to WDW and was looking forward to taking lots of pictures (inspired by many photos seen on here). Unfortunately, I took my camera on the Jaws ride at Universal and it got 'eaten by Jaws' - or rather a huge wave splashed over the side of the boat and totally soaked it - it was in a camera bag to protect it. When I got off the ride it was totally dead.

I left it to dry and two days later it came back to life - but with a few problems. It won't switch off unless I remove the batteries, it takes longer to focus (often failing altogether in darker light) and any batteries left in the camera overnight are totally drained by the morning.

I am hoping that my insurance will cover it - but they are asking for it to be checked to see if it can be repaired. My only concern is that the repairers will think that it is fine as it switches on ok and takes pictures.

The brightside is that although the 8GB card in the camera was ruined I was still able to recover all the photos off it, and I had plenty of spare cards for the rest of the trip. So no memories lost.

We returned to Universal later on and took a photo of me under the large Jaws model holding the camera in its mouth

 

[VVFF]

Hi - newbie here with a rather sad tale.

I am just back from my second visit to WDW and was looking forward to taking lots of pictures (inspired by many photos seen on here). Unfortunately, I took my camera on the Jaws ride at Universal and it got 'eaten by Jaws' - or rather a huge wave splashed over the side of the boat and totally soaked it - it was in a camera bag to protect it. When I got off the ride it was totally dead.

I left it to dry and two days later it came back to life - but with a few problems. It won't switch off unless I remove the batteries, it takes longer to focus (often failing altogether in darker light) and any batteries left in the camera overnight are totally drained by the morning.

I am hoping that my insurance will cover it - but they are asking for it to be checked to see if it can be repaired. My only concern is that the repairers will think that it is fine as it switches on ok and takes pictures.

The brightside is that although the 8GB card in the camera was ruined I was still able to recover all the photos off it, and I had plenty of spare cards for the rest of the trip. So no memories lost.

We returned to Universal later on and took a photo of me under the large Jaws model holding the camera in its mouth

The camera was in a bag and the water still killed it?? That's quite odd unless the bag was open on top or something. I wouldn't think much water would have hit it...most cameras can take a little water.

 

[nigelp]

The camera was in a bag and the water still killed it?? That's quite odd unless the bag was open on top or something. I wouldn't think much water would have hit it...most cameras can take a little water.

It was a LOT of water - I was totally drenched to the skin - the money in my wallet which was in my pocket got wet too! I reckon I sat in the one seat on the ride that got that amount of water.

 

[YesDear]

This may sound like a strange question but what form homeowners do you have. Was your camera equipment specifically insured?

I am an insurance agent. It is what I do! Just curious.

 

[nigelp]

This may sound like a strange question but what form homeowners do you have. Was your camera equipment specifically insured?

I am an insurance agent. It is what I do! Just curious.

I don't have my camera specifically insured on my home insurance but I am claiming through my travel insurance.

 

[YesDear]

I don't have my camera specifically insured on my home insurance but I am claiming through my travel insurance.

Ok. What kind of camera? I am not being nosy, just curious how your claim plays out. I am interested how the insurance company responds.

You can easily tell me to leave you alone!

 

[nigelp]

Ok. What kind of camera? I am not being nosy, just curious how your claim plays out. I am interested how the insurance company responds.

You can easily tell me to leave you alone!

That's fine - its a Pentax K100D Super - a great little beginners dslr camera and I love(d) it.

 

[Groucho]

Sorry to hear that. I could see the water maybe damaging the focus motor making it slower... ugh! I didn't remember getting wet with Jaws but it's been a loooong time since I've been to US Orlando - I've been to US Hollywood recently but Jaws is just a scene on the backlot tour. The Jurassic Park ride sure soaks you though!

The good news is that all the current Pentaxes have weathersealing so they'd be fine with such a splash. (Mine's gone through Splash Mountain splashes held out in front of me with no issues.) Ideally you need a weather-sealed lens too; they now have weather-sealed versions of the kit lens and the cheap 50-200mm lens. Unfortunately they only ship with the K-7 at this point, but they do exist, if you want a small/light/affordable weathersealed combo.

 

[jann1033]

Hi - newbie here with a rather sad tale.



and any batteries left in the camera overnight are totally drained by the morning.

i had a similar battery problem with my canon( although never really got it wet so i thought maybe it was from something else or just humidity ) and they said it was from a short. it was fixable but imo not worth the money canon wanted to do it. i sold it to adorama, they fixed it and sold it. if your insurance doesn't help, check and see if they'll buy it, at least it will be better than nothing

 

[seashoreCM]

Too late for you, but for others eavesdropping, the camera should be immediately pulled out of the water, held in various positions to drain as much as possible, batteries and memory card removed, and allowed to dry "for several days" before you try to use it again. No guarantee but this improves the chances for both the camera and memory card.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/digicam.htm

Once my folks had a cell phone get soaked because the cap came off a water bottle in the same Zip Loc bag. The phone was crackling with short circuiting electricity when we pulled it from the water. We let it drain and dry as above and it worked again.

 

[rtphokie]

Water doesn't kill electronics, water and electricity kills electronics.

Every couple months I take the keyboard off my computer and run it under hot water. Leave it to dry for a day or two and it's good as new. Gets all the funk out.

 

[jann1033]

Water doesn't kill electronics, water and electricity kills electronics.

Every couple months I take the keyboard off my computer and run it under hot water. Leave it to dry for a day or two and it's good as new. Gets all the funk out.

ok are you serious about this? husband's keyboard has keys that stick( to much peanut butter residue maybe?) so i would try this but want to make sure it's not a joke first

 

[Groucho]

The only problem is that tap water will leave behind the minerals and such as it dries, which may or may not cause a problem as time goes by. Keyboards are pretty simple inside, I wouldn't go running your Playstation under the tap to clean it off.

With the camera, the problems sound like they're not just electronics (indeed, the main circuit board sounds fine), perhaps the focus motor was damaged slightly...

 

[mom2rtk]

Water doesn't kill electronics, water and electricity kills electronics.

Every couple months I take the keyboard off my computer and run it under hot water. Leave it to dry for a day or two and it's good as new. Gets all the funk out.

I'm fairly sure you aren't recommending that anyone use water to clean their camera.....

But are you saying that if one has a water mishap, that one has a better chance of recovery if they leave it for an extended period of time to dry....... instead of giving in to the urge to immediately try it out?

I'm glad to say my extended warranty covers accidental damage. I haven't dropped it or anything yet, but consider myself fully capable!

 

[rtphokie]

I'm fairly sure you aren't recommending that anyone use water to clean their camera.....

But are you saying that if one has a water mishap, that one has a better chance of recovery if they leave it for an extended period of time to dry....... instead of giving in to the urge to immediately try it out?

I'm glad to say my extended warranty covers accidental damage. I haven't dropped it or anything yet, but consider myself fully capable!

Yep, that's exactly what I'm saying (poorly). If you ever get electronics wet let it dry completely before attempting to power it up. Remove the batteries, open all the doors and put a small fan on it if possible. If the water wasn't clean (especially if it was salt water), rinse the wet areas in clean water before drying it out. This will increase your chances of success.

 

[rtphokie]

ok are you serious about this? husband's keyboard has keys that stick( to much peanut butter residue maybe?) so i would try this but want to make sure it's not a joke first

I'm very serious about this. Computer keyboards in particular are easy to clean this way. There is no power applied to them when they are disconnected and they rinse out pretty effectively. Warm water works well because it loosens the gunk.

Let it drain in the tub for 15 minutes in various positions to make sure you've gotten as much water out as possible. Put a small fan on it to speed up drying.

Drying overnight is usually all it needs but give it a shake and look between the keys for any moisture before reattaching it.

Even a full can of soda dumped into a keyboard and left for days can be cleaned out this way.